Canoes at Symonds Yat

I'm no canoeist but by my reckoning here must be more canoeing on the River Wye than any other English (and possibly British) river. Several companies exist to facilitate it at various places along the river's length, and many canoe owners transport their own vessels to the provided launching points. Large sections of the river are placid in the summer months and none of the rapids are particularly difficult, even to novices. Add to that the changing character of the landscape through which the Wye passes - from serpentine flatlands to gorges with cliffs and woods, and the attraction to canoeists is readily understood. These canoes were tied up on the River Wye at Symonds Yat, a favoured haunt for a number of watery activities.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Old concrete bridge and house, Axmouth

The nondescript bridge that spans the River Axe before it enters the sea at Axmouth in Devon is the earliest bridge made of mass concrete ("Historically, in Britain, mass concrete (is) designated early concrete with no reinforcement cast in situ using shuttering. It was used mainly between 1850 and 1900 on a variety of buildings, mainly as a walling material"- Wikipedia). The bridge was designed by Philip Brannon and built in 1877. It continues in use by pedestrians today but no longer carries motor vehicles. 

 Nearby is a small, rendered, single storey former toll house, also built by Brannon in mass concrete in 1877. It has an unusual tarred, arched roof and bracketed canopy. It is the oldest surviving concrete house in Britain and appears to be still inhabited today.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Colourful houses and cars, Weymouth, Dorset

My wife spotted the possibilties for this photograph when she saw the colourful cars lined up in front of the colourfully painted houses on the seafront at Weymouth. Some of the buildings are guest houses, others looked like holiday flats and some seemed to be privately owned residences. The juxtaposition of the colours on a sunny day that accentuated details and caused the paintwork to positively glow was too good to miss.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Weymouth beach huts

There was a time, in the second half of the twentieth century, that beach huts seemed to have had their day. A place to base yourself by the shore for a day or a week, either owned outright or rented from the local council, some fitted out with electricity and water, ceased to chime with people's ideas about what constituted a holiday. But then they had a renaissance and became sought after adjuncts to time by the sea, and their colourful presence was something to celebrate rather than dismiss. This short row at Weymouth is only a small fraction of the total number in the town. The repeating colours with a limited palette suggests corporate ownership as opposed to the highly individualised paint jobs of the privately owned huts.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Yachts on Weymouth Bay

The shot above was taken with the camera's lens at its maximum magnification. I took it because I spotted the solitary yacht with the pink/purple sails among two classes of smaller yachts that seemed to be sailing in groups or engaged in some kind of competition. The dash of colour was essential for what would otherwise have been a quite boring composition. Shooting into the sun gave the sea a very monochrome look which accentuated the overall lack of colour and made the coloured sails more prominent.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Seafront at Weymouth

click image to enlarge

As the placename suggest, Weymouth in Dorset is a town at the mouth of the River Wey. In fact, the Wey discharges through the harbour into Weymouth Bay and consequently the town has two focal points - the harbour and the seafront on the bay. Today's photograph is a 16:9 shot, larger than usual so click on the image, of part of the town's seafront seen from the northern spit of land where the Wey enters the bay from the harbour. It was taken just after the tide had turned and was on its way out.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

RNLI Severn-Class lifeboat, Weymouth

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution's Severn-Class is the largest lifeboat in the current fleet. It is stationed at 35 locations around the UK and is designed to undertake rescues up to 50 miles (80km) from its home port. To enable this it is fitted with engines that permit a maximum speed of 25 knots (29 m.p.h./46 km/h). This particular vessel, registration 17-32, is based at Weymouth. We came upon it as it was setting out for an exercise in the bay.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Boats at Beer, Devon

You get a great sense of the continuity of life when you see fishing boats sharing a beach with yachts and other recreational vessels. Many, if not most, of the small havens and ports of the UK's coast began life because of the need for fishing and it is good to see them still engaged in that activity. With reference to yesterday's post, the two fishing boats here are registered at Falmouth (FH) and Penzance (PZ).

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Fishing boats, Weymouth harbour

All the fishing boats of the UK have a prominent registration code displayed on their hull. This comprises one or two letters that identifies their home port and a number that is unique to the individual boat. The red, black and white boat in the foreground of this photograph originates from Littlehampton (LI) and the blue and white boat in the background is in its home port of Wemouth (WY).

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Older small yachts, Weymouth harbour

Like many landlubbers I only have a passing acquaintance with yachts, large and small, new and old. And, like many such people, I have a preference for the smaller, older vintage yachts that have minimal fibreglass and maximum varnished wood. Walking round the harbour at Weymouth in Dorset recently we came upon a small group of such yachts and a photograph had to ensue.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Montacute House and south lodge

Montacute House in Somerset was built c.1598, a time when the main influence on English architecture was changing from Gothic to Renaissance. The west elevation, above, and the flanking walls have classically-inspired columns and an overall symmetry but the prevalence of the principal orders of architecture cannot be seen. The windows look backwards rather than forwards, and the Dutch gables show the influence of Flanders rather than Italy. When Montacute was built this was the entrance elevation and instead of a lawn there would have been a carriage turning circle.

A large house such as this needed gatehouse lodges and the South Lodge is a marvellous example of how the grandeur of the main house could be announced by the imposing architecture of the ancillary buildings.

  photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Paddle boarding

According to my research paddle boards have been around for longer than I imagined. However, they didn't become widespread, as far as I know, until twenty or so years ago, and in terms of me noticing them, about five years ago. Now I see them in all seasons apart from winter on the River Wye in Herefordshire, and when I go to any recreational river or seaside they are usually present. I've never tried one, but to me they seem to have few advantages over canoes apart from lower cost and easier transport. On our recent visit to the south coast they were everywhere including the cove at Beer, Devon.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Cliffs, beach and boats at Beer, Devon

The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site that stretches 96 miles from Exmouth, Devon to Studland Bay, Dorset. It is renowned for its cliff exposures of almost continuous geology from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, and particularly the range of fossils associated with those eras. Some of the earliest palaeontology took place on this coast. The cliffs at Beer feature chalk of the Cretaceous period.

The commercial fishing at Beer seems to feature a wide range of English Channel fish and shellfish.

 photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Beach at Beer, Devon

The oddly named coastal village of beer in Devon gets its name from the Old English bearu meaning a woodland grove. The present village is wooded and has a stream flowing through it down to the sea. Today the beach reflects the settlement's two main sources of income - fishing and tourism. In the past Beer was associated with smuggling that made use of the cove and the caves in the cliffs.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

Rowing boats, Sidmouth, Devon

The answer to the question, "what is the difference between a boat and a ship", is much less clear cut than nautical folks would have us believe. For some (including me) it is all to do with size. I've seen 150 gross tons being quoted as the cut off point. I've also heard that you can put a boat on a ship but you can't put a ship on a boat, and that you can row a boat but you can't row a ship. Then there are those who see the distinction in the deck i.e. you work on the deck of a boat but below the deck of a ship. A technical distinction quoted by some is that a boat leans into a turn but a ship leans out. My conclusion is that the difference cannot be described without exceptions being found. All that being said, the pair above are boats!

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2