04 AUGUST 2020 SEATON SANDS, HARTLEPOOL.

They arrived at 6-50 pm.
The car park was windy.
Around a hundred seabirds stood around the emptier than usual car par.
They all faced the wind as if hypnotised.
 The beach wasn't as windy as it was sheltered by the dunes from the south westerly wind.
The beach dips towards the sea which also helps. 

The Village looked pretty.
The houses on the left are some of those that surround the Village Green.

They headed South.
The beach was almost deserted.
 As they walked Beach Buoy was watching Gannets drop from the Sky.

The found a bum shaped rock and sat and watched The Gannet Show.

It was all too much for Stubborn Dog.
zzzzzzzzzzzzz

It was a lovely peaceful spot.

Not a great photo but there was around a dozen Gannets totally blitzing the sea.
You can see one of the entrance splashes. Sometimes they were hitting the water three at a time!

They had a slow walk back to the van.
The kettle was soon boiling.
Tea.
Beach Buoy nodded a while.
The van rocked in the wind .
The wind that whistled through the side door that had been left ajar whilst the kettle boiled.
Beach Buoy could just unfold the bed and sleep for England.

Church Bells chimed for 9 pm
just as the rain started to fall on the van roof.
Time to go.
Really it should be time to stay.


Oh that rain on the roof ❤️.

BEACH BUOY.

AUGUST 3 2020 SEATON SANDS.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn dog arrived at 6-55 pm.
It was mild with a breeze from the north east.
A Man flew a kite as a
'Can I have a go?' child watched on.

They said hello to Driftwood Stubborn Dog.

They headed south, following someones's ' day off ' footprints.

They continued to the grey rocks, giving the stack a miss on the way south as a man was up there.
He (The Man.)  took a photograph of the stack and sat beside it.
It freaked Beach Buoy out a little.

They stacked the stack; eventually.

Driftwood Stubborn Dog stood guard over the dune edge.

Stubborn Dog wanted a selfie with his driftwood mate for his wuffer profile.
He lent Beach Buoy his Dog and Bone.

Driftwood Stubborn Dog is canny.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog headed back.
Beach Buoy made a note to put this view in the November memory bank.

Beach Buoy felt a little guilty leaving Driftwood Stubborn Dog alone.
After all his bark is worse than his bite..

BEACH BUOY.

OUT AND ABOUT 02 AUGUST 2020.

Seaton Promenade mid-afternoon.
The weather was bizarre.
There was a glow out on the horizon the colours of rainbows.
The photograph does not do the sight justice.

Clouds moved in.
The glow stayed.

A bit of weather was moving across the bay.

Later it was the headland once more.

The Harbour was calm and still.

The Fish Sands; where the Minky Whale was stranded and saved yesterday.

The Pilot Pier.
Seals fished in and around The Harbour.

Shackled...

Pilot Light.

Steps.
(Was on Beach.)
Went to promenade and saw a mermaid.

BEACH BUOY

02 AUGUST 2020.

It was Sunday Morning.
Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog
reached the beach at 6-01 am.
The sun had risen but was hidden behind some clouds out in the bay.
It broke through every now and then and cast its spell across the bay and the beaches that edged it.
It was mild.
As they went down the ramp to access the beach, another car turned up.
It was a couple with two Border Collies.
They are beach regulars and always head North.
Beach Buoy went South.

It was a peaceful walk.

Rippled wet sand and reflections tempted Beach Buoy to the water's edge. Like a sailor tempted to the rocks by a siren of mermaids.

A Minky Whale had beached yesterday over on the Headland's Fish Sands.
It was saved and swam to safety.
Thankfully the Sea Serpent has always kept a pretty low profile and kept itself safe in the Bay.


They continued on to stack the stack.
The couple with a story of their own were a short distance behind.

They walked along the edge of the grey rocks.
 A crow had a driftwood perch.
Word has it that he was having a sit and think?

Beach Buoy paused nearby and removed binoculars from his beach bag.
He scanned the Bay.
He looked over to Middleton Beach to see if anyone was visiting; there wasn't.

He turned to the South, through the binoculars he could see Sand Martins swooping around the Tank Traps and the sandy banks that provide them with a home.

