Tag: Beaches

Rock gardens, piers and the muddy beach run 2015

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22 February 2015

As I was leaving work on Saturday afternoon the sky darkened. Something very strange began falling from the brooding clouds, a cross between snow and hail, fat fluffy balls that went splat as they hit the ground or me. Thankfully Commando was waiting for me in the car because pretty soon the roads were white with these odd balls of snow and ice and they were gathering under the windscreen wipers. Apparently this was graupel, snowflakes that become rounded pellets when they mix with supercooled water droplets which freeze to them in a process called accretion. When I looked out of the window on Sunday morning they were still there, frozen to the decking and the deck rails under an arc of icy pink clouds. Continue reading Rock gardens, piers and the muddy beach run 2015

the Gosport half marathon – first published 18 November 2012

The shire at Stokes Bay, Gosport
The shire at Stokes Bay, Gosport

After my trip to london there was no time for a lazy, restful morning because Commando had a race to run. It wasn’t just any race either, it was the Gosport Half Marathon, the longest race he’d ever run. He’d been training hard and I had no doubt he’d finish but, even so, there wasa little kernel of worry in the back of my mind. What if something went wrong? What if he did t make it in the time he wanted? What if I got lost on the walk I’d planned while he was running? ok, so we all know which of those was the more likely to happen… Continue reading the Gosport half marathon – first published 18 November 2012

sea, ruins and melting snow

Weston Shore
Weston Shore

3 Fenruary 2015

Pretty soon I was crunching through the snow around the corner, where the Seaweed pub used to stand, to the shore. Beside me snow was caught in the seed heads of the swaying grasses and I could see a ragged line of white where the shingle beach should be. Despite the dark clouds everything looked sparkling and bright. The brooding snow cloud on the horizon almost hid the towers and spires of Fawley on the other side of the water but the sun was doing battle with them, trying hard to burn through.  Across the road the little beach shelters looked lonely on the empty foreshore, it seemed as if I was the only person in the world, with the whole beach to myself. Continue reading sea, ruins and melting snow

Sea, sand and pebbles – first published 30 October 2012

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At the end of October 2012 I had much better weather for my walk along the shore. In fact it was prefect walking weather, cold and bright without too much wind. Back then work had not long begun on painting the tall flats and the whole of the Itchen Bridge could be seen across a sea of rubble on the old Vosper Thorneycroft site. So much has changed in just over two years but so much remains the same. Continue reading Sea, sand and pebbles – first published 30 October 2012

just a little further

Freemantle Common
Freemantle Common

13 January 2015

The weekend was sadly lacking in walking, much to my annoyance. Of course I don’t regret for one minute spending time with Panda on Sunday and, at the time, I thought I was sure to get a decent walk in over the next two days. On Monday though violent winds and  heavy rain ment I hardly went outside. Continue reading just a little further

Run aground on Bramble Bank

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6 January 2015

Southampton doesn’t often hit the world headlines but this week you can hardly turn on the news without hearing about it. The cause of all this hooha is a sandbank in the Solent called Bramble Bank, or, more correctly, a huge car transporter ship called the Hoegh Osaka that ran around on it on Saturday night. All in all it sounds like a very costly cock up on someone’s part and I thought I’d use my Tuesday walk to have a look. Continue reading Run aground on Bramble Bank

Blowing away the cobwebs

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26 December 2014

Our Christmas Day was a quiet affair, lots of food and sitting around with the family. Much of it wearing the silly gold hats from our Christmas dinner crackers, well apart from Commando Junior who steadfastly refused to do something so juvenile. Originally I’d planned on going for a little walk but time ran away and I didn’t. Sitting around in front of the fire eating chocolates all day is surprisingly tiring. Continue reading Blowing away the cobwebs

last days in Morocco – first published 13 August 2012

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Our time in Morocco was coming to an end. That’s the problem with holidays, they’re never long enough and the final days are always tinged with a little sadness at the approach of normal, mundane everyday life waiting at home. Even with a new job to look forward to I wished I could stay a little longer. Continue reading last days in Morocco – first published 13 August 2012

Trudging home

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11 November 2014

While the soldiers stood in little knots talking I slipped quietly away from the World War I Memorial at Victoria Country Park. Had the weather been better I might have lingered and looked at the inscriptions on some of the graves. As it was I stopped once to look at the ranks of white headstones on the hill by the entrance then carried on along the causeway back to the park. Continue reading Trudging home

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month

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11 November 2014

This weekend was turning out to be a bit of a washout in more ways than one. The planned Sunday walk was scuppered by Commanndo’s plans and my plan to walk to the dentist and back on Monday fell victim to heavy rain and food shopping. That left Tuesday as my only chance to fit some miles in. The weather forecast was hardly inspiring. Even so I planned out an ambitious walk, considering the chance of heavy rain, to Victoria Country Park. In fact it fit rather well with the date, 11 November. Continue reading The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month