SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL 08 DEC. 2019.

After yesterday's burst of enthusiasm, it was Stubborn Dog of old today.
A game of Call my Bluff ensued, Beach Buoy won as Stubborn Dog reluctantly shuffled towards the front door.
Beach Buoy called into a local shop then headed to the beach.
It was 7-19 am.
The Uneven Car Park was empty apart from rainwater puddles.
Beach Buoy sat with the side door of the van open as he sat and changed into his Beach Boots.The lady who regularly joins the 7am club for their return journey, disappeared down the sloping access ramp as she called out a 'Morning' to Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog.
MORNING
'Morning' was the reply.
As Beach Buoy was faffing on, a car pulled up nearby.
They didn't faff and were heading for the beach in an instant; Two Adults, Two Dogs and a young lad, more hoodied up than Beach Buoy.
The group headed North. 
Beach Buoy headed South.
The tide was way out.
There was a blowy wind from the North West, it had been stronger overnight. Any dry sand that was left over, was snaking its to the North Sea in the half light.
Beach Buoy was glad he grabbed some gloves as he locked the van up; that wind was chilly.
He headed for the water's edge.
The low tide had left lots of wet sand which is ideal for assisting in making a half decent photograph of the morning light with its reflections.
Mari the Poodle said hello once more as the 7 am club passed nearby.
 No Cherrywompus threat today.


Beach Buoy paused a while to admire the Bay.
It looked like a paint shop colour chart.
Blue Bottle Blue to the North, Manchester City 1970's Blue straight ahead and Custard Creme Yellow to the South.
He moved on, any walk generated heat was whisked away once you were stood.

Beach Buoy was tempted up towards the Dunes a little by some shingle patches, the shingle crunched underfoot.

He grabbed a couple of stones to add to the Dune stack.

Its been mentioned here before but it's odd how many times similar items end up near to each other on the beach.
Two frisbee type rings almost side by side.

They are just the right size to become a seal necklace so they were beach cleaned along with a few plastic bottles, a torn Colourful Beach Ball and a torn football.

Beach Buoy stood down by the North Gare Pier thinking that the Sun had gone straight to DVD rather than make an appearance.

It was only as they were heading back that the Sun popped over The Pier.

The Sun's light stretched out along the beach as if reaching out to apologise for the wait.
With the Sun came the rain; horizontally from the South West.

The tide was heading back in.
The strong wind was blowing the tops off the waves as they broke nearby.

The lovely Beach was empty as far as the eye could see, in both directions; Perfect.

Half way back, the rain stopped as the cloud that had carried it drifted off in the wind.

As they approached the Car Park a Distant Siren drifted from the village and the Town  beyond.
The Church Bells joined in and rang for 9am; it was 8-56.

The Local Motor Club had formed a rectangle of parked cars  for an Auto Test Event in the Car Park.
Men walked the course with maps, some walking backwards where they needed to reverse.

BEACH BUOY

SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL. 07 DEC. 2019.

Beach Buoy woke up; it was dark, then light, then dark, then light.
Was he having a bit of a funny turn?
No.
It became apparent that the neighbours had left their flashing outdoor Christmas lights on overnight.
He slowly made his way downstairs. and faffed on a while.
'I'm off today mate.' he said to Stubborn Dog
'Want to go on the beach?'....
Stubborn Dog ran to the front door.
Beach Buoy almost fell over, not because the little dog had ran under his feet... it was the shock!
They drove to the Car Park.
An ex workmate of Beach Buoy's parked nearby, they chatted a while.
Beach Buoy finally hit the beach at 7-42 am.
Beach Buoy's mate headed for the Dunes; he was more of a Dune Walker than a beach man.
Good pen name thought Beach Buoy; Dune Walker.
The 7 am club were at the water's edge, already on their way back.
They were a long way off as you may see above, but Mari the Large Friendly Poodle spotted Beach Buoy.

 She set off and arrived with a bounce and a lick on the side of Beach Buoy's face.
Luckily Cherrywompus was no longer a concern as it turned out it was a made up ailment, made up by Beach Buoy's Dad.
' You catch it from letting Dogs lick your face' ..... he said

 She received a good neck scratch then was off , back to the water's edge.

They headed down to the Sea.
The light to the South was gorgeous.

In contrast, the north of the Bay was still in the grip of early morning gloom.

The Beach was quiet.
Out from the water's edge, the Sea Serpent showed three humps as it rested between the relatively calm waves.

Gulls enjoyed the quiet and space.
A ship had not long left the River Tees and had already turned its back to land and headed out, as the Pilot Boat that had guided it out to sea was returning to the River.

They continued South, like moths drawn to the light.
Beach Buoy collected some stones for his stack in the Dunes. He then returned to the beach, walking as far as the North Gare Pier.

The Southern end of the beach had a dusting of sea coal.
Years ago it would be ankle deep at times.

An Aeroplane headed out to the East.

The Sun had lit the sky but hadn't showed its face as yet.
The big block of a Pier didn't help its cause.
Eventually the Sun appeared above the Pier as it did so the gold turned to orange. It even donated some pink from its palette of colours to blush the northern end of the beach scene a little.

The tide was working its way back in.

The Sun shone more brightly and their Sun shadows joined the party. Sun shadows are much nicer than the streetlamp shadows that sneak around, circle you, mug you then run off only to do it all over again at the next streetlamp  on Dark Street Dog walks, be it early morning or night.
Stubborn Dog looked at Beach Buoy's long shadow.
' Have you lost weight Dad?'
'No mate. I'm just 22 metres tall!'