Beach Buoy made himself comfortable, resting against one of the tank traps and tried to capture an image of the speedy little birds.

He had a mooch in North Gare corner.
A Seal Stone.

Beach Buoy collected six plastic bottles as part of his beach clean.
None had messages in.
Most had messages on but no one had bothered to 
take any notice.

On the way back they found some 77 year old sea pottery.

They passed the 7 am club on the return journey.
Mari the Poodle ran over for a neck scratch with her Little White Scottie Dog beach friend in tow.

An old man sat on the low wall of the access ramp.
Half way up.
 Half way down.
He looked like someone whose chairlift had broken down.....
or up?

Beach Buoy returned to the van.
Kettle on!

He had recently replaced his sat nav.
( Apparently they are not designed to be stood on.)
The holder that he had bought for the older one was perfect for his phone.
So if there was a cabin up-situation and there was nothing on TV, he would be able to watch something on his phone.

Of course the van did come with Sky as standard.

BEACH BUOY,

A GREAT GRANDAD.....

MY GREAT GRANDAD AND THE AMERICAN .....

WHILST DOING MY FAMILY HISTORY

I CAME ACROSS A LINK TO THE AMERICAN LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

IN CONNECTION WITH MY GREAT GRANDFATHER 

WILLIAM GRAINGER S.G.M.

THE LIBRARY HAVE A LARGE COLLECTION FROM AN AMERICAN CALLED

 JAMES MADISON CARPENTER.

HE TOURED AND COLLECTED FOLK SONGS, PLAYS AND THE LIKE.

IT APPEARS HE MET WILLIAM

AND OBTAINED 

THE ROAD RHYME FOR HARTLEPOOL

ALTHOUGH IT DOES SEEM TO END UP AT THE RIVER TYNE.

ALTHOUGH IT IS CALLED ROAD , THIS JUST MEANT THE ROUTE THE SHIPS TOOK..

THERE IS A GRAET DEAL ABOUT THE INTERNET ABOUT THE COLLECTION.

IT SEEMS CARPENTER WOULD SIT AND TYPE WHAT HE HE WAS TOLD.

THERE ARE MISTAKES; STRANGE NAMES TO AMERICAN EARS AND HE JUST TYPED 

WHAT HE HEARD.

I THINK I HAVE SORTED THEM OUT.

THE ROAD RHYME IS THE SITES TO LOOK OUT FOR ON LAND AS THEY SAILED BACK 

TO THE NORTH FROM LONDON.

THE FOLKLIFE CENTER AT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS KINDLY GAVE ME PERMISSION TO USE THE IMAGE  IN THE PAST FOR MY FAMILY TREE SITE.

I HAVE INCLUDED IT HERE

LINE 2...SWIN.(AT THE MOUTH OF THE THAMES;WEST SWIN,EAST SWIN AND SWIN SPITWAY.

LINE 4.. LINN COULD BE KING'S LYNN.

LINE 5 ...DUDGEON ; THERE WAS A DUDGEON LIGHTSHIP. ALSO SPURN COULD BE SPURN HEAD.

LINE 8...FAR OR NIGH , COULD BE FAR ON HIGH,

LINE 10... NOR THE LEA COULD BE NORTHERLY.

LINE 11... HENTCLIFF COULD BE HUNTCLIFF.

LINE 13... HARTLEY POOL IS HARTLEPOOL .. A BITE IS A BAY.

LINE 14... SEHAM IS SEAHAM.

LINE 15... SOULER IS SOUTER LIGHTHOUSE.

IN MY FAMILY RESEARCH I MADE CONTACT WITH A RELATIVE WHO LIVED WITH 

WILLIAM AS A CHILD.

THE RELATIVE,S MIDDLE NAME WAS WILLIAM ; NAMED AFTER WILLIAM GRAINGER ; 

HIS GRANDFATHER.

I ASKED IF HE EVER REMEMBERED AN AMERICAN COMING TO THE HOUSE IN A

 LITTLE CAR; WHICH BACK THEN  WOULD HAVE BEEN ODD.

