Summer sun at the seaside

click photo to enlarge

I was recently on the promenade at Weymouth, Dorset, wondering whether there was ever a time in my life when I was happy to sit on a beach in the summer sun. Back came the answer, pretty quickly, "No". For most of my life the coast, as I prefer to call it, has been a place for walking, thinking, talking, looking and photographing. That's not to say that I haven't spent time on the beach as one part or another of a family group, where being there together was the intention and the reason itself. As I took this photograph on a sunny June day I had to recognise that most of the people there seemed to be enjoying sunning themselves and partaking of the traditional seaside activities. Which just goes to show that, as they say, "It takes all sorts".

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Unisex toilets, Weymouth

Public toilets have many names in the UK. It's almost as if we are so embarrassed by their existence that we must cast about for a word or words that causes least offence. The most basic names identify them by the gender for whome they are intended, and "Unisex", as on these nautical-look beach front toilets at Weymouth, Dorset, is considerably less common than the widespread "Ladies" and "Gentlemen". For more on this subject, and a reasonably comprehensive list of UK toilet names, have a look at my post of 2006 on PhotoReflect entitled "What do you call it?"

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Knightstone and Steep Holm

The Bristol Channel between England and South Wales has a number of small, rocky islands. Today's photograph shows Knightstone and, in the distance, Steep Holm. The former is now attached to Weston-super-Mare by a permanent causeway rather than the original shingle bank. Steep Holm is today a bird reserve with no permanent human residents but has been at various times a place for sportsmen, a defensive site with cannons, and part of a chain of fortified sites designed to impede invasion.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

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

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

Beach at Sidmouth, Devon

The shingle beach at Sidmouth, Devon, is constrained by the presence of cliffs to the east and west. Like many towns along this coast its name derives from  its geographical location where a river flows into the sea. In this case the town is at the the mouth of the River Sid. The settlement, again like many of its neighbours, was principally a fishing village but today its prosperity derives from tourism. The attractive sea front with thatched houses on the cliffs now draws visitors who want to experience the beach and the water sports that are available.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

April on Broadstairs beach

I took this photograph of people enjoying the sun on Broadstairs beach, Kent, on the 17th April. The English weather isn't so often benign in the middle of April, and it is usually only hardy souls who venture into the sea and strip off in this month. But, the sun, a little shelter from the harbour wall and the headland slightly out of shot, left enough of the sun's power available and everyone took advantage and pretended it was August.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2

A winter's day at Skegness

Winter at a sandy coast is a time for the warmest clothing because the wind is often bitter. Usually the most appropriately dressed are the sea anglers. Standing by a rod for a few hours very quickly tells you about any shortcomings in your clothing. Bird watchers are usually well dressed for the location, as are dog walkers. It is the casual winter visitors to the coast, the sort who wear their car as a coat, that often get caught out. I remember taking this photograph in January 2014, at Skegness in Lincolnshire, because of a family with children who charged down the beach to the water's edge, pleased to see the sea, and almost immediately turned round and raced back to their car making noisy complaints about the cold.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Sony DSC-RX100     2014

Funfair, Skegness

On the second day of the new year in 2011 we visited Skegness in Lincolnshire. Winter at a traditional (i.e. tourist/commercial) seaside has always had an appeal for me. The silent funfairs and piers, the out of place colours and the locked up amusement arcades offer off-season note of melancholy that somehow appeals. This photograph, taken with my back to the sea, benefitted enormously from the dark sky that accentuated the bright colours of the roller coaster, big wheel, lights and shelters.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Canon 5D Mk2     2011

Beach tracks

It's not unusual to see vehicles cleaning and raking the sand of beaches that are heavily used by holidaymakers. In such places it is a daily, or even twice daily, occurence. Many years ago tracks of this kind added to a slightly surreal shot I took of the beach at Blackpool, Lancashire. The tracks in the photograph above were made by vehicles preparing for beach motorcycle racing at Skegness, Lincolnshire, a task that involved not only raking level but also the creation of mounds and hollows to add to the excitement of the event.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300     2014

Knightstone Island, Weston-super-Mare

Knightstone Island was originally connected to the mainland at Weston-super-Mare by a natural pebble ridge that was submerged at high tide. in 1824 the owner built a causeway above high tide and a low pier for boats. In subsequent decades successive owners built hotels, swimming baths, a theatre and other buildings on the island. The whole development struggled in the second half of the twentieth century. The main Pavilion closed and plans for leisure developments came to naught. However, in 2006-7 the whole island was redeveloped, old buildings were refurbished and many flats were built to complement the commercial properties. Today it is an asset to the town.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Grand Pier, Weston-super-Mare

The piers of the British Isles give visitors a feeling of being at sea without leaving dry land. They also offer a range of seaside entertainments. However, their location makes them subject to damage by stormy seas, and their lightweight structure means they are susceptible to fire. Many have been lost and seriously truncated by such events. Weston-super-Mare's Grand Pier was opened in 1904. In 1930 the seaward end, including the pavilion, suffered a major fire. It was restored at a cost of £60,000. Rebuilding took three years. In 2008 the seaward pavilion was again destroyed by fire, and once again it had to be rebuilt, this time after only two years, but at a cost of £39 million.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Westward Ho

The village of Westward Ho! (including exclamation mark) near Bideford, Devon, was developed as a holiday destination in the 1860s. The developers took its name from Charles Kingsley's popular 1855 novel of that name which was set near Bideford. It subsequently became a popular name for a number of British sailing and powered boats. The small ferry in the foreground of this photograph was built in 1987 in Ardrossan, Scotland, and it was used on Cromarty Firth until 2010. In 2012 it was bought for use as a pleasure boat taking tourists from Weston-super-Mare (where it lies above) to the nearby islands of Flat Holm and Steep Holm, and renamed, Westward Ho (no exclamation mark). Interestingly the deck of the ship can be modified to carry 10 tons of freight or a single vehicle. This feature makes it Britain's smallest car ferry.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Boats, Weston-super-Mare

The Bristol Channel at Weston-super-Mare is wide enough to feel like the sea rather than an estuary. This feeling is enhanced by the presence of two islands, piers, a fine promenade and a scattering of boats. The fact that the beach is very shallow and hence the water is distant at low tide means that most boats are small and the larger vessels are presumably in nearby marinas. This colourful trio caught my eye at both low and high tide but looked better, photographically speaking, without the sea.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Wreck of the steam trawler, "Sheraton"

The steam trawler, "Sheraton", was a steel-bodied ship about 50 feet long, built in 1907. During WW1 it was used in boom defence work and in WW2 it was a patrol vessel. In 1945 it became a target ship and in 1947, while being towed for use as a target hulk, it was blown ashore in a gale at Hunstanton, Norfolk. Some of the superstructure was cut away and the rest was left to the sea. With each passing year it becomes less and less.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10