Westcountry wanderings » Devon

The sea and the sky

nigel — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:41:20 +0000

A short evening wander around the centre of Torbay and I found from a photographic perspective that looking down at the sea and up at the sky was the most rewarding.

At Goodrington the last light of the sun on the waves looked good. The area has some colourful buoys marking safe channels which added to the colour. I was a little surprised at the amount of swell as the Bay is sheltered from all but easterly winds and the wind was rather more northerly at the time. However the water is so often very calm that this made a change.

The above is a result of one of the buoys coming loose. The dog was having great fun playing with the rather large ball in the waves.

At the other end of the walk at Preston the sky looking back to the south was lovely. The light and colour was really beautiful. There were a few people surfing here but the light levels were really too low for any meaningful shots by this time.

Looking inland towards the sunset gave me another striking picture. I guess it would have been better had the town not obscured some of it – Dartmoor would have given me a better view of it. However it did look good.

In practice the area looks fairly quiet, however Paignton seafront was extremely busy with the weekly motorbike meeting. The whole of the seafront had motorbikes all along it of varying types and ages and there were a lot of people there. I’m no “biker” but the BMAD organisation has raised a lot for charity since it started in 2002 and they provide a good attraction.

Summer afternoon on the beach!

nigel — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:31:38 +0000

The weather had not been that good for a few days so despite it looking a little grey and rather thundery I decided I had to get out.

It looked a little brighter when I got to Goodrington beach. It was quite warm and rather windy – the beach had few folk on.

Given some blue skies, daytime and August the one above is unusual. It was taken wide angle and I’ve not cloned anyone out!

While the weather was not really good for the beach there were plenty of folk making the most of the water. It is regatta week and there were races going on out in the Bay and a number of people heading back into Paignton harbour. The little blue sky that there had been had gone by then and I decided to head to the pier before turning back and heading home.

Although there was some evidence of lightness in the sky and there were a few folk around on Paignton beach (though not many as can be seen) there was also some rain in the air and I headed home.

Some evening light on the eastern edge of the moor

nigel — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:05:46 +0000

Each year the fact that the sun sets earlier while it is still summer takes me by surprise – I should have learnt by now. Sunset is now around 20:30 with dusk about 21:00 so walking in the evening will require torches soon (& I’ll stop taking the camera). With the light the way it was above I have to make the most of it.

Looking more north towards Holne moor from the same spot as the first image, the trees were caught in the evening light and looked almost artificial. We agreed that they almost looked as though they were the sort found in model railways.

The left hand one of the above is looking back on the moor gate at Lud Gate. We walked up there from Cross Furzes before heading up Pupers. The one on the right is taken near the top of Pupers and looks almost directly south. The light on the gorse bush caught my eye.

Stopping for a drink before heading back the last light of the sun was just catching the wall of the dam on the Avon reservoir. Out of the sun it had become fairly chilly and we headed back to the car agreeing we had been lucky to have been out on such an evening.

Fishing for photos…

nigel — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:59:53 +0000

For a variety of reasons I’ve not been out much recently and certainly not as much as I would have liked. The evening looked promising so I headed for Brixham hoping for some good sunlight. As is so often the case it didn’t quite work out like that but I still found some scenes that appealed.

Brixham is a working sea port and there is quite a bit of development going on on the fish quay. These pots stacked on the wall with the sky behind looked interesting.

I remember when the outer harbour at Brixham was relatively empty but now it is a marina. The boats and their masts with the sunlight behind and dramatic clouds created a contrast.

Given it was a good evening and the tide was fairly high the number of people fishing is not at all surprising. In the upper picture the colours of the “vests” being worn by the fishermen in the boat (father & son?) added extra colour to the scene. At the end of the breakwater the sole fisherman (on that side) created a good visual scene with the light going behind him.

Walking back to the car the sky looked great. The effect is almost monotone but it has an appeal. While not strictly “sunset” it is liquid gold.

A stroll to Dawlish Warren

nigel — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:24:28 +0000

The start of the Summer holidays and the tourist season proper. I was wandering towards the end of Dawlish Warren to catch the low tide at the point. To get there I had to pass the main beach which had quite a few people on it enjoying the sun and the holidays.

