Our coastal punk poet: John Cooper Clarke on his love of seaside towns

The National Trust has commissioned the poet to write verse in praise of the coastline he has circumnavigated ‘thousands of times’ and where he first experienced the wonder of rock’n’roll

Most of us harbour a desire to shoot off to the seaside when things get hot and crowded in the city. You head to the coast, where there’s a bit of a breeze. My poem describes the seaside as “a world away from the working week”. Unless you’re a fisherman, in which case that doesn’t apply.

I can’t remember having a bad time at the seaside. Maybe I’ve been lucky. Although I do remember a lot of punch-ups ... rite of passage that.

Related: Patrick Barkham's favourite National Trust sites on the UK coast

I can’t remember having a bad time at the seaside. Although I do remember a lot of punch-ups