Sea Fever

 

Sea Fever

 

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

 

From SALT-WATER POEMS AND BALLADS, by John Masefield, published by the Maxmillan Co., NY, © 1913, p. 55; the poem was first published in SALT-WATER BALLADS, © 1902.
 

 The above poem was one of my mum's favourites, and consequently one of mine. She often used to quote the first two lines when we were walking on the beach, so it has very strong memories of her attached to it.
What better way to start off a post that contains beachy pictures.


In the winter months, roughly October till March, the beach belongs to the locals. Most of the holiday makers have gone and the beaches are quiet once more. The first busy weekend of the year is Easter, then a few weeks of quiet until May Bank Holiday and after that the town is bustling again. Gradually more people head for the beach until on a hot day in mid summer there is not much space at all. 

Early season and the beach is deserted.

The beach is flat and sandy, no rocks, but there can be areas of shallow water left behind when the tide goes out.

Flotsam and jetsam along the tide line.

Lots of shells, dried seaweed and pebbles, but no sea glass AT ALL! No holiday makers either!

Little sand sculptures made by the wind.

I found these little sculptures on the promenade, a bit of leftover sand from the high winds we had earlier this year. They look like little houses to me. Almost like a Bethlehem skyline on a Christmas card.

A cautionary sign, the beach is not all fun.

A lovely calm sea.

Part of the sea defences.

These rocks are now covered by layers of sand! They have been put there as an extra defense against the tide coming over, which it does in the winter months when there is an incoming tide and the wind is off the sea. The rocks supposedly break up the force of the tide.

 

You can tell this is a different day, very cold and grey.

The bottom picture was taken on a different day, and can't you tell! 

Lastly two pictures that aren't the beach but part of one of the local foreshore gardens.

This was taken crouched down at the end of the waterfall, I like to take photographs from different angles. I don't profess to be a photographer at all I just like to take pictures.

 

I love living by the sea.

Sand Update

Well they say it gets worse before it gets better, more sand pictures and a clean up operation.

A lovely grassy area for picnics!

Or maybe you would prefer drinks overlooking the sea!

Bring on the men with shovels!

Or when that won't do, bring on the diggers!

Sand!!

These are some of the views of the seafront after the dreadful winds at the weekend.

The sea was looking very wintery and uninviting.

The view wasn't much better from the sand dunes.

The main promenade was turning into a sand dune!

Not a lot of room to sit outside the chalets!

Or to stroll along the promenade!

Would you like to follow the coastal path?

With it being Easter weekend soon, there is a lot of work to be done shovelling all this away before the holiday visitors arrive. Hopefully the wind will have died down by then!