Winter on the Beach

At this time of the year, I like to visit the beach! Its not that I don’t like to visit at other times, its just that in the warmer months, it is crowded so it is less easy to take photographs, and I like a bit of solitude anyway 🙂 ! However, the main reason I visit in winter is because it makes a pleasant alternative to squelching through mud and water in the countryside after days of rain. Solid ground beneath your feet means you can take in all that is around you without the risk of ending up on your posterior!

Oh, of course, you also don’t need to take much with you because food and drink is readily available 🙂 ! Although that has its issues as we shall see!

This was Sandbanks Beach and the walk took me along the promenade to Bournemouth and beyond. The day was one of those wonderful winter days, crisp, cold, and with lots of heavy cloud but with some nice gaps to allow the sun to break through. In fact, great conditions for photography!

One of the things I love is the way the sunshine highlights the surf as it rolls up the beach. It is such a mesmerising sight which I could gaze at forever, but it is also frustrating because trying to capture it effectively in a still photograph seems impossible. It is because it is the movement that is mesmerising! It is like watching a ballet, the dancing waves at sea gradually make their way onto the beach like a line of ballerinas dressed in white tutus dancing across a stage. And of course, it brings its own gentle music. This is a ballet beyond belief!

Did I mention food? Well of course there is food, and what could be more typically English than chips on the beach? It just has to be done! The trouble is the local seagulls can recognise a chip from 5 miles away, and of course they are soon flapping all around me. The bird in the foreground was particularly determined – I wondered how he lost his leg! Incidentally, they didn’t get any of my chips, well, only the odd one or two that I accidentally dropped. Well, for the sake of others, it doesn’t pay to encourage them!

Of course, beaches mean groynes, and I can never resist taking pictures of these amazing structures that prevent the sand from being eroded away, they have such a wonderful array of colours, tones and textures in that woodwork. They seem quite innocuous really, but the truth is that they are like icebergs. No, they don’t sink ships, its just that 90% of them is hidden. Those posts that support the groynes look quite short but they actually go down some 30 feet into the sand in order to find solid ground to hold them in place against the pounding of the waves. Aren’t they picturesque, especially in the warm tones of the afternoon sunlight.

There were a couple of spells during the day when the crepuscular rays, also known as sunbeams of course, were just awesome. They really add interest to a seascape, especially when I have my inflatable gull with me to provide a focal point in the foreground 😉 !

Now, I said that there were not many people about but naturally there were a few. A fisherman always adds a bit of interest to a seascape! But there were others too, either having a tete a tete sat on a groyne, or using one as a backrest/windbreak whilst listening to music on the headphones. I have to say, I prefer the music of the sea when I’m on the seafront. Isn’t it great though that we have these open areas for the whole community to enjoy. Having recently been to India, the clean, pure sea air is a delight that some can’t enjoy, and we should really appreciate that.

Of course, the other thing is, there are always dog walkers. The sunset unfortunately wasn’t the best in the sense that the heavy cloud that was welcome in the earlier pictures, creating those lovely rays, unfortunately obscured much of the sky as the sun dipped down to the horizon. Isn’t it great though, that in this country you never know what to expect – there is no chance to get bored with our weather!

The day that had previously been ‘crisp’ was now just downright COLD as I headed back to the car. In the summer I’d have sat by the water, drinking in the last of the day, soaking up the wonderful evening atmosphere whilst listening to the gentle washing of surf on sand, but not tonight! Now it was time to head home!

Thanks for walking with me. I hope you have enjoyed our brief sojourn to the winter seaside.

Do check out my new Time to Reflect blog. There is a link here.

Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time,
Your friend
The Dorset Rambler

If you would like to contact me, my email address is terry.yarrow@gmail.com – comments and feedback are always welcomed.

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