Monday, 25 October 2021
Sunday, 24 October 2021
SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL. 24 OCT 2021.
It was Sunday.
Beach Buoy wasn't sure just what day it was when he first woke.
He loaded the van with the following.
Two thermal cups of Coffee.
A Bag of Doughnuts.
Another Dog.
Beach Buoy.
They all headed for the beach.
They parked up at 6-42 a.m.
The red lights on top off the Wind Turbines seemed to flash as their spinning blades passed in the breeze.
Beach Buoy lit up the dashboard fairy lights.
Orange lights flashed on the Promenade as a council worker loaded the bin wagon with rubbish from the promenade's bins.
Beach Buoy climbed into the rear of the van.
Coffee ✅
Doughnut ✅
He faffed on with the van's LED strip lights.
He tried various colours but as usual he ended up with
Turquoise.
Another Dog was laid along the back of the seat; Stubborn Dog's spot.
If Beach Buoy didn't look and just reached back to stroke the dog, it would be possible to make believe that it was indeed Stubborn Dog laid there.
Of course, it wasn't fair on Stubborn Dog, Another Dog or even Beach Buoy.
A van pulled up behind Beach Buoy.
Just to the left.
The driver sat with engine running and headlights blazing on to the promenade.
Beach Buoy hates that.
A figure as dark as a shadow stepped into the light, heading North on the promenade.
The figure cast a shadow onto the Promenade Wall.
The scale was 1 to 1.
The figure and its shadow held hands and headed off together.
Another figure headed south, wearing a backpack.
His shadow wore a backpack too.
The Distant Wave Lady arrived and headed for the sea.
The headlight van left the car park.
Out in the bay, Beach Buoy could see the Sea Serpent Marker, flashing its red light; a constant flash.
Red can mean danger, but the Serpent is friendly enough.
A sunrise seeking family appeared on the Promenade.
Mother paused to put up the child's hood up, protection against a chilly breeze.
A man in shorts headed south with the bike-fall lady alongside.
Time to head for the beach.
It was always a little lighter outside than it looked from inside the van.
Maybe the tinted windows didn't help?
The sunrise-seeking family were up ahead.
They headed for the water's edge.
Beach Buoy looked towards the sunrise-seeking family; still just silhouettes.
The family showed each other illuminated screens as each tried to capture the scene.
Their Dog laid alongside.
The Dog seemed to be looking at the family almost asking,
"Did anyone remember the ball?"
A man walked dune heights with a light fixed to his head.
There was a strong breeze from the south west.
The tide was more in than it was out.
The sky to the south was dramatic.
Then...
The beach had been clear of Crabs yesterday, both dead or alive.
Today hundreds more, a few Lobsters too.
Beach Buoy looked for signs of life.
It was there in some, but only just.
He placed those he spotted back in the sea.
No rock pools around , which would have been a better option for the stricken creatures.
Later in the day the above photograph would be used on
The Northern Echo's website.
They headed south towards
Stubborn Dog Stack.
They paused before climbing the dune edge.
Back to the North he could see Mr Gunn / Nunn tending to the Crabs putting more live ones back into the sea.
Beach Buoy waited until Mr Gunn / Nunn had caught up on the beach.
They chatted about the tragic beach scene.
"Morning Mate."
he patted
THE
stone.
He added more.
It was 8-01 a.m.
"See you mate."
They headed back.
Gulls had found the crabs.
They feasted on them.
Another Dog looked pleased to stop the frenzy.
Beach Buoy spotted another Crab showing signs of
life.
He placed it into the sea.
Another feast for the Gulls.
Well-fed Gulls twisted and turned.
Beach Buoy was glad to return to the van.
The sky had changed from red to orange to gold to lemon to grey.
He grabbed the second coffee
( and the second Doughnut.)
A couple went by on the Promenade, wearing unnecessary sunglasses.
Beach Buoy left at 8-28 a.m.
As they left they car park they saw Dotty Dog in a bit of a tangle possibly trying to do the Dotty Dog dance on the opposite side of the fencing to her
"Dance Partner?"
