As we climbed over the old harbour wall onto the west beach, the tide was quite a way out, and you could see how the tides in the estuary have moved the sand around. The sandbar seems to be getting bigger and the back part of the beach has more stones showing.
If you look carefully at the stones you will lots of them with bubbles frozen in them. These are really copper slag from 100 - 150 years ago. I wonder if they used this material as a barrier to protect the sand dunes, or whether 19th century industrialists simply dumped it? In any event, you can certainly find some interesting bits to use for a paperweight!
It also looks as if someone is farming mussels in the stream behind the sandbar. I wonder who it is - and whether they are allowed to do it?
Having walked to the end of the beach, we walked out past the lighthouse to the end of the (new) harbour wall. Strangely, there w
as a campavan parked alongside the lighthouse. As we got closer, we saw a handwritten notice-board outside it saying that they were radio hams trying to communicate with other hams throughout the world, and it was some king of special day, in which lighthouses played a part. They had a very tall aerial strapped to the lighthouse. Back past the yacht club, and we were intrigued to see how much it costs to ‘park’ one’s boat in the marina - about £800 a year apparently, even for the smallest boat.
Then past the ‘Lighthouse Cafe’ - which is a long overdue facility alongside the harbour, but it really does need a bit more imagination by the owners!
The ice cream van had gone from the car park by that time, so we couldn’t treat ourselves, and we decided that our waistlines voted against a walk over to Barry’s chippie for a tray of chips, and instead took the healthy option of walking back to the car along the coastal foot/cycle path.
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