Saturday 10 February 2024

after the storm with no name

 10th Feb 24, Warkworth, 8am

A misty start to the day which followed a bleak day yesterday of strong easterly winds that kept me away from the coast.  We've had so many storms with names this winter and yet this one, as bad as the others, had no name.

The tide has been right up biting at the dunes again.  The spray from the waves is stuck in the vegetation 20 feet up the bank.


The sea had retreated for low tide but out in the mist I could hear it raging on.


This little baby was exhausted by the sea and was sheltering and sleeping right up at the dunes.  I marked his position on the beach to warn other dog walkers and called him in to the rescue people.  I expect there's a fair few seals having a rest on the shore just now.


The stormy tide has uncovered more WW2 structures. This one built of cement sandbags with the hessian sacking still there. 
I find it intriguing and moving to think of the men who laid those bags in place in 1940. Those same men (or others) who then manned these positions waiting for an invasion which was expected any day. It must have been a lonely, frightening place knowing that you and your rifle could be facing a beach full of heavy war machines. No more than a slightly annoying fly to be swatted out the way but prepared to make a stand for your family and ‘king and country’ 

They say “look out the window 
Watch the sea beyond the strand” 
It’s a canny wee bit scary 
The thought of fighting on the sand 

But we think about our friends back home 
And we know we’ll make a stand 
For our castle in the distance 
And our mile of golden sand.




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