Her owner waved as she untangled the hectic Spaniel.
Beach Buoy waved an unseen wave as he headed back.
BEACH BUOY.
Saturday, 23 October 2021
SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL.23 OCT 2021.
Beach Buoy woke at 5-23 a.m.
He toasted a teacake and made three coffees.
One to drink and two thermal cups to take to the beach.
He loaded the van for the very short journey to the beach under a moon-marbled sky.
Every cloud had a silver lining.
If only.
It was 6-37 a.m. when the van crossed dark "Seaview." car park.
The white lines of the parking bays were picked out by the van's bright upgraded headlights.
Beach Buoy felt like the van was a piece in a board game.
A jogger dressed in pink was caught in the beams of bright light as she moved from parking bay to parking bay.
She had thrown a five.
Beach Buoy parked up.
All that he could see was the red lights on the Bay's Wind Turbines and a hint of white as waves broke down on the shore.
He lit the coloured fairy lights that ran the length of the dashboard.
He climbed into the back of the van.
He had a coffee as Another Dog slept.
He made some beach notes as he listened to the sound of the sea and a distant barking dog.
6-52, a man in shorts walked the promenade with the bike-fall lady, their progress lit by the flashing orange lights from a council truck, as its driver emptied the promenade waste bins.
7 a.m. came.
A car door thudded.
Voices.
The distant wave lady and her mother headed for the beach access ramp, Hugo the rescue dog followed.
It was still dark.
The Gulls wanted daylight
They cried overhead.
Two illuminated Cyclists headed to the south end of the promenade.
Moments later they returned to the North.
At 7-13 a.m.
Beach Buoy made a move for the beach.
A couple, that Beach Buoy hadn't seen before, came up the access ramp as Beach Buoy and Another Dog worked their way down to the beach.
The Dogs sniffed at one another.
The owners chatted briefly.
"See you next time."
Beach Buoy and Another Dog headed for the water's edge.
The 7 a.m. club had been and gone.
The most recent tide had thrown seaweed well up into the dunes.
There was a very unusual bird call from the west, up in the dunes.
There was a very unusual silhouette of a bird that briefly headed for the sea, before turning to the west.
It had a rectangular wing-span.
More familiar bird sounds and silhouettes were down at the water's edge, waiting for one of them to be the first to take flight.
They eventually followed the leader.
A couple were walking behind Beach Buoy and Another Dog , but they did only half a beach as they returned to the north.
The Distant Wave Lady approached with her companions.
She made a fuss of Another Dog.
Beach Buoy made a fuss of Hugo the rescue dog.
The group chatted briefly, before going their own way.
The recent rough sea had repositioned driftwood seating.
It also trimmed the dune edge as if it were a lawn....
They found a sloping access to the stack.
"Morning Mate."
He placed a large stone on
STUBBORN DOG STACK,
he patted
THE
stone.
They paused.
Beach Buoy scanned the Bay.
The north looked as if it were a misty day.
It was just the spray of an angry sea.
There was a slight breeze on their backs as they stood dicing the swirling sea.
To the south, some Wind Turbines turned slowly , others not at all.
Around Twenty Oyster Catchers flew North in two Vee formations.
The breeze seemed to pick up as the temperature dropped a degree or two.
"See you mate."
they returned to the beach.
Beach Buoy did a beach clean.
The active sea had taken the dead and dying crabs out to sea.
Beach Buoy stopped to chat to relatives.
Coastal erosion, the subject.
Beach Buoy made a sea glass yacht.
A man crouched to photograph his two dogs.
They returned to the van and a waiting coffee.
A Big Yellow Hungry Seagull arrived.
It was the mobile coffee and snack outlet of the same name.
BEACH BUOY.
Friday, 22 October 2021
Thursday, 21 October 2021
Wednesday, 20 October 2021
SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL, 20 OCT 2021.
Beach Buoy and Another Dog walked to the beach.
It had been a wet day.
It had rained and rained.
