A day at the beach.

My daughter and I took the small people to the seaside today. We had invited her eldest daughter to come along with her very active dog. A run on the sand would have been good for both of them. But she was having her second Covid vaccination and so couldn’t go with us as the timing was all wrong.

We went to Crosby, on the west coast, not far from Liverpool. We saw black swans as well as more traditional white ones on the marine lake there. I don’t think I have ever seen black swans before. Very elegant!

We saw seagulls, of course. Lots of them. 

 

We also saw cranes.

 

And crows.

  

And jellyfish. I’d almost forgotten how many jellyfish end up stranded on the sand on the beaches in the North West of England.

 

And we saw Anthony Gormley’s standing men, emerging from and disappearing into the sea. 

 

Also disappearing into the sand.

 

It’s the first time in ages I have been to the seaside. Probably, the last time was two years ago when Phil last played in the chess tournament in Sanxenxo, Galicia. Last year the tournament was cancelled altogether, this year I understand it went ahead but with restricted numbers and a lot of social distancing. Maybe next year we’ll be back there.

We collected shells and feathers and a small amount of what my daughter was looking for - sea glass. She had been told by an artistic friend that different coloured pieces of smoothed glass and pottery abounded on the beach there. But we found very little. Maybe we looked in the wrong places. Maybe her artistic friend has collected all the best stuff.

When we have visited Figuera da Foz in Portugal - another chess tournament destination we might return to next year - I have often thought that the beach reminded me of Southport where I grew up. Looking at some of the plants growing on the edge of sand dunes in Crosby, I was once again convinced of the similarities of the two coasts. 

 

What we didn’t have was Figueira’s sunshine. It was a very cloudy day but not cold. Not a day for paddling however. In some ways that may have been an advantage. There were not many people out and about. And we were lucky: the rain didn’t start until we were almost back at the carpark. A fine drizzle began then. We ate ice creams in the car before setting off for home in increasingly heavy rain.

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!