HARTLEPOOL 1963

DOCUMENTRY MAKERS....

YOU NEVER CHANGE...

1963 PART 1

1963 PART 2

1963 PART 3

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS 21 FEB. 2019.

Beach Buoy and two dogs headed for the beach.
It was so mild; a lovely afternoon.
Beach Buoy had been off colour for various reasons.
Tuesday; in bed by 5-30pm awake until 4-00 am then up for work at 5-50am.
Wednesday; in bed by 5-10 pm ... thankfully sleep paid a visit.
Thursday; far from 100 % but he thought the sun and sea may help?
The car park was surprisingly full. Surprising to Beach Buoy at least because he had forgotten that the schools were off this week.
Beach Buoy and two dogs headed the short distance to the water's edge, as it was almost high tide.
The village church bells rang out for 4-30pm (Almost bed time.)
A large and loud aeroplane lumbered across the sky, heading for the Tees airport.
It travelled so slowly it looked like it would just fall from the sky.
Thankfully it didn't. 

The three travelled South, on the narrow stretch of beach.

Beach Buoy paused and took a photograph when it was spot on high tide.
 As he did so a fly flew by.
It was no great surprise, as it was such a very mild day, for an English February  afternoon.
Waves crashed on the shoreline but the sea itself looked calm.

Our three beach walkers stopped at the grey rocks.
Two crows flew off in unison as the walkers had  reached the end of the available beach.
In contrast, many seagulls bobbed about out in the bay, on the Blue sparkling sea.
A ship came out of the River Tees. It was one of those...
A boat or a ship?
Beach Buoy knew that you can have a boat on a ship, but not a ship on a boat.
This one, he decided, was more ship than boat.
Then a boat boat appeared; red and white and it sped off across the Bay, travelling North.
Whereas as the ship boat turned left at the wind turbines and headed South.

As they returned, it was still warm and bright.
The height of the dunes had placed the beach into the shadows.
The three climbed up into the dunes.
The dune grass glowed in the sunlight and bent slightly in the warm breeze from the west.

They stayed in the dunes a short while before heading back down to the seashore.
As they walked back via the beach, a lady with a dog headed south.
She was a good ten to fifteen metres away but there was a strong waft of perfume caught in the breeze.
"Must have had a bath in the stuff?" thought Beach Buoy.

Shortly afterwards, a gentleman overtook the dawdling three.
There was another waft; this time more of an aftershave than a perfume aroma? 
It could be that the sea air had just cleared Beach Buoy's head and any smell would be more noticeable?

Eventually back at the van...
Stubborn Dog being good to his name would rather sit outside  of the van.
He is out on a sleepover tonight ...
The Blog is all Beach Buoy's.
It is very odd.
No snoring Dog curled up on the desk checking for spilling mistooks.
:-)

Beach Buoy had taken the two dogs to their sleeping destination much later on.
He was drawn back to the sea by an amazing moon.
No mobile phone camera could do it justice?
It hung there, glowing like a large Space Hooper. It was an apt description as that was exactly what it was doing...
Hopping around in Space..
over to superdan.....

SUPERDAN

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS 18 FEB. 2019.

Beach Buoy had been to work.
He drove along the windy sea front to collect Stubborn Dog and his mate Sweep.
Oyster Catchers grazed on the grass that ran alongside the prom.
Seagulls sat bobbing in the sea.
Dogs collected; they headed for the Beach.
They parked up.
Stubborn Dog was stuck to the seat like a Limpet.
Beach Buoy had opened the back door of the van to retrieve the box with his beach boots in.
Stubborn Dog was not impressed with the blast of cold wind that tunnelled  through the van.
He would have quite happily have stayed there but was encouraged to go on the beach.

There was a chilly wind from the west.
Dustings of soft sand headed for the sea.

The tide was more out than in.
There were clouds to the North.
The wind picked up and the temperature dropped a little.

The sea was calm, but rippled.

The three walked as far as the grey rocks.
The schools were on holiday today and all week but the windy beach was quiet.

They headed back.
It was good to be out on the Beach.