The rain had stopped by the time they set off on foot.
A pale sunshine shadow even had the cheek to head off in front.
They reached the car park at 4-38 pm.
Beach Buoy spotted a laminated notice from the council affixed to one of the parking meters.
He only read the title
Seaview Car Park.
Blah
Blah
Blah.....
He had never heard it called Seaview Car Park before.
They crossed "Seaview" Car Park.
They passed the "Happy to chat." bench and headed for the beach access ramp.
The tide was high.
There was a slight breeze from the west.
The sun shone enough to highlight the steelworks, to the south, across the river.
Two Ladies , two cups of Coffee and two dogs on leads headed for the dunes.
Beach Buoy and Another Dog took a short walk to the sound of the sea.
They shared the water's edge with tiny white birds with grey wings, aka pebbles with legs.
Ornithology isn't Beach Buoy's strong point, saying that, he will never forget that the scientific name for a Manx Shearwater is; Puffinus Puffinus.
The sunlight spread a little more, now it lit up the white paint on ships on the horizon.
A Dead Guillemot lay on the beach.
It had its head tilted to one side.
It looked bashful, but it was dead.
The Sun shone everywhere now.
A flock of large white birds crossed the bay from north to south, before heading west, over the dune system.
Bearing in mind Beach Buoy's ornithological "expertise", large white birds would have to do.
The "Swans" aka Cygnus ?
Looked spectacular.
As he walked, Beach Buoy uprighted seven crabs that had been laid on their backs, slowly dying.
He placed some in beach-trapped water, others facing the sea.
There wasn't any rock pools due to the height of the tide.
The Crabs were dying, like so many others recently.
At least they weren't struggling upside down.
The sunlight kissed the top of
Stubborn Dog Stack.
"Afternoon Mate."
Beach Buoy added five beach stones.
He patted
THE
stone.
Beach Buoy admired the view and enjoyed the sunshine; the light.
"See you mate."
They headed back down to the beach.
Even though it was the usual slow walk back, Beach Buoy paused.
That "inner rush" had kicked in.
There was no rush.
It wouldn't be dark for an hour.
He stood looking at the sea, hands in pockets like he had all of the time in the world.
When they finally did start heading back to the north, dips in the dunes allowed the sun to hit Beach Buoy full in the face like a Warm Custard Pie.
A man with a backpack headed south.
He went to a large driftwood bench and sat, looking at the sea.
Maybe he was stopping an inner rush too?
Beach Buoy spotted another Crab on its back.
It was almost lifeless.
He uprighted it, placed it facing the sea.
He stroked the doomed creature's shell and wished it luck.
They headed off into the distance as the sun kissed the Headland goodnight.
BEACH BUOY.
Tuesday, 19 October 2021
SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL, 19 OCT 2021.
Beach Buoy and Another Dog walked to the beach.
They arrived at 4-29 pm.
A mild but blustery wind blew from the west.
The tide was quite high.
A lady wearing a Parka looked like she had had enough.
She had one hand on her hip as she threw a ball for her tireless looking Dog.
They headed south, near the strand-line.
A red rose laid stranded by the sea, in memory of someone unknown.
Up ahead two fishermen fished the beach.
Beach Buoy gave them plenty of space, before collecting some beach stones for
Stubborn Dog Stack.
"Afternoon Mate."
he patted
THE
stone.
They stood with the warm wind blowing on their backs as they looked out to sea.
A small boat made a dash for the river mouth.
Behind it, a Large Red Ship took aim at the Gares.
"See you Mate."
they headed back to the beach.
The beach gave up a few bits and bobs as the tide retreated.
It was so mild.
Beach Buoy had put on a waterproof coat, thinking it could rain.
He was warm.
They crossed the Car Park, no van...
They headed down Tees Road.
Dotty Dog and owner were heading in opposite direction, on the opposite side on the road.
The Dogs seemed to give distant wave lady-like waves to one another.
The owners did the same
"Hiya."
"Hiya."
Beach Buoy and Another Dog headed back.
BEACH BUOY.
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