SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL. 25 APRIL 2021

They headed for the beach.

It was around 5-43am.

Only one street light was still switched on.

No one told it that the party was over.

The Cricket pitch was frosted over.

They reached  the car park at 5-49 am.

A dog walker walked the water's edge under a free-range egg yolk of a sun.

The air was still.

The Wind Turbines were stood idle with

"Arms." raised as if they were saying 

"Told you so."

The air was chilly.

About a dozen or so Oyster Catchers picked at the sand between the strand line and dune edge. 

Some beach regulars milled about.

Painted driftwood reflected the sunlight.

Orbital.

A couple passed by near the strand line.

They left very contrasting footprints.

A Skylark with new batteries fitted sang over the Stack as it was stacked.

It tried its best to drown the sea.

Beach Buoy returned to the beach and headed south, searching shingle as he walked.

The distant wave lady's Dog ran ahead of its owner once more to say hello.

Beach Buoy found an alley either made from 

marble (marble.)

or Alabaster (Alley.)

Ghost fishing gear; beach cleaned.

Fishermen use the containers as floats

They tie rope through the handle.

The rope cuts through the thinner plastic.

The Golden Sun turned silver.

Slow walk back.

Another wind-blown balloon burst and beach cleaned.

Watching.

The finds.

Off-road.

Kettle on.

 

Coffee and Doughnut.

Beach Buoy.

SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL. 24 APRIL 2021.

1-39, am still up.

Saturday morning...

2-20 am, Computer update complete.

Google 

"HARTLEPOOL SUNRISE."

(5-41 am)

3-00 am, milky coffee.

4-40 am, birds singing.

"No point trying to find sleep now"

5-25 am Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog head for the beach.

They arrived at 5-30am.

Eleven minutes to sunrise.

There was low cloud but high expectations.

Sunrise came and went almost unnoticed.

Two sunrise seekers stood at the water's edge under a sky sponsored by Grey.

There was a cold breeze off the sea.

(Sponsored by North; a subsidiary of Grey Corp.)

Beach Buoy pulled up two hoods and stuffed chilly hands into jean pockets.

He kicked shingle as he walked, looking for finds.

He found a 

21 balloon.

He burst and beach cleaned it.

The wind off the sea will have blown it to shore.

The bay was a little moody.

Sea Glass.

A heavy base, possibly a vase?

Or maybe one of those bottles with much more bottle than contents?

Stubborn Dog became more Stubborn.

There was a lady heading south.

She walked nearby

"Does he want to say hello?"

"He just gets freaked out when someone walks behind."

"I know how he feels."

She carried on south.

Beach Buoy was now "Behind."

He was just about to collect stones for the stack.

He decided to leave it until later.

Walking behind armed with stones wasn't a good look.

The lady picked finds and paused to photograph the sea before heading back to the north.

The distant wave lady's dog ran ahead of its owners to say hello to Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog.

Beach Buoy searched more shingle.

He sat down at the side of the Pier.

He drank coffee from a thermal cup.

The Skylarks sang.

Stubborn Dog slept.

Beach Buoy laid out the finds of the day on the top one of the WW2 Tank Traps.

He headed back.

A few steps into the return journey he spotted and collected a sea alley.

 

He burst and beach cleaned another wind-blown balloon.

Sea Pottery that looks like the Bay's Wind Turbines.

It was 6-50am when Beach Buoy finally stacked the stack.

He stood and listened to the sea and the Skylarks.

The slow walk back.

The Water Treatment Plant always reminds Beach Buoy of a Roman Villa.

 

Base Camp.

Time for another coffee and a spotty toasted teacake.

Some more finds on the way back.

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL 22 APRIL 2021.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog arrived at 6-12 pm.

The Hungry Seagull had packed up and was leaving the promenade.

A Fire Engine was parked up near the dunes.

The crew were packing up their gear.

Looks like another prat had set fire to the dune system?

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog headed for the beach.

The tide was way out.

There was a breeze off the sea, with a hint of a chill and some south thrown in for luck.

The Moon had received a Post Card off the Sun;

"WISH YOU WERE HERE.

