Westcountry wanderings » waves

Wandering west of Rame Head

nigel — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:51:08 +0000

A week or so back we took advantage of what looked like a good weather forecast to head over the border into Cornwall for three nights. Because we wanted to make the most of the time we decided not to drive far and so headed towards Looe which is only a short distance west from Plymouth. While I stayed in that area a while ago I hadn’t walked much of the coastline between Looe and Plymouth as I’ve tended to go further into Cornwall usually. The above image is taken at Downderry and looks east to Rame Head.

A little to the west of Downderry is Seaton. You can walk to this small village along the beach unless the tide is particularly high. The coast path continues west going up quite a steep hill and the above image is the view back over Seaton beach.

We walked the stretch between Downderry and Looe over two days as we had to head a little inland to our accommodation on foot in the evenings. As can be seen the day we walked into Looe was not as pleasant as the previous two days had been. The view above is looking from West Looe back towards East Looe.

I’d not seen this seal sculpture before but apparently a seal was seen regular in the area of Looe for some years and the lovely bronze sculpture was put there when the seal died. Looe is still a fairly active fishing port with a working dock on the east side of the River Looe.

Not everything along the coast path is a scenic as maybe most of the images I offer on here. This particular building is at Millendreath just to the east of Looe. It looks like it was a holiday complex maybe dating from the 1960s or 1970s but it is now deteriorating and closed down. Much of Millendreath looks rather similar now sadly.

On a more positive note there was a thriving beach cafe at Seaton and we went back there towards the end of the day when the light generally looked lovely. The island in the distance on the right hand image is Looe Island and is just off the coast at West Looe (Hannafore Point).

Wandering back towards of accommodation gave is some lovely views and I particularly liked the stand of trees shown on the left. The image on the right is dawn one morning – cold but beautiful. Cornwall is a favourite county – hopefully I’ll get down there for longer next year.

Around Start Point

nigel — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:40:09 +0000

I’ve blogged this area before however with photography along the coast it is almost impossible to get the “same” image as you got before – I know I’ve tried – so these are from a recent break there. The weather was supposed to be improving over a three day period however it didn’t change all that much. It did varied enough to get some shots that I found quite interesting though so I thought I would share them.

Start Point itself is quite an iconic setting for this part of the South West Coast Path and nearby Slapton Sands with its fresh water pool and pebble bank is also quite well known. The whole area was used in the Second World War as a training ground for the D Day landings. Walking towards Start Point recently the day was mostly rather grey. However, as in the shot above, when grey becomes silver it is a little more interesting.

From time to time the cloud base would come down and then it would rise again. The above image looks towards Start Point from just above Beesands village.

Passing the old village of Hallsands, much of which was swept into the sea in the first half of last century, we cut off to the south west just before we got to Start Point. We headed back towards Start going around Peartree Point to approach Start from the south. The above show the contrast in weather either side of the Start Point that day. To the south it is a fairly clear and quite pleasant day. To the north there was quite thick mist.

As we walked back along the coast the mist became thicker and we could hear the sound of the fog horn from the lighthouse. Stopping for a break at Beesands I caught an image of the lighthouse at Start Point lit due to the bad weather. I have seen that before but not managed to get a shot of it.

Although that day was not the best weather wise (though the walk was great) we did see some good weather and there was some great light on the sea at times as can be seen above.

Worm’s Head and Rhossili on the Gower

nigel — Sun, 01 May 2011 13:00:24 +0000

This is the “other” posting from a recent break on the Gower peninsula in Wales, the first being here. This blog covers some wandering in the Rhossili area (which is at the very western tip of the Gower). I first walked the Gower coast with a friend some ten years ago and loved the area from the start. This is the third return visit and I still think the view above of Rhossili Bay is one of my favourite views in the UK. Other than in the height of the summer season it is rarely very busy and there is plenty of space there for everyone.

From Rhossili Down, an area of moorland running along the bay, you get a good view of one of the main features of the area – Worm’s Head. For around two hours either side of low tide it is possible to walk out along the Worm however the walking is not easy going due to the rock formations there. It seems likely that the origin of the name is from the Danish wurm or dragon. As a later picture will show there are times when the dragon appears to be breathing smoke and the sinuous nature of the feature is both interesting and unusual.

Walking the beach, which is a little over 4 kilometres long, we found we were not alone… Given that a farmer and his sheep dog were attempting to round these up I don’t think they were on holiday.