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS AND NORTH GARE BEACH, SUNDAY 17 FEB. 2019.

Beach Buoy had woke with the Elephants at 4-15am.
He managed to nod back off.
He was up and out by 6-45am.
He and Stubborn Dog arrived in the car park at 6-58am.
It was a nice morning with a slight, but fresh breeze.
Beach Buoy was glad of the extra coat that had been hung over the back of front passenger seat of the van, ready for such occasions.

Just after 7am and they were both on the beach.
A lady rushed by with her brown dog. The same lady from a previous weekend. Today, like the other day she was playing catch-up with the 7 am club.
They were down by the water's edge heading south.
Her brown dog stopped for an ear rub as it had done previously. Today it was a little brighter and Beach Buoy saw flecks of grey mixed in with the brown. Beach Buoy thought "It happens to us all mate." The dog looked knowingly into Beach Buoy's eyes  as the ear rub continued almost as if he had heard and understood.
"Morning." shouted the friendly dog's owner and the little chap was off, playing a game of catch-up of his own.

Catch-up completed the plus two, 7am club continued to lead the way south.

Beach Buoy was drawn to the water's edge by the reflection of the light on the wet sand.
It would be low tide in just ten minutes.

A long sandbank laid out in the bay.

7-23am.
The sun appeared behind the two Gares; North and South.
It has been said that South Gare is farther North than North Gare, due to the way it runs out to sea?
Beach Buoy has never checked to be honest.
The Gares are the entrance to the River Tees.

Minutes later; only minutes and the sun was up and  on its way.
The Sea Serpent was showing three humps today twisting and turning on the golden rippled but relatively calm sea.
A grey dog approached for an ear rub; word must have spread. The small dog stayed a while then trotted off to its owner in the distance.
 Beach Buoy glanced back to the North.
The bay looked gorgeous. A few houses back in the village and over on the headland whose windows were at the correct angle to perfectly reflect the glorious sunrise.
By now the 7 am club were heading back North.
Mari the big extra friendly Poodle came over, she got a warm welcome and an extra special ear rub and neck scratch.
A short distance later and the grey dog was back for seconds. 
More ear rubbing took place.
The beach was fast becoming Ear Rub City Arizona, out in the County of Neck Scratch. 

With a warm heart and an increasingly warming face , Beach Buoy headed to the grey rocks and the shingle that was scattered around them.
He was lucky enough to find a blue five stones game piece.
Maybe it rolled down a drain many years ago as children played in the street?
Beach Buoy had found quite  few over the years.
Stubborn Dog picked up on the fact that they were heading for that extra beach over the North Gare Pier and even stopped dragging behind; just for a moment and even momentarily he lead the way!

Over by the River, down on North Gare Beach, the Golden Brown Dune grass bowed and glowed in the fresh breeze and the stunning morning light.

Beach Buoy dragged a bundle of rope and tied it to the Old Buoy. The items he had place there previously were still there. He had left word via social media in the hope it could be collected.
He would leave word again.

This was found down near the end of the Pier and added to the Old Boy's Old Buoy collection. 

With it being a bank of a river, sometimes the driftwood is tree size. Possibly fallen up river and trying to set sail across the North Sea, given a favourable tide and a good wind behind it?

Beach Buoy rested a while.
 He sat and had a think in the sun.
Nice work if you can get it.

Beach Buoy watched as a man collected Mussels ?
Winkles?
Whatever it was, he was doing well as one bag had already been filled and put to one side.
The light was so bright, anything white glowed like freshly fallen alpine snow, regardless of what it was; a ship in port, a large chimney stack and even the cloud-like smoke that came from it.

They headed back to the bay and Seaton Sands.
Beach Buoy heard Birdsong..
He strained his eyes and ears to try and locate  and possibly identify the source.
Secretly he was hoping it was the return of the skylarks.
It didn't seem to be the case.
The unidentified birdsong drifted in the breeze off to the world of silence.
Low tide gave lots of space to walk in your own space.
A Lady up on there dune edge had two very attentive Alsatian's with her. She photographed them as they ran back and forth.
Down at the water's edge a golden dog was leg deep in the sea. The happy dog's tail wagged like a windscreen wiper on x 4 in a downpour.

