3rd July from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth
The fresh breeze sends my hat bowling down the path in front of me. An undignified chase ensues. The grey green sea is topped with small white horses out in the bay. White ponies, I suppose. These are the days when schools arrive on trips. Little knots of children sit on the sand while their floourescent jacketed teachers are dreaming of proper holidays and days at a warmer seaside. On the cliff top a column from a junior school encounter a gaggle from a senir school. “Year Six - keep to the right” says the anxious teacher. Somehow both groups make it down the zig-zag to the beach. A greenfinch croaks and warbles from an old pine until it takes off and is hurled along the cliff face by the gale. Despite the fact that the sun is hidden by bumbling clouds, the day is warm enough for joggers to proceed shirtless and sweating. Pigeons coo.
From 3rd July 2022
By the evening, the strong wind has died down to no more than a cheek-kissing breeze. The clouds bumble further apart till we can see clear blue sky and a warm late sun. The bright golden rays light up the patchwork of green, yellow and straw fields on Ballard Down. Every now and then a bubbling, flat bottomed cloud passes and the hills are dark before they light up again. The hills, indeed, seem to skip like lambs as the Psalm has it. The sea is a flat, intense blue and the waves are stilled save for a low rush and sigh. Picnic blankets are spread. A myriad of bees of all types buzz among the blackberry flowers. Their work has not been in vain and there is the first, luscious blackberry of the year. #bournemouth #westcliffgreen #summer #july
From 3rd July 2019
Summer has finally crept up behind us and announced his presence with a startling clap on the shoulder and a hearty "come on in. The water's lovely". He put in a brief appearance earlier in a May but he soon hurried away on more important business elsewhere. And for most of June he has huddled in a seaside shelter hiding under his hoodie and smoking rollies until the weather cleared. Maybe he'll hang about this time for a week or two before he slouches off as August approaches leaving us disappointed again. Or maybe he'll fulfill his obligation and it'll be cricket on the Green until the end of September. Somebody really ought to take the young whipper-snapper in hand and teach him about reliability and keeping promises.
From 3rd July 2015
I could see the lightning getting closer across the bay like a creeping barrage. I said to the bloke standing next to me "You're standing on open ground on a clifftop with lightning hitting the water a hundred yards away, I'd put your umbrella down if I were you." But he wasn't and he didn't so I legged it indoors pretty smartish.
