the way I like it

 20th August 2020, Buston, 7am

Very quiet on the beach.  A few folk started to arrive as we headed home for breakfast.

access

 19th August 2020, Warkworth, 8am

Because of the huge number of visitors we've had this summer the short-sighted and unimaginative land owners seem to be systematically closing off all the access roads and parking areas to the beach.  This doesn't stop visitors it just means they park somewhere else - probably even worse than the quiet wee roads they were using.  Meanwhile us locals have nowhere to park to walk on the coast and the closures will affect us all winter when there are no visitors here.  There is no joined up thinking in Northumberland tourism authorities and interested parties.

Anyway we'll park carefully as ever and take advantage of the access while we can.

It was a perfect blue-sky day.

19th August 2020, Boulmer, 11am

A similar photo to one I posted at the end of lockdown.

The NHS flag is gone 

The solitary, isolating couple who were staring peacefully at the sea have moved on. 

They are replaced today with a socially distanced group of friends chatting in the sun.

missing mansions

18th August 2020, Alnmouth, 7:30am

It was a very misty morning and up on church hill I met a visitor who asked me where Alnmouth was. 

I explained it was just there over the river but it was completely invisible. 

He looked skeptical!! Honestly it is there. A row of massive mansions just 100 yards away. 

I couldn’t even see the boats in the harbour. 

It was like being transported back in time...

The mist was sticking to vegetation and spider webs.

The thistle-like knapweed flower was the inspiration for my company logo a few years back.

finding colour

 17th August 2020, Amble, 11am

It had stopped raining by the time I headed out on the bike but it was all grey and moody down the harbour in Amble.

There was colour to be found among the "Covid Snake" of painted pebbles. The designs ranged from the arty to the simple message

 Then the rain came on again and I got soaked on the way home.

17th August 2020, Warkworth, 4pm

Dry by now and I was experimenting with Daisy and a new iPhone (8).

flotsam

14th August 2020, Embleton Bay, 7am

Colourful flotsam 

left over from the summer 

of two days ago 

Now it’s the only colour 

in a seascape of drizzle and mist 

Borne on a north wind 

But we know the sun 

will be back soon enough 

And there will still be time to play.

familiar

 13th August 2020, Buston, 8am

You can walk past a place dozens of times and suddenly one day you see a photograph. A particular combination of light and weather perhaps? 

So it was this morning at the wee chapel S of Alnmouth. 

The lesson is never to take a familiar location for granted.

raindrops on a feather

grey, damp and cool but still a nice place to be...

diversion

 12th Aug 2020, Buston, 1pm

When I headed off on my bike it was misty and cool.  By lunchtime it was sunny and warm so I diverted down to the beach.