To the beach

Wales: Blue sky and sunshine... must be time for a walk to the beach.  We followed the Wales Coast Path along the side of the Teifi estuary. It's a very pleasant walk with lovely views down over the water. Where the river meets the sea there is a small headland and a bit of a harbour area, with lots of boats. Of course, it looks very different depending on whether the tide is in or out. At low tide, there are numerous small channels and sandbanks. The estuary is now very shallow so boats need to take a lot of care navigating upstream, even when the tide is high.

There's plenty of wildlife to see on the way. These were shelduck, dabbling around in the mud.

Eventually you clear the river mouth and arrive at the beach, Poppit Sands. It's a lovely long crescent of sand, backed by dunes, with a few rocks at one end that provide plenty of interest for rock-pool foraging. It's truly lovely. 

I, the Lord of sea and sky

 

Though inland far we be,
Our souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither.
~William Wordsworth, Intimations of Immortality

It seemed appropriate to have a Wordsworth quote alongside this picture of the coast at the Solway Firth, on the edge of the Lake District, Wordsworth's home and his inspiration.  What is it about the sea and sky that make me feel so free and yet so pensive?

Allonby

In an effort to escape the rain clouds that tend to cleave to the Lake District's mountains (Seathwaite in Cumbria is the wettest place in England with an annual average rainfall of 124 inches / 3.15 m!), we travelled out west one day to Allonby on the nearby Solway coast.  It's officially classified as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - and you can see why.  Looking north-west towards the Galloway hills of Scotland, seen in the distance, there are miles of sand and mud flats, grassy dunes and rocks.  The tide goes right out leaving the mud exposed and, in consequence, it is an area rich in birdlife.  When the tide comes in it does so in a rather unpredictable way, so one has to be rather careful not to get stranded.  There were blue skies and moody clouds, and all the lovely natural tones of the coast. (Taupe, grey, pale blue, pale green, white: these are 'my' colours and make me feel utterly serene.)  It was a lovely day for photography and a soothing day for my soul.