Hastings and what you find in a typical British sea town

Seagull

I went for a photography meetup on Sunday and the trip went to Hasting. Hasting is a about 2 hours from London by train and while it is an ok place with cliffs, fishing boats and of course the sea, I still prefer Eastbourne (Beachy Head) and Brighton.

The weather was perfect (my face is still red) but somehow I wasn’t 100% motivated to take photos so they are not all great. But I am very happy with the above young seagull photo. I love the colours.

I think in the end the theme for me became taking photos of typical things on a British beach.

So we have seagulls, women in bikini (and I will leave it up to you if that is a good thing or not …), men putting up windscreens, deck chairs, swan water bikes and families with fish and chips (and the man wearing a t-shirt saying – “If found – return to the pub” ).

Surprisingly enough Hastings also has two Funiculars.

See all photos here.

Weirdest photo of the day must be this bear:

The saddest bear in the world

It looks incredibly sad and depressed. Understandable if you have a hole in your belly and are attached to a red tractor.

42 (+ 2 days)

Devon Cream Tea in the Wayside Cafe

It’s really not bad to spend your 42nd birthday with your best friend in a cafe in Widecombe-In-The-Moor having a cream tea that looked as good as this and tasted as good too.

We also visited Princetown which is known for the prison. And if you have seen Lucky Break (which of course you have, as Bill is in it) then you might recognize the prison. Lucky Break has partly been shot in Dartmoor Prison.

In Princetown I had my first Knickerbocker Glory ever (good experience) in a cafe built in their old police station.

And we also visited Exmouth which is a lovely town on the coast. And Budleigh which is an even lovelier small town on the coast with a pebbled beach and red cliffs in stead of the white chalky ones. Most importantly here though is that they sell the best ice cream I have tasted in Britain so far.

My birthday was perfect, and my weekend was too.

Last year I was hoping that the year ahead would have me make my short film. I did not quite manage to pull that off but I am still quite confident that SweetArts will be shot in October this year.

Weymouth, Portland Bill, Durdle Door

Dogs in the rain
The view from my B&B room in Weymouth Saturday morning around 8am (yes zoom lens and a room with sea view very close to the beach). It didn’t look very promising so we headed to a cafe for a coffee and the Saturday Guardian. I think the dogs are more depressed because of the ridiculous jackets they are wearing than because of the rain.

A couple of hours later …

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Reasons to visit the Isle of Man – II

Isle of Man - pebbles

If the beach is as empty as this (very empty) and the weather is like it was (very sunny) the pebbled beach on the Isle of Man is perfect for pebble play.

And if you are visiting – those masterpieces might still be there! (I made them near the Ayre visitors centre and the Point of Ayre lighthouse)

One thing I always wonder about is: why are there so few shells on the beaches in the UK? Or is it different on other parts of the coast?

Pause a while and muse

Love never ends

A train at 9.47am on a Sunday morning – after a short night and weather that could not be more depressing – demanded a lot of willpower. But I had my book and the prospect of a train trip, and even if it was going to be rain all day, that was enough to have me leave my bed and hop on board to Eastbourne. The BBC promised heavy showers all day.

While approaching Eastbourne it magically cleared up and the grey clouds turned into sunshine and while setting a first few steps on a very steep hill in the direction of Beachy Head I discovered a couple of things:

I really need to work on my condition
Love never ends
and most importantly
I live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

Warning: Lots of pictures in this post.

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Things that can make a Friday

  • An egg/bacon sandwich for breakfast. I know, I am so British sometimes.
  • Good friends. Even when they live 200 miles away. We actually managed to watch Love, Actually together on the telly this week while chatting on MSN, demanding complete radio silence when “he” was in view. Yes we are both 12.
  • The fact that BFI is screening Absolute Hell. Didn’t think I would be able to ever catch that one on the big screen. How cool. And how young he is!
  • The trip to the sea last weekend made me realize that I had to do this more often: trips to the sea. So I googled some good places near the coast (I live on an island after all so there is lots of coast around!) where you can find nice lighthouses and Sunday it will be the beautiful red and white Beachy Head lighthouse in Eastbourne. May the weather be nice.
  • 22 days until departure to the Isle of Man. Five lighthouses!
  • Flashbacks of a fool (Daniel Craig), Happy Go Lucky (Mike Leigh’s new one), In Bruges (duh? yes but Ralph Fiennes) and Street Kings (duh?? yes but Hugh Laurie! I don’t like the hospital bits of House, but I do like House!) are all hitting the cinemas in London this weekend.
  • I don’t know what it is with series built around hospital life, but I happen to like Grey’s Anatomy a lot too. Neither here do I like the hospital scenes!
  • Am currently reading Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks I had not heard of Sebastian Faulks before a friend recommended and gave this book to me. I love the book and can’t wait to spent more time with it. Another reason why he will be on my radar: he has written Devil may Care, a new Bond novel which will be released on the 28th of May.
  • New on the photoblog: Shells and Under a blood red sky
  • Seeing as you all did so well with the previous one, please add your caption to this picture too (and no this is not turning into a daily thing). Leigh-on-Sea was a dog paradise.

    Here is mine:

    “No I really should not have eaten that. Really not!”

  • Enjoy your weekend!