The far distant shore 12


As we have seen, Formentera and Ibiza are not the only lands possibly inspirational for "Opel". This chapter won't be an attempt to locate a land, but merely a journey to inspire us, to link us to the feelings Syd had when he was writing "Opel". Maybe it was all a dream where he was immersed in his landscape, but it was a beautiful dream, with clear images and clear feelings too.
Some of the few other beaches Syd visited were in the vicinity of Cromer Pier in his childhood and at Butlins Skegness in 1963; then at East Wittering in February 1967, to record the promo film for "Arnold Layne", and perhaps at Brighton in December, where Pink Floyd had a gig but he disappeared without trace and was replaced by David Gilmour. One of the best sights in Brighton is the pier, which replaced the old Chain Pier featured in the paintings of two of the greatest Romantic artists, J.M.W. Turner and John Constable. However, there's no need to see many pictures of beaches around the world to understand that most of the beautiful beaches might be reminiscent of Formentera.