However a very short distance away in the warren proper it was very quiet with some lovely wild flowers among the sand dunes. It is a nature reserve jointly managed by Teignbridge council and Devon Wildlife Trust. It is a good area for a variety of birds, wild life and flora.

The image above is taken on the very edge of the River Exe with the tide almost fully out. There is a substantial sandbank across the mouth of the estuary however we could see no way to get to it even with the tide at that level. I guess it would only be possible at spring tides. There were people on the bank but they must have arrived by boat or waded. There were also people fishing the area around the sandbanks.

Walking back along the beach again toward Dawlish Warren on the way back to the car which was at Dawlish we came across this wonderful sandcastle!

Speed and peace on the southern arm of the Bay

nigel — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 14:33:36 +0000

Another evening out walking the local area. The weather was not good and there were odd showers. However walking around Berry Head was pleasant. The old fort there is being cleaned up up/renovated and the sea bird colony just to the south of it had a lot of birds in in. There were auks and fulmars easily spotted with any binoculars.

Some canoeists were out at sea but another vessel was moving far faster.

Walking back down to Brixham the sun was going down and giving some good light and effects. The sea water pool at Brixham had also had a makeover and was looking like a genuine attraction now.

Nearly back at the car the light over the breakwater was particularly appealing.

More bluebells

nigel — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:44:38 +0000

Having seen the bluebells out near Hey Tor on the previous evening I went back out again with the dslr to see if I could get some more shots. The phenomena is very short lived and I thought I would make the most of it.

Around the northern arm of the Bay

nigel — Sun, 16 May 2010 10:41:39 +0000

I’d not been out around the Bay for a while and so I decided to take a look around the northern arm of the Bay wandering from Torquay around to Hope’s Nose and beyond.

One of the iconic sites of Torbay is Thatcher Rock. As seen above from Meadfoot beach (& from quite a bit of the Bay) the “thatcher” can be clearly seen going up the “roof” with a bundle of thatch on his back.

Moving on a little towards Hope’s Nose a different view of Thatcher Rock can be seen. This is looking back into the Bay and from this angle the thatcher cannot be seen. Brixham is to the left of Thatcher Rock and Paignton to the right.

Almost at Hope’s Nose some guys on jetskis went by. This shows the Ore Stone (the other main island in the Bay) behind them.

At Hope’s Nose there were quite a few people fishing. This scene caught my eye with the fishermen on the edge and the Ore Stone in the background. The smaller rock in between had quite a colony of gulls on and is known as the Lead Stone or Flat Rock.

Finally wandering around the Babbacombe area of Torquay I came across a scene that made headlines locally when a large section of the cliff face collapsed in February. This is Oddicombe Beach and was reported as a 5000 ton rockfall.

Sunset on Dartmoor

nigel — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:49:20 +0000

Looking to broaden the “ash plume sunset” images I headed up onto the moors yesterday evening. I started off wandering around the Hey Tor area. However the light was a bit glarey and lacked clarity (maybe an hour and a half before sunset) so I headed towards Honeybags/Chinkwell tors. By the time I was there the was rather more clarity and the light was getting better and I got some good shots.

As I headed back I was able to get a panorama of the Hey Tor area. The above (made up from 3 images) shows Hey tor on the left and Saddle tor on the right. The light brought out the shadows of the trees and walls very well.

This image looks along the ridge above Widecombe towards Bonehill rocks with Honeybags and Chinkwell tors in the distance.

While there is still dust in the atmosphere from the volcanic ash the skies are certainly open again for aircraft!

The colours of the sunset were again striking. This is taken from just above Widecombe. I’ve watched a few sunsets in Devon generally and on the moors over the years but the last week has brought some consistently dramatic effects.

Sunset on the coast

nigel — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 15:32:35 +0000

Trying to take advantage of both the weather and the presence of the volcanic ash cloud I headed for the coast for sunset last night. This post might be a little rough as it has been a busy day and I am about to go out to catch sunset tonight. However the images looked good & I’ll tidy it up tomorrow!

The late evening light around the Thurlstone (just off South Milton beach) seen here was so soft and warm (warmer than it felt!).

The almost complete absence of people was great too but the beach was not quite deserted.

The light gradually changed with some wonderful colours. The clouds towards the end really added some great effects. While I’m aiming for the moors tonight I will be back on that beach again.