Not such a bad place…
Archive for October 2011
Scarborough Harbour 2 comments
Please do not touch the glass Leave a comment
I guess that this fellow can’t read…
North York Moors Coast Leave a comment
We’ve just made it home from a splendid week on the coast of the North York Moors National Park. Heather had been here to walk the Coast to Coast Path, but I’d hardly been to the area before. Which is a shame. Because it is absolutely stunning.
Whitby Abbey Leave a comment
Whitby Abbey overlooks the North Sea from atop cliffs. Whitby harbour is directly below, down a steep flight of 199 steps. Whitby was the key setting for the novel Dracula, chosen largely because of the atmospheric abbey. This gothic theme has become self-perpetuating; Whitby is now a mecca for modern Goths, with various annual get-togethers [...]
Big Wednesday Leave a comment
We now consider ourselves to be surfers. We own surfboards and all the gear, we’ve watched the movie ‘Big Wednesday’, what more can there be to it? Now that we’ve got surfing all figured out, we don’t necessarily feel obliged to actually ‘go surfing’ when surf appears. Today, our boards stayed in the van…
Whiskers 3 comments
A Yorkshire local…
Ravenscar seals 1 comment
This beach is accessed by a precarious eroding path down a 600 foot cliff below Ravenscar in Yorkshire. I was actually there this afternoon to photograph the remains of some Alum works (exciting fellow that I am). However, whilst idling on the beach, I was surprised to see this pair of grey seals land right beside [...]
North Bay, Scarborough 2 comments
Just returned from a mellow dusk surf below the castle at Scarborough’s North Bay, a 5 minute walk from the holiday flat H and I are occupying through this week. We have plans to explore the rather attractive looking local coast, and hopefully get a bit of writing done too. The wind was howling today, so the kayaks [...]
Machir Bay 1 comment
Machir Bay, Isle of Islay. We surfed until after sunset, with the entire beach to ourselves. We are off on the road again; we’ve been back at work for literally weeks, it must surely be time for another holiday. This coming week, we’ll be exploring the Yorkshire coast, aided by sea kayak, surfboard and walking boot. [...]
Le Hanois Lighthouse 1 comment
Le Hanois rocks are the westernmost point of the Channel Islands. The fine rock lighthouse is reached by following a chain of rocks and reefs out from the south-west tip of the island of Guernsey.
Tout Quarry 3 comments
Tout Quarry is one of numerous similar quarried out wastelands, high above the cliffs of the Isle of Portland in Dorset. It has however been utilised as a ‘Sculpture Park’. We visited, one recent evening. The place is a mess. It’s location is barely signposted, and finding it requires a leap of faith by exploring behind an [...]
Bunabhainneader Whaling Station Leave a comment
These industrial remains are on the Atlantic coast of the island of Harris, in the Western Isles. This is the site of Bunabhainneader Whaling Station. This was a Norwegian/ British venture, hunting whales in waters north of Shetland. The catches commonly included humpback, sperm, blue and bottlenose whales. The chimney is the only one surviving of three formerly used [...]
Casquets Leave a comment
An island too far … we had crossed 26+ miles from Sark to the island of Alderney, negotiating some epic tidal flows en route. Another eight miles out from Alderney were the Casquets Rocks, with their lighthouse guarding the southern approaches to the Dover Strait. Reaching the lighthouse on these rocks would involve crossing some of the strongest [...]
Racing the Sunset Leave a comment
Nasty grainy images due to camera phone. My second MTB ride of the day; I raced the setting sun up 664 foot Swyre Head, the hill at the end of my road (well, 5km along bridleways from the end). On this occasion I barely won the race, reaching the prehistoric barrow mound at the summit at the [...]
Frank’s Tank 1 comment
A glorious Purbeck morning, riding my favourite local singletrack. This runs through a golf course overlooking Poole Harbour and is known as Frank’s Tank, on account of a large rusty watertank at one end of the route. It was great to be out again riding with my friend Claire, my usual MTB sparring partner; she’s had a [...]
Tractors of Sark Leave a comment
The stunningly beautiful Channel Island of Sark is famous for two things; for being an exceedingly dodgy tax haven* and for cars being banned. Whilst the latter situation seemingly implies some kind of ruritanian idyll, the reality is slightly less romantic. As cars aren’t allowed, the residents instead all own big noisy smelly tractors and use them [...]
Blakeney Seals Leave a comment
Watching the common seals at Blakeney Point in Norfolk, from an appropriate distance and in an appropriately quiet and non-polluting craft. There are of course other ways to visit the seals.
Austrians in the Western Isles 1 comment
A pair of rather hardy Austrians setting out for a paddle to the island of Taransay* in the Western Isles. I paddled across to the island just after them, spent a while sitting miserably in the rain, and quickly came back. That afternoon was so wet that I had to work in the tent with [...]
Caverns measureless to Man Leave a comment
This cave (of which you only see the entrance) is on the east coast of the Channel Island of Sark. A couple of friends are shown entering the cave in these images, but I actually arrived here about 20 minutes before them and entered it alone. Far back in the cave, where light began to fade, [...]
Islay north coast 3 comments
We paddled from Loch Gruinart to Port Askaig on the island of Islay, on a rather grey and damp day; so the photos are a bit unprepossessing. Having a damp camera didn’t help. Which is a shame, because this turned out to be perhaps the most complex section of UK coast we’ve seen. The shores are crammed [...]
