Amber's Dragonfly

Photos Copyright: Maggie May

There was an announcement on our local radio yesterday, that it has been found through studying surveys, that people who live in Clevedon, have an average life span of 85 years. That is much more than many other places round here.

Well yesterday, my son took me to Clevedon (in Somerset) for the day.......... so heres hoping that it has added on a few hours of life to all of us!

I have started to feel quite well again after my virus and the shock of the cut finger and so far, antibiotics haven't had a detrimental affect on me....... well maybe my bowels, but we won't go into that.

So when Sam asked if I'd like to go with him and the girls to Clevedon which is small a sea side town not too far away, then I quickly made sandwiches and took clothing for any situation, which meant my bag was full of sun hats and cardigans and rain gear because the weather here could do anything.

As it happened, it turned out to be warm but not hot and a gentle sea breeze seemed to make us feel refreshed most of the time.

Being Friday, there were not too many people about as the school that my granddaughters go to had a non pupil day and broke up for half term a day early. That meant we had the beach to ourselves. It was a lovely change for me to go somewhere different.

The girls enjoyed collecting pebbles and using them for artwork. The top photo is Amber's dragonfly and Sam was trying to see how many stones could be successfully built one on top of the other. I think eight was the limit.

We eventually walked miles along the cliff top walk and we had a really lovely time. Today my daughter is coming for a few days with our grandsons, so I am going to be rather busy over the long weekend of the Bank Holiday.

Things seem to be getting back to normal and I feel very contented.

What will you be doing, I wonder?

The Walkway

Last week I entered a picture that was of the entrance to this walkway. It divides the boating pool which is on the near side from the sea and can only be accessed when the tide is low.

If you would like to be reminded of last weeks picture click here. I named the picture *refections* because I liked the way the chains reflected in the water. Several people asked me why the path was wet, but now they will see that it was left over from when the tide went out.

Watery Wednesday is hosted by 2sweetnsaxy. Why not look her up and share in the lovely photos?

Poet's Walk

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Let me take you to a favourite place, where Harry and I have walked many times, in many different kinds of weather. It is one of our favourite walks.

Clevedon in Somerset where the sea is a brownish colour, not because it is dirty but because of the mud in the Bristol Channel. At high tide the water reaches 8.9 metres or more and the tides are treacherous. There is no sand on the accessible beaches but lots of pebbles, stones and rocks.

There is a lovely coastal walk known as Poet's Walk, so called because of the links with various poets of the past. 

On occasions while walking in this place, we have seen sparrow hawks hovering motionless stalking their prey.

This is the path that leads to the scene in the first picture.

There is a little church on the left hand side that cannot be seen from this photo and in the cemetery are some very old gravestones.

Several poets came to Clevedon in the past. Coleridge stayed here in 1795 and Arthur Hallam was buried here in 1834. Hallam was Lord Tennyson's dearest friend and he wrote a poem for him, that I have written out below. Although Tennyson could not bear to visit his friend's grave for a long time, he did call while on his honeymoon in the year 1850, for a fleeting visit.

You can see the coast line of Wales on the horizon.

Break, break, break 

On thy cold grey stones O sea!

And I would thy my tongue could utter

The thoughts that arise in me.

O well for the fisherman's boy,

That he sings to his sister in play!

O well for the sailor lad,

That he sings in his boat on the bay.

And the stately ships go on 

To their haven under the hill;

But O for the touch of the vanished hand,

And the sound of a voice that is still!

Break, break, break 

At the foot of thy crags, O sea!

But the tender grace of a day that is dead

Will never come back to me.

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cicely and MamaGeek. Do pay them a visit.

Strange Haunting Beauty?

Is there a strange, haunting beauty in the burnt out tangled mass of metal, that is all that remains of Weston Super Mare's Pavillion? The remnants of a white building, packed with rides and all the usual things that attracted thousands of people to walk down the pier and spend their money?

We recently visited Weston and walked down the pier until we got to the barriers that stopped us from walking any further, where the twisted metal stands and the big hole in the pier planks look straight down into the murky sea below.

It was a sad sight when we first got there. No one knows quite what happened or how the fire started during the early hours of one Monday morning. At least I think it was a Monday. The whole of England must have seen it on the news. Flames and black smoke shooting up into the sky and seen for miles around.

The town seems as busy as it has ever been, despite the gloomy forecast that Weston would be finished after the fire, as no one would come if the pavillion was not there. Well I don't believe that for a minute!

Here we were, seeing it for our selves. A strange, sad feeling wafting over all who had come to pay their respects.

One day it will rise again. No doubt looking even better than it was before.

The Waiting Game!

I have been sorting out the photos that I took during the half term, when Sam, Amber, Millie and I travelled a good way to the sea only to find when we got there it emptied down with rain.

Although Sam was the one who first got me started on putting one photo at a time on my post, it was Crazy Cath who wrote me a very good email explaining how to put multiple photos on one post. So this is my first attempt at multi photos. Thanks Sam and Crazy Cath.

What can you do with two young children cooped up in a car while a storm blows outside? Only one other car in the car park!

Well you could give Millie driving lessons! And look out of the window and gaze at the storm or start eating your sandwiches one hour early!

Whatever is Amber doing? Maybe she has dropped a sandwich! Getting a bit bored with the waiting now!

At last! A gap in the storm and ten minutes on the deserted beach before the next downpour that involved hail, thunder and lightening!

Ah well, it made a change from the city!