The shadows went on ahead and put the kettle on in the van making a shadow cup of tea and ate shadow biscuits as they waited for Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog to arrive.
Out on the Horizon ships dip dip dipped and glowed orange; as orange as the flashing lights on the council trucks that cleaned the resort. 

Walkers, Joggers and Dogs all went South.

As did some clouds.
The sun hid once more.

The Village had clouds too;
Cumulusgrumpus.
People shouted dogs and peep peeped on dog whistles at the water's edge.
Beach Buoy reached the Car Park.
A man on the promenade spoke
He had a good moan about people with unruly dogs, the shouting and the whistles.
'Look!'
'They are fighting now!' he said, as if his point had just been proven.
Beach Buoy returned to the van; the shadows had gone.
At least they had tidied up before they left, on the downside they had used the last of the tea bags.

BEACH BUOY.

HOLD BACK THE NIGHT. FISH SANDS, HARTLEPOOL. 06 DEC. 2019.

A short beach walk on Hartlepool's Fish Sands, down below The Town Wall.

Andy Capp; Hartlepool Lad.

Kettle and Cake time, back in the van.

BEACH BUOY.

04 DEC. 2019. SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog arrived at 3-30 pm.
A Flock of Gulls stood down by the water's edge waiting for the night.

Beach Buoy walked along the water's edge after passing the Gulls so as not to disturb them.
He stood and watched the Sea Serpent a while before heading up to the dunes to add to the stack.

A ship headed for the River Tees.
A Lone man walked along the beach and stopped to watch the ship's movements; pausing to check his watch as he did so.

There was a chilly breeze from the South West.
The light faded as they headed back.
BEACH BUOY.

SEATON SANDS 03 DEC. 2019.

Beach Buoy and his side-kick; Stubborn Dog arrived at the beach at 3-30 pm.
Diggers were still digging and rollers were rolling as the work on the Car Park extension continued.
With the flashing lights and beeping reversing warning sounds, it all looked  and sounded a bit like a big kids fairground.

A lady with three dogs had gone onto the beach just before Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog,
Two of her dogs came to say a quick hello to Beach Buoy, Stubborn Dog and a Dead Cormorant that laid nearby on an earlier strand line. 

They headed south towards a moon that looked like half a sixpence, a sixpence that had been expertly cut in half to settle a bet.
Was it worth three old pence?
Was it worthless?
'Nah' thought Beach Buoy; it is priceless.He also seemed to recall a bloke called Tommy Steele saying it was
'better than half of nothing.'
You know that film with Julia Foster; Ben Fogle's mam.

A jogger was heading South too but stopped and headed North.
Beach Buoy noticed more machinery on North Gare Pier.
More lights flashed; more boys with toys.
To be honest he had noticed a large hole in the Pier a few days ago, so a repair was most probably needed.   

The clear sky allowed Aeroplane's vapour trails to become clearly visible.
Straight White Lines with a hint of December Sunset Pink, crisp and sharp at first but then the end spreads out and eventually fades.

Hint of Pink was everywhere to be seen.

Sea Pottery piece.

They went up to the dunes to add a couple of more stones to the stack.
The North had a glow about it.

The Sky had a wide variety of colours; all pale  but attractive.
They headed back.
There was a slight breeze, a breeze just about strong enough to turn one page of a book or a magazine that had been left on the floor beside a sun-lounger on a summer day.
Placed there by a sun worshipper who had left it to go for a cold drink.
But this breeze was colder.
The Sun and temperature dropped as one.
The Church Bells rang for 4-30; it was 4-26.
Car headlights snaked along The Sea Front, a siren and a piercing blue light made them gave way as an Ambulance travelled tome someone's bad day a little better.

By the time they reached the van in the car park, it was dark.
The Car Park machinery stood idle; the silhouettes like ghosts of dinosaurs.....waiting. 

Later that night, Cabin Fever took hold.
Beach Buoy grabbed Stubborn Dog and went to the Promenade for a walk followed by food and drink in the van down by the Village Christmas Tree.
.

and to all a good night.

Beach Buoy.

SEATON SANDS, 01 DECEMBER 2019.

A new book ready for beach notes when the current one is full.

It was 7-35 am by the time Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog arrived in the Car Park.
It felt late.
It felt like he should bring a note to Sir with a valid reason for showing up when it was almost lunchtime!
Beach Boots were back in action after a few hours drying above a radiator.
The Boots headed for the water's edge; Beach Buoy followed as did Stubborn Dog.
The 7 am club were already on the way back from the south end.
You can just about see them on the photograph above, to the far right.

The air was almost still, but definitely chilly.

The walked alongside the morning sea.
The 7 am club went by.
Mari the Poodle came over for a fuss as did the little chocolate brown dog that sometimes tagged alongside.

A Silvery Grey scene.
The air was cold.
They cut through up into the dunes where a Long Gone Storm Surge had cut into the outer perimeter of the sandy wall.
The Dunes were frosted.
As they entered the Dune opening they disturbed Eight Magpies who granted them a wish, before flying off the west.

Beach Buoy dumped a few rocks on the ashes stack up in the dunes.
Then as usual, back to the Grey Rocks for a bit of a think.
The Sea Serpent had a steaming Hot bath running; the steam crossed the bay. 

Only a couple of pieces of sea pottery this morning.

As the walk ended a Jaffa Slice of Sunlight broke through the clouds to take the Mick.

Sand.

BEACH BUOY.