However a number of paragliders were enjoying the thermals rising on Rhossili Down. Most were not performing stunts like the one above though – this picture has not been altered – the chute was actually below the pilot as he was spinning around and seemed to be having a great time.

Wandering back along the beach towards Rhossili there was quite a lot of spume coming on to the beach as there was a fair sea running on that day. It made for an interesting misty image looking towards Worms Head as can be seen here.

I took far too many images in the area so the above gallery is an assortment of images that I couldn’t find a reason to leave out – it really is a beautiful area.

Late on one evening while we were there I headed back to Rhossili from our guest house at Port Eynon to catch the late light over Worm’s Head. There is the illusion of smoke on the side of the dragon here caused by waves breaking against the side of the rock.

The weather was not great while we were there and I will have to go back again but this view with the sun going behind the clouds as it set still looked lovely. The B&B at Port Eynon was very good indeed, very nice rooms and a good breakfast, it may be worth a look at their website if you are heading to the area.

Spring tides and surf in Torbay

nigel — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:00:03 +0000

The period of spring tides made me head into the Bay looking for the very low tide. I’ve found in the past that you can access/photograph rock pools that cannot be seen for much of the month and that was the plan. There was only one day of the peak tides when the weather was forecast to be ok too.

As is so often the case I didn’t end up taking photographs of what I’d planned! I walked quite a section of Torbay in the Paignton area before the tide was fully out. I was not the only one who was “waiting” for something – even the seagull on the rock was.

I got back to Preston beach just before the tide turned and found that a paddle surfer was making the most of what was available in the way of surf.

His viewpoint – quite a bit higher than those using boards conventionally – allowed him a better view of where the best surf around the beach actually was. He seemed to get some worthwhile runs in.

One of those irresistible shots; this youngster was just staring out at the sea so intently. Was it a case of “when I grow up…”? His transport across the sand appealed too!

While the waves were not big some of the other surfers were also getting some good runs in too.

Some had to work quite hard to catch the waves but for a while there was quite a bit of activity.

Just after the low tide the sea became far flatter and, for some at least, it was time to head back. For me too – I had had a good walk along the beaches and even if I didn’t get any rock pool shots it had been well worthwhile. Large seas are quite unusual in Torbay as the arms of the Bay shelter it from all but easterly winds but when they do get in it can offer some good water sport.

Waves on Blackpool Sands

nigel — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:00:59 +0000

We went down to Blackpool Sands on a mostly sunny day and I got quite a few shots there and, a little later, at Slapton. The above is looking out over Start Bay – the combination of the light on the water and the cloud was great.

This photograph from Blackpool Sands looks south towards Slapton sands, Start Point and the lighthouse there.

When I got back and started running through the photographs I had taken while I was out walking along Blackpool Sands I realised there was something of a theme to them – rather a lot of waves.

I realised that, while posting a collection of “wave” photos might seem a bit odd, there was a real variety of light, colour, tone and waves in the collection and so decided to go for a single topic posting.

This is at the northern end of Blackpool Sands and the sea was breaking over the rocks there in the sunlight which made for some nice shots. The beach faces roughly south east and has no protection from seas coming in that direction. However the promontory of Start Point gives a lot of protection from westerly seas and winds.

There really were some good “rollers” coming in – some of which were quite large. This one is taken looking south towards Slapton sands again.

I really liked the colour “inside” the roller on this one. That sea green in the sunlight is really striking. I do love walking beaches. You never quite know what you will see and, because of the sea and the light, you get ever changing pictures from it. The cafe at Blackpool Sands is nice too so I’m sure I’ll be back there soon for some more photos and a coffee!

Wandering around the Teign estuary

nigel — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:45:20 +0000

It has been far too long since I got out with the camera. A number of factors have affected the past few weeks but mainly it has been that the weather has really been very poor for photography with a lot of wet grey days. These images may not be all that exciting however they do reflect quite well a cold windy day with odd bursts of sunshine on the estuary of the river Teign. The above image looks up the estuary from Coombe Cellars. The wind was blowing waves onto the small beach and Dartmoor can be seen in the distance.

Running into the river just here is a small stream which emerges from a marshy area. The reeds were moving quite a bit in the wind however the sunlight was catching them,

The above image is taken from Shaldon looking across the river Teign towards Teignmouth. At the time there was a patch of winter sun and the tide was going out fast as can be seen in the image.

