SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL 30 APRIL.2020 AN ALLOWED EXERCISE WALK.

They crossed an empty car park at 7 pm.
There wasn't a breath of wind down on the beach.
The sky was dramatic.....

To the North.....

... and also to the South.

They went to the Dune stack.
The sky to the south became even darker.
Ominously the Wind Turbines al turned to face south and began to slowly rotate.
Rain was on its way.

They headed back as the light at each end of the beach were in complete contrast to one another.

The rain decided to run away to sea.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog headed back.

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS 29 APRIL 2020. ALLOWED EXERCISE WALK.

They reached the beach at 7-02 pm.
Four Oyster Catchers took flight as they blew for full time.
Air travel had reduced dramatically since the lookdown.
Beach Buoy was slightly surprised to see a Plane heading for the local Airport.
He decided to call it a Rareoplane.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog headed South.
Two ladies headed North, two metres apart as they chatted.

Beach Buoy found a bonny stone; Fossilised Coral.

They headed up to the Dune Stack.
A Skylark sang to the Sea as if trying to calm the chilly breeze that was blowing off it.

They wandered down to the sea, before heading back to the North.

It was an evening of creams and blues.

Stubborn Dog stopped, as he often does.
This is the look he gives you when he has made you stop for no other reason than to stop you.
He looks you straight in the eyes as if saying
'Made you stop!'

It wasn't a busy beach be any stretch of the imagination...

They headed back.


BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL, 28 APRIL 2020. AN ALLOWED EXERCISE WALK.

It was a cloudy old evening.

The tide was quite high.

A Ball.

They headed up to the Dunes
and then ... they headed back.


BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS 27 APRIL 2020. ALLOWED EXERCISE WALK.

It had been sunny and mad hot for much of the day.
They set off for the beach at 6-43pm.
A massive cloud stretched out over this particular part of North East England.
It looked like a massive map of an unknown island with the dark and lighter greys highlighting  the contours of the land. Where the light caught the edges of the 'Island'
it formed make believe beaches, below tall white cliffs.

The cloud shrouded the beach.
The hills of Eston and the Cleveland Hills still had sunshine, as did The Headland.
The temperature had really dropped.

They headed South.
They were overtaken by a man with a swagger and headphones.
He had the walk of Liam Gallagher, but most probably not the same headphones.

As the walk progressed, more and more clouds came to the party.

A man in a white top, passed by, heading North.
It would appear that he was taking his after-shave out for a walk.
As he passed the smell, sorry, 'The Aroma'
 drifted across the beach, carried by the chilly breeze off the sea. 

Shades.

They called up to the dunes as they always do now.
The headland was now in shadow.

They began to head back.
Well, one of them did.
Stubborn Dog had  other ideas.
He is expert at pointing his paws slightly down over, so that the more you pull, the deeper he goes.

Eventually they made a move after promises of biscuits.

Even the Sun showed up.
Perhaps it wanted Biscuits too?

Beach Buoy glanced back to the South to see what scene the returning Sun had created.

Shortly afterwards....
Stubborn Dog made his move.
He circled Beach Buoy twice with the dog lead.
Beach Buoy was trapped.
Another meeting saw Biscuits and a belly rub on offer.
Stubborn Dog accepted.

Time to go.....

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL, 26 APRIL 2020. ALLOWED EXERCISE WALK.

As they left the house, Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog passed two Seagulls that were sat on rooftops on opposite sides of the road.
The Gulls did that Gull 'laugh' as they went by on the pavement below, as if they had an in joke and Beach Buoy was it.
Beach Buoy named them Beavis and Butt-Head.

They carried on beyond the Cricket ground.
A house with a balcony flew three St George flags for the recent Sr. George's day.
An Australian flag flapped nearby too.
At the end of the road, the large triangular traffic island was a forest of gone-to-seed dandelion heads.
The Sun shone on the seed heads,  making them glow.
They looked like a thousand miniature street lights.

At 6-12am they reached the beach. 

The Sun hung there, gloating like some towel wielding tourist who had claimed the best pool-side spot.
Beach Buoy could almost hear it say..
'Where have you been?'
'I've been up ages!'
Beach Buoy was pleased to see the Sun.
The tide was high.
They headed South.
Beach Buoy spotted a dog-less lady heading back to the North so he went up towards the dunes to give her space and enjoy her water-side walk in peace. 

Once the lady had passed , they returned the short distance to the water's edge.
Beach Buoy glanced back to see a man wearing shorts with a dog, in the distance, also heading South. 
The man kept stopping and doing squats at the sea... in those shorts?
Really?
It reminded Beach Buoy of the Friends episode on TV; the one where Joey wears all of Chandler's clothes and does those lunges, whilst "Going Commando!" 
Thankfully Joey.. correction the man eventually stopped  and lunged / squatted his way back to the North.

The tide came in and washed the slate clean.
A fresh start, no baggage, no history.

There had been a slight hint of far off mist when they had arrived.
Now the Sun gave more warmth and light; Solar Power heading for the Wind Power Turbines, that rotated gently out in the calm Bay.

The tide had peaked and started to recede.

The shadow branches give driftwood a more interesting look.

They went up to the dune stack.
Someone had left a single standing stone nearby.

They paused briefly before heading back.

Sticks and Stones.

An unusual looking seeded in the dunes.
The seeds were splayed out in one plane, like a small plate.

Slow walk back.

Up ahead, an equally spaced procession of 
One Man and his dog lined the water's edge.
It was like a bank holiday TV schedule for a farming channel
One Man and His Dog
followed by
One Man and His Dog.
followed by
One man and his sledge?
Correction ,
One man and His Stubborn Dog.

Concrete.

Someone had left this at the access to the beach.

Then it was time to head back;
leave the hustle and bustle of the seaside behind for now....

shhhhhh

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL, 25 APRIL 2020. ALLOWED EXERCISE WALK.

Beach Buoy  and Stubborn Dog left the house at 5-45 am.
Drifts of wind blown blossom laid in the gutters as they headed for the beach.
It was after sunrise, but the sun was a ball that wasn't playing this morning.
Birdsong filled the air.
There were so many Wood Pigeons calling that it sounded like an echo chamber.
Gulls added to the chorus as they discussed the on-going fish and chip shortage. 

The tide was quite high, the sea rolled in from a misty bay.
The Wind Turbines off Redcar were  barely visible.
Hints of their columns looked like a partially completed pencil sketch of the horizon. 

They kept to the water's edge as they  headed south.

They added to the dune stack, then headed back.

An old friend ran across to say hello; Mari the big friendly poodle was over for her shoulder rub.

They headed to the clock tower.
Then headed back.....

The awning went up on the van ..... on the drive.
It hadn't been up since the August Bank Holiday.

Beach Buoy repacked the awning whilst wondering when it would be used again?


BEACH BUOY.