SEATON SANDS, SEATON CAREW, 17 JUNE 2020.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog arrived at the
 car park at 6-34 pm.
The car park was busy; Boy Racers stood around admiring each others cars.
It was misty once more.
The Little Tern watchers extended the nesting site barriers.
More of a sand grab than a land grab. 

Recent rough seas had dumped seaweed 

They headed up to the dunes.

Seacoal gathers in the sand ripples.

They had a slow walk back.

Two horses came galloping along from the south.
They sounded like distant fireworks going off as they  thudded on the wet sand.
BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL 16 JUNE 2020 WORDS TO FOLLOW

Beach Buoy and Stubborn left the house on foot at 4-42 am.
The tide was well out.
A misty breeze blew off the sea.
Both the Headland and Redcar were lost to the mist.

Out in the bay only the yellow bases of a few of the Wind Turbines were visible; looking a little like a felled forest.

They found a blue sea alley then headed to stack the stack.
They then continued  south to check on the Sand Martins.
Beach Buoy saw four of them flying around this evening.
There seemed to be at least 15 burrows under construction.
Maybe some were just test digs?

They headed back of the mist drifted around.
The South Gare appeared, then went just as quickly.
The air felt like proper sea air tonight; the mist laden air combined with the smell of drying seaweed made a heady aroma. 

BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS, JUNE 15 2020.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog parked up in the beach car park at 6-18 pm.
It was busy, with people milling around the large expanse of the beach, with its low tide.

There was lots of seaweed and sea coal tonight, thanks to recent rough seas.
It wasn't sunny but it was warm; the smell of drying seaweed was lovely.

A Large Container Ship left the river, beyond the North Gare Pier.
The Pier seems to under almost constant repair.

The South end of the beach was quieter.

They went up to stack the stack and then headed back to the beach and continued south.
They left the Skylarks, singing up above the dunes.

He went to check on the status of the Sand Martins.
There was five or six of the little birds, swooping around.
There seemed to be seven new burrows dug in the sand bank.

They headed back.
They moved down to the water's edge to make way for the approaching German Shepards Owners Club.

Beach Buoy sat in the van a good while.
They had passed the touching tribute to a much loved dog.
All of the balls had been taken.
Beach Buoy will put any beach found ones in the box for as long as it is there.

Stubborn Dog had a cold drink in his pop up bowl.

Beach Buoy sat with a drink out of the fridge.


A Van
A Man
A Can
........ and a Stubborn Dog
That's it.

BEACH BUOY.

TRIO

In November 1901

 there was a gale and a shipwreck taking place. 

My Great Grandfather; William Grainger SGM, was one of the Rocket Brigade 

crew 

trying to

 get a line to the Swedish ship; Trio.
The Gale was blowing the line back so in his frustration my Great Grandfather 

tied a rope around his waist and swam out

 to help save life.
He was awarded a gold medal by the town ; a number of others were too, 

but only he was awarded the Sea Gallantry Medal.
Almost unbelievably the whole thing was photographed 

and reproduced thanks to Hartlepool Arts and Museum Service.

The ship had left Port and headed North but dashed back to Hartlepool 
for safety when the weather turned. The weather was so bad that  it could not get into the 
Port and she was breaking up in Hartlepool Bay.
Note the men in flat caps watching.

More onlookers as the ship is at the Sea's mercy.

Masts are breaking up as the Ship is tossed around.

It looks like a puff of white smoke on the left,
 perhaps from the Rocket team? 

WILLIAM GRAINGER . SGM
1864-1946.

Eye witness account, written at a later date.

Page 2.

William and Biddy; his wife.

HIS SEA GALLANTRY MEDAL.

SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL 14 JUNE 2020.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog arrived at 6-35 am.
it was foggy and chilly.
They were about to head down the ramp when Beach Buoy noticed the photograph and words of explanation had come unstuck from the black box of tennis balls that appeared yesterday; the damp had penetrated the tape.
He went back to the van for some super duper sticky tape and reattached it.

They headed south, between two strand lines, they resembled a railway line, destination; North Gare Corner to check on the Sand Martins.

There seemed to have been an outbreak of joggers this morning.

They stacked the stack and stayed in the dunes to reach North Gare Corner.

After a few winding tracks in the dunes, they reached the North Gare Corner.

Beach Buoy dug through some of the collapsed sand bank to see if any Sand Martins were still there.
He was overjoyed as first one, then two, three, four and five Sand Martins appeared swooping overhead.

Beach Buoy found some sea pottery.

On his return he went for a cycle ride to Hartlepool Marina.

Via the Promenade.

Middleton.

Six Surfers and five Jet skis spotted  on the way back.

Later it was back at the Marina in the van,

Beach Buoy.......

SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL. 13 JUNE 2020

Beach Buoy was at work today; a Saturday.
He took the opportunity to take a photograph  of his VW Transporter down by the Tees Transporter.

Beach Buoy pulled into the car park at 6-25 pm
with Stubborn Dog and a coffee in tow.
It was very foggy.
Beach Buoy couldn't even see the sea from his high vantage point in the van.
He could see a black box at the top of the beach access / egress ramp.
There appeared to be a sign on it? People were stopping and reading the sign.
One small boy reached into the box and pulled out a tennis ball.
Perhaps he was a budding magician?
A middle-aged man drove around in the fog with the top down on his convertible sports car.
He parked up, and sat, revving the car's engine.

Beach Buoy headed for the beach at 6-45 pm,
he too stooped to look at the black box.
It was full of tennis balls.
There was a photograph of a lovely looking dog; a Border Collie.
A sad note explained that the balls had been left in tribute
to Nell.
The balls were there to take and enjoy the beach in the much-loved dog's memory.
x
What a touching way to pay tribute to one's pet.


Beach Buoy headed south.
Someone was putting up a tent in the dunes.

The Skylarks sang above the campers and the dunes in general.

They double stacked the stack to make up for yesterday's short walk.

They headed back down to the beach and continued south.

No bright reflections today.

The North Gare Pier ran off into the Mist in search of the Mermaids that were crying just out out of sight.
Maybe they were crying for Nell the Border Collie?

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog went to North Gare Corner; the shingle looked promising.

They arrived at The Sand Martin's sandbank;
it was a sad  sight. All of the burrows had been lost in a collapse of the sand bank due to torrential rain that had fell in the past few days.
The fencing from years ago when the dunes were being stabilised  was in a pile at the bottom.

The photograph below from a couple of weeks ago, shows the fencing still attached to the bank. You can clearly see the Sand Martin's Burrows that had been dug in the sandy bank; they had all gone.
There were no birds in sight.
Beach Buoy was devastated.
He counted on the arrival of these birds as a start of a happier time of year, as he did with the Skylarks and more recently the Little Terns.

A photograph from a few weeks ago of a Sand Martin in flight over the bank.

A deflated Beach Buoy photographed some finds.

They headed back into the mist.

Beach cleaned.

Beach cleaned.


BEACH BUOY.