Slow Sabbath...

Been a slow day.  Made slower by having to drop everything and watch Newcastle United beating Sheffield United by 3 - 0 this afternoon.  Other things had to be put aside while I gaped at the Newcastle side in a vast empty stadium.  This did not spoil the game however, I enjoyed it and was pleased at the result.  Last night the BBC gave us Bournemouth v Crystal Palace just to indicate that Bournemouth are finished and will go down.  The only hope they have is that West Ham are also chronic and may fare even worse!  

This means I have wasted no time in seeking parades or protests to pretend I care about.  In Glasgow and Edinburgh (pronounced 'Edinburra') Rangers fans act out 'British Loyalism,' which in Glasgow means attacking peaceful asylum seekers meetings and of course the police.  'Unionists' are always violent, it i the English part of their imperialistic make up.  The Glasgow police (pronounced 'Polis') often appear somewhat right wing and 'loyalist also, at least those visiting Ibrox Park, Rangers home, often find.  This time however too many punches have been thrown, too many assaults have strained the officers and I think there will be many doors 'knocked on' at 6 am soon in various 'Loyal' districts.

I did notice the weather man claiming hot weather was in the offing.  It is summer I suppose, and this means the numpties will be racing to the beaches to collect virii from close packed sun lovers. I have watched them well behaved and well spaced out on Bournemouth's well cared for beaches but others may be less disciplined.  The NHS will be looking forward to the week...

Well he tried his best but failed to rouse much in Tulsa.  He managed to enable Nigel Farage, the attention seeking Hedge Fund chancer to visit him to swell the crowds.  Nigel was barred but allowed into the US as because of 'National Interest!'  Possibly he was interested in a 19,000 seater arena in which only 6200 bothered to come and listen to Trumps lies?  

In major news it appears the Heart of Midlothian have ended their time with Daniel Stendal and replaced him with ex-manager Robbie Neilson.  I wonder if Craig offered any advice here?  With court cases ongoing, league placing uncertain, this is a bright move that will please many and annoy others.  We await with interest further developments.

Courageous or Daft...?

ITV

The temperature is high, around 75 at times, and here at Southend Beach we see thousands of people, 'social isolating' themselves together!  This is being repeated all over the country, parks are full of such sights.  Crowds gather forgetting the virus and glad to be out in the much needed sunshine.  Is it safe?
NO!
Of course it is not safe!
While it is safer to be outside than indoors with others where virus and germs can be transferred it is not possible to accept that such crowds can be safe, especially from such a virus as Covid 19.  The men in the Labs do not understand the make up of this virus as yet, how can they deal with it?  Yet the Brexit voting Essex individual decides they are 'safe' in this crowd.
Shops opening will make things worse, today MacDonald's in Chelmsford opened for 'Drive Thru' orders and Spelling lessons.  Several Twitter posts from those who control the traffic in the county mentioned this as the cause of tail backs!  I believe it was 'Costa Coffee' yesterday blocking streets in similar fashion also.  

Here we see three waves of Spanish Flu from the pandemic of 1918/19.  The first wave was small but deadly, as the third was small, but larger than the first.  However it was the second wave that killed the majority.  Men in war are forced to move around, workers also, little chance of proper 'Lock Down' then.  However, there is control now, it has been allowed to slip and soon we will face a depressing return to numbers being spouted, lying numbers at that, regarding the latest victims of this virus and government incompetence.   How many on the beaches or in the parks will catch this virus?  One in ten will not survive.
Possibly they might wish to consider the idea of gargling with salt water as a cure.  Like me you will wonder if this is from the 'Donald Trump Health Society' but in fact it comes from a study by clever clogs at Edinburgh University, so it must be good.  I have heard many times that such gargling can aid cold cures, but never tried it as I thought it 'old wifey' to be honest.  I may change my mind as they claim some folks had an improvement in their symptoms when gargling.  More research required.

Smoke Gets in my Eyes.

