Thursday 26 February 2009

Washed away

We drove today (of course we did!) a little further each time we venture out. To the remains of a village called Hallsands. Which went from this in 1885:
To this, after dredging for shingle off the coast to use in the building of Plymouth's dock yards in the 1890's caused the beach to erode and collapse spectacularly destroying most of the village by 1917.

We ordinary folks can't be trusted not to kill ourselves and aren't allowed down into what's left of the village any more (except for the owners of the two remaining standing houses who obviously aren't stupid enough to kill themselves on the rocks.) So we had to stand on a viewing platform. It was quite spooky. "Modern" ruins.

Some photos from our day. You can click on any of them to see a large version.

From the place where we had to turn the car around because we had taken the wrong turning. You can see the remains of the village hanging on to the rocks. I love our patchwork countryside and all it's shades of green. Eventually we parked down by the beach you can see here.
Look, you can see our car! Oh my aching heel after that climb!

From the viewing platform.
All that remains.

Ray found a tiny path down to this house perching on the top of the cliff.

He went scrabbling about on the rocks to see if we could sneak to the village via the beach. My intrepid explorer has taken me places I probably wouldn't normally go. But not this time and not without a tide timetable and some much tougher shoes!
We sat in the car with a flask of tea and jam sandwiches like two middle aged tourists. It might look warm but it was rather windy.

Every time we go out in our car I imagine George in the back seat. I think of all the places we would have shown him and the many beaches he would have played on. Each day out is always happysad for me. I hope one day we will have a living son or daughter to explore with.


When we got home this evening we opened a letter from the local council refunding some of the council tax paid while I have been off work. More than enough to cover the enormous gas bill that is more than twice as much as it was last quarter. The greed of these utility companies is astounding. Profit for the sake of profit seems pointless to me. Re-nationalise!


8 comments:

  1. What beautiful photos! I do that too, imagine Ezra in the back seat or in a sling, everywhere I go.

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  2. Beautiful. Thank you for sharing.

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  3. I loved seeing your exploring through your words and images. I know the feeling of absence; I too feel that when I experience something new I ache to be able to point and say "look at the . . ." to my growing baby girl. Thinking of you and precious George. (((((hugs)))))

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  4. Wonderful pictures and hurrah for tax refunds. Happysad, hoping for happy and for a healthy, happy child.

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  5. I just felt like I came on the adventure with you. What an amazing place Barbara.

    When I saw the photo of Ray standing out on the rocks I could vision George bending down exploring the ground and seeing what was living in between the rocks. I wonder if he was there with you doing just that. I always wonder when one of us girls goes out on an adventure if their babies are there too and not just their own baby but all of their little friends too. I hope so. I hope Christian got to go there with George. Its thoughts like that that actually bring me happiness.

    Thank you for sharing your drive. I loved it.

    xxx

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  6. What a gorgeous part of the world- great photos.

    Yes, I imagine 2 little car seats in the back...
    xxx

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  7. Barb, I need to visit that side of the world. What breath taking beauty.

    Yesterday I took out the infant car seat from my car. We left it in there from my daughter who recently upgraded seats. We figured it was hard enough to get in right, and since we were going to need it again in the spring we should just leave it. I took it out though. I couldn't take looking at an empty baby seat every time I looked in my rear view mirror anymore. I have a daughter, and I still feel the same way. There should be two kids back there. The empty space is a sad reminder everytime I get in the car. (((hugs)))

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  8. It is beautiful! Wow! I think we will always imagine if our babies were with us. Someone will always be missing.

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