Fig.1 The old fishermen's harbour, the 18th century lime kilns and a late December sunrise over the North Sea.
The sun coming up over Beadnell harbour, the lime kilns on the left, Dunstanburgh Castle in the far distance, sand dunes at my back a two mile beach walk to the river 'the long nanny' to my right.
Fig.2. The iconic 'Beach Court' B nB - owned by a member of Showaddywaddy by the way ...
A light frost on the seaweed and sand, our dog wondering why I've stopped in the middle distance. Several days with the waves, the views, the fresh air ... and bonkers relations who like to take a quick dip in the sea at this time of year! Not even the dog is that daft. The two mile walk to 'The Long Nanny' and the footbridge over the river is glorious as the tide goes out.
What's this got to do with learning? Everything.
Time to reflect. Time to look back to my years running around here as a child the parents and grandparents, the uncles and great uncles and aunts all long gone. And from time to time there's a little bit of history to take in:
Fig.3. Ebb's Nook, looking out across the point over the North Sea many hundreds of years ago.
We're looking for a spot to scatter my late grandfather's ashes. He came up here and stayed in a house behind Beach Court in the 40s and 50s until his daughter bought a cottage here and we spent our childhood here in the 60s.
Fig.4 The Point, Beadnell at dawn. Volcanic rock poking into the North Sea.
I can sit here for hours happily writing, drawing and taking pictures. I have my 'writer's notebook' as the OU Start Writing Fiction MOOC course recommended. I make notes about a talking lump sucker fish I once scooped out of a deep pool at low tide and took home in a large red bucket.
On the horizon there are now the occasional massive cargo carriers, just as I see back at home looking across the English Channel at Seaford Head. To the south the silhouette of Dunstanburgh Castle is a coastal landmark. To the north the Farne Islands are easy to pick out as the Longstone lighthouse flashes.
Happy New Year!
Does the Open University do a module on oceanography?
REFERENCE
Historic Environment Survey for the National Trust Properties on the Northumberland Coast. Beadnell Limekilns and the Links.