Back to the South.
A lone cloud and an Aeroplane cross the Stunning Hartlepool Bay.

An almost perfect morning.

Beach trapped  water rushes back to the Sea.... just like Beach Buoy.
Suddenly... More Birdsong! Beach Buoy couldn't identify the half-dozen or so small birds that flew by. They were in a line that was fluctuating in flight, a little like a tail of a kite being flown in a strong wind by excited children.

Beach Buoy was here...

Seaton.

They returned to the van.
Beach Buoy took his coat off and hung it back over the passenger seat for next time.
Stubborn Dog made himself at home.

Beach Buoy sat a while.
The driftwood piece that he had made years earlier with a sea-glass insert stood out in the sunlight.
The little solar powered monkey did a dance on the dashboard; he too was glad of the sun.

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS 16 FEB 2019.

Beach Buoy woke at 4-20am.

There was an Elephant in the room, correction two Elephants.

The older and heavier of the two was sitting on Beach Buoy's leg, crushing it.

The younger and more energetic Elephant played with a large hammer in its trunk and every now and then he would send it swinging down on Beach Buoy's ankle.....

That's what it felt like anyway.

Nearby, it was either Stubborn Dog or a Drunken Sailor snoring.

It sounded like a rusty, blunt saw trying to topple a Hundred year old tree.
Beach Buoy glanced over to check  just who the lumberjack was.
It was Stubborn Dog.
 Good job too, if it had been a drunken sailor Beach Buoy would have been at a loss as to what to do.....

DRUNKEN SAILOR

Beach Buoy made a move; he was up!
He crossed the room making noises  like a community of chimpanzees having a discussion about who was going to eat the last Banana.
Beach Buoy made the same noises coming into the kitchen.
He put on a pan of milk to make a coffee.
As he crouched standing waiting for the milk to boil his gaze headed over to the Bread Bin. There waving at him was a Jam doughnut from yesterday... "Eat me." it said.
Beach Buoy made the coffee and placed the jam doughnut on a small plate along with four painkillers and shuffled off to a seat.
The coffee was sipped as the doughnut was bitten and bitten and bitten... No Jam?
Bite number four.... SPLAT!
Still no Jam in the Doughnut,
it was all on Beach Buoy.
Beach Buoy couldn't be bothered
he sat there, taking tablets looking as though he had been shot in the centre of the chest.... at very close range.
Perhaps he was conserving energy?

Beach Buoy dressed slowly, very slowly.
He walked Stubborn Dog slowly, very slowly.
It was around 6-30 as they headed off around the block.
The light was coming.
The glow of a golden sky reflected on the windows of the houses that faced South.
A dull light illuminated the brickwork of the houses as they passed.
Beach Buoy took Stubborn Dog back and jumped in the van for work, it was 7 am.
He headed off North along the seafront, all but one of the street lights were off apart from a single stubborn one shining on regardless.

Beach Buoy went to work...........

Beach Buoy headed to the beach after work and Stubborn Dog came too.
The car park was busy but luckily the dog walker to car owner ratio was low, the majority must have head to the arcades, fish shop or Promenade? 
It was a mild afternoon.
The tide was well out.
The Seaton Carew Wreck was half and at Sea and on Sand.

The Sea Serpent showed two humps out in the calm but rippled Bay. 

Sprat... bigger than I had thought.
He was motionless but I put him back into the Sea, because you never know.

The clouds over the Dunes were Bonnie.

Beach Buoy found some finds on his walk but left them for others or the Sea ... whichever came along first.

Beach Buoy went as far as the North Gare Pier.
The tide was going out; Beach Buoy was heading back.

Seabirds drift silently back out to sea from land  like expertly made paper aeroplanes.

Other Seabirds sat, not so quietly on some raised sandbank.

The Church Bells struck  at 5-15.
Beach Buoy headed back..

BEACH BUOY .

SEATON SANDS 14 FEB. 2019.

