Saltburn - Yorkshire's answer to Malibu

TLOML and I have missed Malibu since we left two years ago. So we're very happy to be enjoying coastal living again.

In many ways Saltburn is a lot like Malibu.

Like Malibu, it has a pier.

Only Malibu's pier, so far as I know, had never won any awards.

Both towns have their fine seafood dining options. Malibu offered us the irritatingly pronounced Geoffrey's (they call it 'Joffreys', go figure), Nobu for upmarket sushi, and Malibu Seafood for fast food. Saltburn has several chippies.

I doubt you could buy a slap up meal in any of those Malibu options for less than a tenner (say, fifteen bucks). You can in Saltburn.

Both towns have a surf school, and draw keen surfers from many miles around.

But I bet those SoCal softies couldn't handle surfing when the weather is literally freezing. My brother-in-law has walked across snow on the beach in order to surf. That's how tough they are up here.

Both have a diner at the pier. In Saltburn the lady in 'Surf's Up' gives my little nephews a free biscuit every time they visit. I don't imagine that happens at Ruby's, though to be fair I never walked in there with two adorable toddlers to test the hypothesis.

I think Saltburn might just have the edge on Malibu. So long as we don't mention the weather. Year round warmth and sunshine is overrated: that's my position and I'm sticking to it.