HE SAID HE DID REMEMBER AND WENT ON TO SAY HIS GRANDFATHER TOOK CARE 

OF A BOAT FOR THE AMERICAN WHILST HE WAS AWAY ON HIS TRAVELS

COLLECTING FOLK HISTORY.

THE BOAT WASN'T PAINTED BUT VARNISHED HE TOLD ME. IT WAS SIMILAR TO A 

COBLE BUT WITH A MUCH SQUARER AFT.

HE SAID IT WAS SOLD TO ONE OF THE PORT'S PILOTS WHEN CARPENTER RETURNED TO AMERICA.

I TOLD THE LIBRAY OF CONGRESS THE STORY OF THE BOAT AND I DON'T THINK IT 

WENT DOWN TOO WELL , I THINK IT IS TOUGHT HE TRAVELLED WIDELY RATHER THAN STAY

 ANYWHERE LONG ENOUGH TO GO TO THE EXPENSE  OF BUYING A BOAT.

I SUPPOSE THERE COULD HAVE BEEN ANOTHER AMERICAN WITH A BOAT AT THAT 

TIME WHO PAID MY GREAT GRANDFATHER TO LOOK AAFTER IT FOR HIM WHILST HE

WAS ON HIS TRAVELS?

BUT IT SEEMS ODD THE ONLY RECORD OF HIS STAY IN HARTLEPOOL IS A ROAD 

RHYME FROM MY GREAT GRANDAD; WILLIAM GRAINGER S.G.M.1864- 1946

HERE'S WILLIAM RINGING THE FOG BELL ON HARTLEPOOL PIER IN THE 1930'S.

BEACH BUOY.

SATURDAY 1st AUGUST 2020.

Beach Buoy had gone to bed around 1 am so when he did wake, he was hoping it was around 6-30; it was 4-55am.
By 5-15am, he and Stubborn Dog were in the beach car park.
There was another vehicle in car park.
People were sat inside.
More than a hundred seabirds walked around the car park like a gang of HGV drivers who had spent the night in their cabs and hadn't slept at all well.

Beach Buoy and Stubborn Dog were on the beach
 by 5-30 am.

The tide was well out again.
Low cloud ran the full the length of the horizon, shielding the sunrise.
The wait was well worth it once it did appear.

They walked along the water's edge.

Beach Buoy paused from time to time to take photographs and make notes.

The tide was slowly reclaiming the beach.
It was beautiful morning.

The Sun climbed as the Wind Turbines turned slowly.

They headed towards the dunes.

Beach Buoy stacked the stack.
It was 6-08 am.

Catching the Sun.
A Fisherman wades into the Sea.

Beach Buoy sat on a green moss covered rock.
Oh and it was a damp green moss covered rock at that!

Stubborn Dog soaked up the Sun as Beach Buoy soaked up the moisture of the damp green moss covered rock.

They had a slow walk back.
Oyster Catchers down by the water's edge
Magpies up in the dunes.
They wore the same kits but played for different teams.

Coffee and nap in shed....
Beach Buoy had both.

Seaham slope beach.....
They stayed in the van.

Later it was Hartlepool Headland for a cup of tea with a view.
Beach buoy arrived before 6 pm made that cup of tea then listened to Liza Tarbuck on Radio 2 for a while.

Another rock.
Another sit and think.
Dolphins had been spotted in the bay.
A whale had been stranded on the nearby Fish Sands today,
It was re-floated successfully. 

HL 200 sailed out of the docks.
HL is the code for HARTLEPOOL.

A smaller boat appeared and began to check nearby pots with a hopeful seal for company.

Beach Buoy noticed some larger than normal splashes as bird dived for fish.
They were Gannets, five or six of them were travelling around the harbour, diving for fish as they went.
Beach Buoy had only ever seen one in Hartlepool.
That bird was in distress and Beach Buoy was unable to help it.
He found it dead next day on Seaton Sands.
He still thinks about it and wonders if he could have done more.
They are a very striking bird.

A Micro-light appeared.
There was more chance of strapping Beach Buoy to six Gannets than there was of him going up on a Micro-light.
Beach Buoy headed off sometime after 7-30pm
He called in at Seaton Carew Car Park sand sat for a while.
A  van based sit and think.
BEACH BUOY.