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| Beach Buoy wanted to see the sunrise. Trouble is he went to bed at 12-50am and had to set the alarm for 3-50am He didn't find sleep straight away. When the alarm did go off, Beach Buoy was in a deep deep sleep. By 4-10 am they were heading on foot for the beach. The street lights were still on but began to go out in a random sequence as they headed towards the beach. To be honest he was tempted to make the short journey in the van, so that he could enjoy post-beach walk tea and toast in the snugness and smugness of the van. They passed a bottle that had been left on a garden wall. The owner of the garden seemed to have been having trouble with litter. The wall had a small space between a raised area and a tree. People must have been using the gap as a rubbish bin. The owner had made a little wooden sign. PLEASE DON'T PUT YOUR RUBBISH IN HERE. That'll work. To be fair it did. They left it on the wall A Lone Gull on a nearby roof seemed to think it was funny and chuckled to himself. Four more Gulls walked on Cricket Club Grass. All four Gulls sounded like cats. In the distance, Beach Buoy could see the the Wind Turbines were turning slowly. It was a beautiful morning. As they turned into the car park, a Silver Camper Van did the same. 'Bet they have tea and bread for toast' thought Beach Buoy. The sea came into view at 4-23 am Five, yes five people were stood on the promenade Ten, yes Ten others came into view on the water's edge. waiting for the sunrise Some of the ten were children, they ran up and down excitedly. |
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| Beach Buoy ambled down to the water's edge. It was 4-22 am Two figures headed in his direction seemingly wanting the same small spot of the enormous beach. Beach Buoy moved south. |
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| 4-37 am The sun showed up wanting half of the world, not just a beach upon it. |
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| The sun cleared the horizon. |
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| Beach Buoy went up to the dune edge and sat on a driftwood seat. He made notes in his beach book. He was sure he could hear a nearby kettle boiling and smell the aroma of toast, drifting down from the car park. To the north the seafront houses glowed in the bright morning sunlight. |
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| One of the sunrise worshipers had decided to head south at the water's edge. |
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| An aeroplane took flight. |
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| A driftwood sundial confirmed that it was just gone daft o'clock. They headed south. |
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| After stacking the dune stack at 5-15 am, they headed down to North Gare Corner. Three fishermen stood together but apart. Their rods were angled in their tripods. Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog had a sit and think down in North Gare Corner. The fishermen gave up at 5-45 am. |
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| Stubborn Dog watched them go, then he fell asleep. |
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| This little fellow joined them, before jumping and crawling his way to a nearby rock pool. |
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| They headed back. The early birds (Most) had headed home. The beach waited for a new wave of visitors. The next shift. It was 5-57am. It was 6-23 am when the next shift began to show. An old familiar dog with three legs ran towards Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog. It stopped just short, then headed back to its owner. They were back at base camp by 7 am making tea and toast. |
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| Later it was coffee at Nose's Point, near Seaham. |
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| A short walk. |
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| More drink down at Seaham Harbour with Red Acre Beach as a back drop, |
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| Odd vapour trails down over Roker. |
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| They left the blues behind. |
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| When they arrived back in Seaton Carew, Bech Buoy made sure that his mountain bike was road ready. Its a white bike It would look lovely on the back of the van on one of those fancy cycle rack. |
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| He paused at Newburn Bridge, scene of his Great Grandfather's heroics for which hr received THE SEA GALLANTRY MEDAL |
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| William Grainger SGM 1864 -1946 |
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| He headed back. BEACH BUOY. |