So it turned up to see what all of the fuss was about.

The beach was very quiet.

It was bright.

The angle of the Sun meant that when a seagull flew overhead, its shadow would run the beach.

They hovered like Chip Vultures.

The air was unmistakably, sea air.

As they headed south, the north seemed to be filling up?

They walked  the strand line, picking up anything of interest as they did so.

It was 6-44 pm where they stacked the stack.

They paused a while to think about things.

They walked the shingle up near the grey rocks before doing the same down along the side of the Pier.

Shingle had filled any gaps that had formed between the pier and the beach due to the action of the sea.

They sat a while.

Sea Defence.

After a while they began to head back.

The breeze was on their backs as they headed along the beach.

A Skylark was singing for his supper, over the dunes.

Still no more Sand Martins after the one spotted down near the Pier a good few days ago.

Social distancing at its very best.

The finds.

One piece seems to have an unusual pottery mark?

They followed an ever-changing water's edge back to the van as the tide turned to claim the beach once more.

BEACH BUOY.

WEDNESDAY 21 APRIL 2021. SEATON CAREW, HARTLEPOOL.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog arrived at the car park at 6-40pm.

It was sunny.

There was a slight but chilly breeze off the sea.

The tide was well out.

Kids in shorts as bright as post it stickers headed back up the access ramp.

Their Father saying, "The Car is just up here."

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog headed for the sea.

It may have been sunny but it was without doubt a hands-in-pocket evening.

Two ladies up ahead, sat themselves down near the strand line after picking a random spot to call home for a while.

Out in the bay, Yachts made the most of the fresh breeze that drifted across it.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog stacked the stack.

It was 7-04pm.

They headed back down to the beach and continued walking south, making use of the low tide to gain access to Sand Martin Corner.

The sea had shaped the sands, as they had done for year after year, tide after tide.

Once again, they were drawn to the strip of  shingle that had been deposited up on the grey rocks.

It paid off tonight.

A lovely blue glass bead; a keeper.

They began a slow walk back.

A beach clean item.

The walk.

Up ahead to the left, The German Shepard Owner's Club headed south.

A lady had three dogs down by the water's edge.

They varied in size.

Small.

Medium.

Large.

Large ran into the sea chasing thrown stones, as medium stood shouting direction as to which way the projectiles went.

Small stood hoping that someone had brought biscuits.

The two "Random" beach sitters had just stood up, heading back just ahead of Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog.

By the time Beach Buoy reached the promenade the ladies were tapping their shoes on the promenade to empty out the sand that they had collected.

 

Back in the van, Beach Buoy photographed the finds.

The large brown circle item was a pot lid.

It had a screw thread on the other side.

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL. 20 APRIL 2021.

Tuesday.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog turned up in the car park at 6-08pm.

There was a mist / sea fret in the bay.

The headland had gone to the north, Saltburn and the Wind Turbines to the south.

There was a sight breeze off the sea.

The tide was more out than it was in.

Up towards the dunes, the sun was trying its best to burn through the grey.

It was trying enough to cast pale Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog shadows onto the sand, once they had reached the beach.

A couple of couples were walking the water's edge separately.

The lady from each couple represented the weather.

One wore a Parka and a wooly hat. 

(Mist)

The other had her trousers rolled up as she walked barefoot in the sea.

(Sun)

There were around seven couples in all, each staking a claim to a different path on which to walk by the sea.

One couple chose to sit on a large driftwood bench and watch the world go by.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog headed south, beyond the stack to the grey rocks and sand martin corner beyond.

By the time that they had walked half of the grey rocks, the beach was all but theirs. 

For a while at least.

A few minutes from the house; an empty beach.

They were tempted up to the shingle scattered amongst  the grey rocks.

It was 7-10 pm when they began a slow walk back.

The mist had cleared a little.

Some of the Wind Turbine's Towers were gradually becoming visible.

To the north a silhouette of Hartlepool's Historic Headland had appeared.

Beach Buoy paused on the beach to photograph the evening's finds.

The popular driftwood bench seemed to be stretching to catch the falling sun.

They headed back to the van.

BEACH BUOY.