10th June from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth

A hazy, misty, grey shadowless day. The colour palette is curiously muted. It is warm but the sun appears only occasionally from the the broken clouds. The sea and sky blend together and the slight swell, folds over into neat, well behaved waves on the beach. There are plenty of families on the sands but it is not crowded. An elderly gentleman with silver white hair stumps by leaning heavily on a stick. “Lovely walk.” he says. There are a number of sleeping bodies left over from last night. One such is stretched out on a bench and has covered himself in a blue towel. He has removed his shoes and placed them neatly together next to his empty vodka bottle. Further along, another towel has been left draped over the cliff top rail. Talk is subdued and birds are contributing little to the soundscape.

From 10th June 2022

The sun is hot. The wind is strong. The sea is grumpy. The sky is blue. The wind blown sand is as flat as an ironing board. Lines of waves collapse theatrically yards offshore. The spray fills the air even on the cliff top. Gulls and crows wander around as if uncertain what to do with themselves. The green fronds of bracken reach out across the path like raggedy hands. After tea dog walkers park their cars badly saying that they'll only be a minute. But I am not a traffic warden so cannot comment. Half an hour later the car is still there skewed across the pavement and double yellow lines. #Bournemouth #westcliffgreen #summer #June

From 10th June 2021

The clouds are grey and low with a stiffish breeze from the West. The beach is flat and almost empty. But the veiled sun peeps through from time to time and the afternoon is warm enough. An odd sort of year continues. Flowers are bursting out in strange clusters and groups. Nothing rare but sudden banks of a small pink oxalis and swathes of borages and forget-me-nots. Bushes are covered in the sticky, clingy strands of goosegrass. (What farmers call cleavers or kleiders which bung up combines when trying to go about their lawful business of bringing in the harvest. )