The windows being open all sorts of aroma's pass inside. Tonight I am enduring the burning of what I believe may be garden rubbish, the first of the leaves falling from the autumnal trees or that kind of garden leftovers they don't think about turning into compost.  This happens annually, however I fail to see where it comes from, it arrives from the west but that way lies town centre and no-one to burn leaves.  Tis mystery all.
The smell of small fires in the open long after the fire has been ditched and left to burn out has been with me for many years.  I can remember the strong aroma when an uncle was clearing leaves in his garden way back when, and more so when on the rare occasions we went under the bridge taking the railway from Granton harbour into town and stalked Granton Beach, a beach which some refer to as 'Wardie Beach' but we never did.  
Here there was always at least one charcoaled set of embers to be found, the bouquet hanging in the still air, well, air as still as possible on that beach.  The beach was not great, many stones and too little sand, this hemmed in by the high ban, now removed, carrying the railway by.  The condition was not supreme, it was always somewhat dingy, this being the result of the Firth of Forth being a heavily used stretch of water in those days far off.  
In the far distance jutting out into the gray sea lies Newhaven Harbour, then full of fishing boats right up until the 1960's when they began to be replaced with rich men's playthings.  That is all that remains today.  On both sides of the Forth lay fishing harbours full of men risking their lives night after night, the 'silver darlings' have long disappeared and the cod and haddock dwindling but most boats today are smaller craft looking for the Lobster pots dumped out at sea the night before.  
At the time the picture was taken early in the 20th century the Royal Navy based half the Fleet at Rosyth and when my dad was growing up he could see such a collection of blue gray ships heading out to sea, Battle-cruisers, Cruisers, frigates, Destroyers and smaller ships abounding following them out.  Add to this the steamers from all over the world landing a variety of goods at Granton as opposed to the larger harbour the other side of Newhaven at Leith.  
The condition of the water may not always have been that clean as far as I can see but people spent time there and made the most of it.  Today, with the railway removed the area is cleaner, grass is planted in the rear, the space open and the sea cleaner as less ships pass by, a few large tankers and many small pleasure craft.  
The harbour behind has changed with one half being filled in and now crowned with large glass fronted blocks of flats with magnificent views and prices to match.  No more steam trains chugging past, fewer foul mouthed sailors, and one time warehouse or marine offices and lighthouses now turned into dwellings.  
However I bet people still build fires from driftwood, attempt to cook potatoes, and burn their fingers while eating them leaving the hazy smoke and its aroma to drift across the old breakwater and the new residences with the same freedom it has always enjoyed.

The Sea! The Sea! It's Wet...

Having arrived for a rest from my labours I was taken on a walk through a park, up the high Street crowded with heavy traffic and thousand's of people and then forced along the beach.  We started high up along the chine where seaside flats with large windows and enclosed balconies start at around £400,00 and with houses on the shore with views over Poole Harbour fetching between £3 and 10 million.  I will not be buying one.   

 
I was not only frogmarched along the shore but then forced to climb back up the chine the hard way - going upwards!  We took a shortcut (he said) to make it easier but I lost two stone in weight by the time we reached the top.  

The sand along here is well maintained. Earlier this year in was renewed as storms had taken much away and we watched a tractor pulling deep sand back from the stairs down to the beach, the tide has raised this several feet and his job was to pull it all back.  He soon gave up we noticed.  During the summer there are many guards on duty, strict control over the promenade, two cyclists who went through at the wrong times were fine £50 plus much more in costs for cycling at the wrong times, and huts are placed at various intervals for the many problems families bring with them, or children as they are known.  

We began our Matterhorn like ascent around here at the back of a somewhat grubby hotel.  Had we been able to continue we would have reached Sandbanks where the multi million pound houses are found but instead climbed to the mere million pound ones.  Flats here have wonderful views and are the last resting places of the wealthier type who retire here to waste the cash their children hoped they would inherit.  We were personally ignored by several of those. 

Poole Harbour, a lovely spot with water only a few feet deep for a long way out.  Usually you see people standing next to a boat far out but few were about this day.  In the middle of course the water is very deep and the Bologne Ferry passes by at regular intervals along side other large ships winding their way in.  The views here are magnificent, the weather always changeable but always offering a variety of sky to look at and wonder.  A very popular place to parade and only £2.5 million for a house, reasonable I say.  

This was to be the picture of us receiving oxygen from a passing paramedic crew but I considered it too unsavoury for tender hearts...

Sea Sick, Too bad!

Since I was last here a couple of years ago I wanted to return to this car park and sit here watching the ships go by.  The sun glinting off the water, the sounds of the ferry's chains rattling, the water sloshing against the walls, the variety of craft that run back and forward on occasion ignoring the 'Give way to the Ferry' sign on the ferry.  The sun shone but there was a chill in the wind still, note the two at the back of the wee boat!  They have been out on a fishing trip and I wonder if they have caught anything out there apart from pneumonia?
There were over twenty cars on the ferry but I lost count as they came off.  A tourist bus, a 7:5 ton van and other large vans also travelled alongside a cyclist or two and foot passengers.  During the summer this place must be teeming!  The sands opposite filled with revelers and others indulging in things you keep kids away from, unless you are Ofsted of course!

