Colourful beach huts in England brighten pandemic gloom

Holidaymakers sitting outside colourful beach huts at Walton-on-the-Naze in England. — Photos: JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP

In her yellow-and-white striped beach hut, Melanie Whitehead boils the kettle for a cup of tea and sits gazing out over the North Sea.

Brightly painted wooden huts like hers line England’s coastline and have enjoyed a boom during the pandemic, as people rediscover seaside breaks close to home.