away again

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Before I start, may I say thank you to my NZ relations for their very nice comments. Now, I had to take Alex to Manchester airport on Monday for his flight to Jersey, So I decided to spend a couple of days in Southport, about an hour from from Manchester. I had imagined golden sands and a promenade, waves lapping the beach. But it turned out that the tidal range is huge and you only see the sea in a storm. The beach is "green" which means its been taken over by marshy vegetation, and you're advised to keep off in case the sea suddenly whips you away. Luckily a couple of miles along the coast I found a lovely sand dune area, and on the way home I stopped at Formby, which has a great beach, and Crosby where the metal men live. Bella and I walked and walked, and I failed to shop in the famous Lord Street, though I did wander down one evening to have a look at the end of it.

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Photos

beside the sea wall
and the green beach!

more green beach
with mud flats beyond

mud flats
I even walked to the end of the pier, but I couldn't see the sea!

this obelisk marks one end of the trans penine way
the other end is on the east coast near Hornsea

I made a friend in Formby
A lady I met took the picture, and her dog sat there too.

behind the sand dunes are lovely pine woods
but this coast is being eroded quickly, 10 metres a year.

red squirrels live here
and lots of people like to see them. I saw three

and I think Alex would be proud of me for this photo
even with Bella beside me, this squirrel didn't seem worried

another time, another place
a hundred metal men by Anthony Gormley

they all look out to see
and I'm glad I've been to see them

but I imagined they'd be shiny
not covered in barnacles..... silly me

Bella got black feet in a muddy patch
and my shoes went black too

Others are underwater
I could see some heads out to sea, it was hard to tell real people from statues, but there weren't that many people.

Comments

[aun]

Like your friend on the seat at formby and you have a lovely dog! Only I do not like all those men at the beach at all.