Beach Buoy had been to work.
It was an unusually mild day and the chance to head for the beach was taken willingly.
He grabbed two dogs, his Beach Buoy Beach Book to scribble some wobbly notes in as he spotted things of note; to him at least.
They pulled into the car park at 4-10 pm, according to the van clock. The Bus Station Clock still disagreed in Clock Tower Land it was 2-04 am or pm ? Who knows?
Sea birds sat in the centre of the car park as they tend to do.
All but one faced the slight breeze. 
The odd bod gull was sat with his back to the breeze while the others all stood facing it so as not to ruffle their feathers.
Beach Buoy and the dogs got out of the van as an obvious non L plate learner driver had a practice drive in between the seabirds, potholes and puddles of the patchwork surface of the car park.
A man sat at the bottom of the concrete beach access ramp as two children played.

A Milky Sun rested on top of the dunes; day's work done.
It reminded Beach Buoy of Egg on Cress.
Beach Buoy wandered down to the water's edge.
The tide was well out.
The Seaton Carew Wreck was clear of the sea that claimed it many years ago.
Some Seagulls stood nearby at the water's edge . They seemed a little lost?
Like a group of bored teenagers gathering outside a shopping arcade, they stood.
Were they waiting for the night to come? 
A leader to fly so that they could follow?
Whilst they made their minds up a lone Cormorant flew North to South and landed in line with the Sea Serpent.

It was an afternoon of pale colours, at sea and on land.
The tide was out enough to give beach access to the North Gare Pier, but Beach Buoy turned at the Grey Rocks.
Too much leg pain.
"Keep Moving."
He kept moving, but in a Northerly direction this time.
An aeroplane came across the Bay and headed down River to the Tees Airport. Higher up a plane seemed to leave an endless vapour trail as it headed North, maybe heading for Newcastle Airport? He had been at Whitley Bay and watched the planes turn at Mary the Lighthouse. He wondered that even in these high tech days, did pilots sill use landmarks? River, lighthouses etc as a guide or at least a bit of a back-up?
The sea was calm.
Waves did break on a hidden sandbank a little offshore.
The undecided group of seagulls had gone.
Maybe they had gone to the promenade to mug an unsuspecting elderly couple of their fish and chips?
Beach Buoy and the dogs drove off as the Clock Tower Clock suggested that they hadn't even arrived yet!

TAKE TWO....
BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS 11 FEB. 2019. SIX WET FEET.

Beach Buoy had been to work.
He wasn't going to go to the beach.
He went to the beach.
With Stubborn Dog riding shotgun they pulled into the car park around 4-06pm.
Scattered across the centre of the car park were the tell-tale signs of someone who had been to a very well known burger outlet drive through, more like drive threw.
A line of seagulls stood, balanced on the low tubular barrier that edged the tarmac of the car park.
The air was cold and still and the afternoon was bright.
The breaking waves were around five deep as the sea was quite rough.
The tide was far enough out to expose the beach end of the Seaton Carew Wreck.

The afternoon's colours were pale.

Beach Buoy watched the waves for a while.
A jogger passed close by slightly behind Beach Buoy.
The jogger seemed to be running on his toes a little?
The sound he made on the sand as he jogged by, reminded  Beach Buoy of a puffing steam train, off in the distance travelling to some seaside destination.

Beach Buoy is not an expert when it comes birds.
He thinks that it was three Sanderlings that he saw quickly dashing through the sea water that was left on the beach after a breaking wave had broke and returned to regroup.
They were so quick, six wet feet dashing excitedly.
Beach Buoy thought their bird call should be "Hooray."
They could call it out as the ran from one spot to another.
It would raise a smile.

A couple of couples with a couple of dogs wandered in their own space.

Beach Buoy continued South, every now and then turning towards the dunes to avoid a rush of incoming sea water.

Splash!
He was caught by the water; just wet feet, no danger involved.
Needless to say Stubborn Dog was wet too.
 Six wet feet squelched their way back to the van.
A white terrier stood with its head tilted looking towards the pair, maybe puzzled as to were the unusual noise was coming from.
It was coming from six wet feet.

BEACH BUOY.