Away in the far distance stands 'Old Harry Rocks.'  Once in the days of long ago these were attached to the Isle of Wight that is now far across the Solent.  I have clambered out along the top, in the 1980's, and it seems to me bits have been worn away since then by the storms.  There is no chance of my clambering over the brutes now!

Somewhat closer than in reality the distant Isle of Wight is clearly seen, even the southern end often shrouded by haze can be seen in the far distance.  So what happened to all that chalk land that has eroded?  I suspect someone somewhere has a mountain or two on their beach that they are not too happy about.

We climbed up to a high spot on the cliffs to gain a better view.  Down below the handful of people walked along the bright sand, sand that looks as if it has been relayed in time for the summer season.  The tourist income is vast and this long beach stretching from Christchurch to Poole more or less is a fabulous place to be.  Thousands consider it so and it gets a wee bit crowded.  There is very good support from lifeguards and council controls.  Mostly for lost kids during the day I suspect.

More fishermen!  They are also the only folks at sea it appears.  Usually this place is teeming with life.  Ferries to France, lifeboats rehearsing, small craft passing by, occasional other bigger ships in the distance heading for Poole.  Today little moved except a  dog or two and some people enjoying the sun. 

The different shades of blue in the sky intrigued me.  The sea was the same, various shades, changing as clouds passed over.  The blue above lightens as it heads towards the horizon, gradually the blue dissipates until it touches the sea.  The clouds remained small cotton wool like and insufficient to fill the picture, which is good.

Sick off the sea?  OK, no more now.

oops, sorry!

Water

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I want to be by the seaside. Having been brought up with a view over the Firth of Forth and then spending 21 years in London I miss it greatly. The present wilderness is about a thirty minute drive to the estuary, and I have nothing to drive of course, and I miss being near the sea. I miss that smell as well as the sound of the water lapping against quayside or rock. I miss the noise of seagulls, the sight of those various birds chomping their lunch while racing backwards and forwards with the tide. While the sand in the boot is a nuisance it is worth the risk when watching along a good beach, and the one at Bournemouth is excellent, especially after the crowds have gone. 


Water in general, when not flooding under the door or overflowing the bath and crashing through the ceiling, can be an amazingly relaxing creation. Sales of recordings of waterfalls, of mountain streams and even heavy rain, sell to those who wish to soothe the troubles of the day by allowing their mind to dwell in imaginary places. The gentle trickle of a stream does refresh the mind, no doubt this is why so many people place small fountains in their garden to create a mini paradise. (Paradise comes from the Persian word for garden. The Persians, Babylonians etc, like the Arabs, loved gardens. Cool water filled oasis made to measure, at least by the rich!) 


When living in London I watched a TV programme about narrow boats, the type of craft that are used for leisure or even home on Britain's many old canals. Once these were working boats carrying all sorts of goods from coal to hay bales through the country to the coast. Mostly this work was transferred to rail and nowadays a decent narrowboat can cost from £10000 to half a million! I don't own one! However while watching this programme I had a huge desire to be there, on such a craft, stopped alongside a green field miles from anywhere. City life attractions wear off as age creeps up. The fields,the gentle lapping of the water appeared worth more than gold to a city dweller. For those who live on such boats, and larger barge type parked in estuaries around the coast, the rise and fall of the tides gentle rocking must make life worth living. I saw one such boat advertised recently, a mere £350,000 was required....


Oh yes, and drinking water is good for you, especially when indoors!      


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Freezing Cold!

It's too cold to post here in this freezing place.
So here is a picture of somewhere warm where I ought to be!

Friday Evening

I thought, being Friday evening, and not in the mood to complain or rant about things, I thought a nice photo to finish the week was in order. This one, of St Ives beach, I obtained, as you can see, from the excellent 'FreeFoto.com' site, which I heartily recommend! While some of you take wonderful pics, and are appreciative of others efforts, this man manages to wander the world and find some lovely stuff which lie all around us. I say 'lovely,' and some would dispute a bus can be lovely, however the photographer recognises that the blogger and many members of the public need pictures of the everyday alongside those special photographs that represent a special part of our lives. A huge selection available to bloggers as long as you include the link to FreeFoto.com and do not claim them as your own or amend them. Seems fair enough.

I hope your evening is as interesting as mine has been.