Having travelled down the southern side of the estuary I then went back on the northern side. This is taken looking down the estuary towards the mouth from the Passage House Inn area close to Newton Abbot.

And finally… Also at the Passage House Inn some geese were feeding in the faint afternoon sunlight on the river Teign just below Newton Abbot.

Light on water

nigel — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 16:47:37 +0000

Having caught up with the backlog of the holiday snaps I started working on the relatively small number I’ve taken since I’ve been back and wondering about my next post. These are not all taken on the same day but I realised that on a number of days I’d taken photos that were effectively on a theme – light on water. The above looks from Paignton towards Berry Head.

I guess it is partly the time of year with a lower angle of the sun and less good weather however I do love the coast and the play of light on the water. The one above is taken from Preston and shows a windsurfer spotlighted on a stormy autumn day.

Shooting into the light has its problems. All too often a shot will be out of sensor range. A camera sensor can only get the exposure (roughly) right over a fixed range of light. Outside this range there will either be black with no actual content or white similarly. This may or may not be considered “wrong” by some people however I do like to catch what I see and so I have no real issue with this if most of the image has valid content and portrays what I want it to. The above – shot from Goodrington looking towards Berry Head – is a good example. It is not a “perfect” image with some parts of the image over or under exposed. The limitations of the camera also mean that the quality is not as perfect as I would wish but it conveys the scene I saw in the way that seems correct to me (& I like it!).

These shots were taken over a number of days and while mostly they are taken in Torbay the one above was taken on Slapton sands looking towards the lighthouse at Start Point. The light on the water really had a sparkle to it.

I find I do tend to look for “good weather” images but the one above is a reminder to me of how wrong that approach can be. Taken from Preston Sands with Berry Head just visible the rain that is coming in can be seen (& it rained shortly after I took the picture). The contrast between the better weather and the rain is quite striking.

And finally – I’d watched this person flying their kite for a while. I was looking for a good shot of them and got one or two with the kite in the air and in sunlight. However this one seemed to catch the mood of the weather (which kept changing) at the time. This was taken from Preston Sands.

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.

On the south west coastline in Cornwall

nigel — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 17:18:24 +0000

The farthest tip of Cornwall is a special place for me. I’ve been going there since I was very young. In particular the coast from Penzance around to St Ives has a wide variety of scenery, small harbours, cliffs, beaches, lighthouses, remains of mining and other antiquities and even some moorland. I’ve stayed in various places with family and friends over the years and I’ve not got tired of it yet.

I’ve not been to Porthcurno for a few years now but my partner had not been so we spent some time there. The Minack theatre is a remarkable sight – an open air stage set high on the cliffs – and well worth a visit.

While I have been there a number of times I’ve never seen the beach there looking as stunning as it did on that day.

One looking back over the bay towards the Minack.

Another great location – for photographers and tourists – is Mounts Bay and it is impossible not to take pictures of St Michael’s Mount. However you look at it the scene and the setting is one of the better in the UK. It is also a very historic site which probably has some ancient links with Mont St Michel in northern France.

The light on the island (a National Trust property) in the evening can be quite beautiful. I certainly plan to get back to that area again as soon as I can.

On the edge of the water

nigel — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 10:35:45 +0000

It has been raining quite a bit over the past few days and the ground on the moors would be very wet so, given a forecast of reasonable weather, I headed towards the coast. The Little Egret seen above is not an uncommon species in the West Country these days but this is one of the better shots I’ve got (I am not really a wildlife photographer and patience is not a virtue of mine!). This one was intent on fishing in the Kingsbridge estuary at low tide.

Saturday morning and a reasonable day brought out quite a few people intent on enjoying the water in various ways. There were quite a few people sailing in the estuary by Salcombe. While it added colour to the scene I had gone there thinking about getting panoramic shots across the water of Salcombe and stitching images together which have moving objects in is not the best thing however I did get one or two.

The above is a stitch of 8 images which shows Salcombe quite well. Images that are quite this wide are hard to show on here but one or two should make it to Commons in due course.

It was not only the Egret that was fishing. Plenty of people were out on both the estuary and here at Beesands which I got to a little later in the day. Given the waves coming in to Salcombe I’d expected to find some reasonable seas on the open coast forgetting just how much shelter Start Point gives to this section of the coast.

There are times when I get it wrong as far as the weather is concerned but I think I got the best of the day. The image above was taken turning 180 degrees from the previous image looking north up Start Bay. It was clear that parts of Devon quite close by were getting rain.