This butterfly happened to land nearby on one of the very rare occasions that I had my macro lens on the camera. I really should use it more, it’s an interesting window into another world, one which exists right under our noses, largely unseen.
Kermit (below) is only 10mm long.
Both seen in south Wales.
The Albatros lives at Wells-Next-The-Sea in Norfolk. In recent years, it’s been occasionally used as a sail training vessel, but is now commonly to be found berthed as a floating restaurant serving Dutch pancakes!
The ship was built in 1899 as a coaster for the Baltic trade. During the Second World War, the captain and crew smuggled Jews out of occupied Europe to Sweden, and delivered arms shipments to the Dutch Resistance, right under the Nazis’ noses. How such heroics were successfully accomplished using this slow and very conspicuous old vessel is anybody’s guess.
A night at Portland Bill, Dorset’s most southerly point, before getting up early this morning to attempt to paddle around the Isle of Portland. It was too windy and we turned back to Portland Harbour before reaching the lighthouse, but it was still good to get out on the water and catch up with friends.
All good.
A few random images, from the very fine and fertile island of Islay.
Mangersta Beach, Isle of Lewis, Western Isles. This somewhat remote beachbreak is accessed by a drive down a rough track (good luck with turning around) and a carry though the dunes. Given that we were novices to this surfing business and that there was no lifeguard cover to hand (or indeed this side of Gretna Services), we treated new and unknown empty beaches with serious respect. The first time we carried our boards in to Mangersta, Heather uttered the immortal words, “I’m not surfing there – the waves are bigger than the cows!”
Thankfully, the surf was more manageable on subsequent visits, and she did indeed surf there…
The photo above was taken on the last night of our trip to the Western Isles. Heather is looking out from the island of Bernera to a chain of Atlantic rocks and islets which we’d spent the day exploring by kayak. A few more photos of Mrs R enjoying the Western Isles follow below…
PS I honestly did not ‘Photoshop’ the crazy light/ sky in the third photo – we were about to surf at Mangersta, and the combination of sunset and incoming rain did some weird things…
Why the Whales Came is a children’s book by Michael Morpurgo (previously children’s Laureate), set in the Isles of Scilly during the First World War. The plot centres around the islands of Bryher and Samson, which has been uninhabited since the mid nineteenth century. My wife reads the book with her pupils at school; the other day, she asked me to dig out some photos to help introduce it.
Must get back there soon…
Hidden away on the Oa peninsula of the Scottish island of Islay, Soldier’s Rock guards the entrance to a spectacular network of arches, tunnels, caves and a waterfall.
All good.
Taking a break on Scolt Head Island in north Norfolk, the finest example of a barrier island in Britain. I’ve made a couple of paddles out to this long uninhabited island now, experiencing its empty miles of beach, dunes and saltmarsh in both winter and summer.
It’s as true a wilderness as any I’ve experienced in our country.
Hunstanton is the only town on the east coast with a view facing west. It looks out over the Wash and is frankly, a very fine place.
Berney Arms Windmill overlooks the spot where the tidal Rivers Waveney and Yare enter Breydon Water, in the southern Norfolk Broads. The bench is a rest spot for those walking the Wherryman’s Way.
I do not know the origins of the quote, but it suits.
Paddling from Mundesley, Norfolk. To our shame, we hadn’t known that Norfolk possessed either cliffs or waves…
