Oh I Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside!

But I could wish for warmer weather. It's been a rather cool and wet July. When I mentioned to a friend that I thought I might have moved somewhere breezy, she referred me to this report about the notably windy weather.

I had a sudden desire for a fish and chip supper beside the sea the other evening, so explored my way, via the newly opened Tiers Cross link road, to Broadhaven. There was a stiff onshore breeze which was sending flurries of sand before it up the slipway and across the road, the Blue Flag standing out from the flagpole like a board while the cables twanged. A good evening for blowing some cobwebs away.

The cafe was doing a good trade, and I took my fish and chips back to the comfort of my car, where I could eat without the wind snatching the paper out of my hands and watch the clouds catching and hiding the sun. I went back to the cafe for an ice cream, meaning to eat it while walking, but I couldn't concentrate on both at once. I was rather fascinated by the way the sun gleamed off it, but it was melting too fast to take a photo of the gorgeous stuff. I had to eat it quickly, trying to catch the drips and keep my hair out of it while I stood on the slipway watching a windsurfer and kite surfer zipping back and forth across the waves.

Such indulgence called for a walk, so I set off along the beach. I'd only brought a fleece jacket to put on over my T shirt and wished I'd left a hat and scarf in the pockets. There were a few other people walking on the beach, wearing coats, scarves and hats. At the end of July, for goodness' sake, it should be warm and sunny! A group of young people in wetsuits ran down to the sea to play on body boards, their calling and shrieks at the cold water lost in the general buffeting of wind and waves.

The tide was a way out, but there wasn't much on the strand line. Some bladder wrack, a few broken shells here and there, an unidentifiable jellyfish (there had been quite a few smallish Common/Moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) stranded at Newgale when I walked there a few weeks ago, so probably one of those) and a few small By-the-Wind Sailors (Velella velella). Before I knew it, I was almost at the other end of the beach, my path blocked by the water flowing from the stream which emerges onto the beach under Haroldston Bridge. Not wanting to get my feet wet, I walked up the shingle bank to the road and back along the prom, sitting for a few minutes to watch the sunset. It wasn't as colourful as I'd hoped. Judging by the disappointment and resignation on the faces of some more serious photographers there, they were probably hoping for something glorious too.

Still, it was rather wonderful nonetheless, to watch the sun glinting off waves before it hid behind the clouds, tasting salt from the sea spray on my lips, feeling my hair dance in the buffeting breeze. Hopefully, there will be a warmer and more mellow evening so that I can swim and laze on the beach without having to unpack my gloves and scarves just yet!