Beach Wandering.

Wanting to blow away some Christmas cobwebs we decided to take Thomas down to Mablethorpe to show him his first Time and Tide Bell.  We were lucky with the weather as the sky cleared to give pleasant conditions for our walk but later the clouds rolled in once more and the afternoon finished dreer and gloomy.  The marsh and beach were significantly wetter than our last visit and wellies would not have gone amiss.  We soon reached the bell and Thomas was suitably impressed.  I was surprised to see that the supporting scaffolding poles on which the bell stands and now plainly visible.  Tides and currents have scoured away the sand at its base.  I shall be interested to see if it is covered once more on our next visit.

 Having just completed Susan Cooper's series of books and  currently rereading Rober MacFarlane's The Old Ways, I am revisiting my ideas on Landscape and Memory.  In Cooper's books character's walk along paths and 'Old Ways' fading as they pass out of time.  MacFarlane writes in his book that stretches of path can carry memories of a person, just as a person might of a path.  I have created the image below to represent that idea.

We had enjoyed a very pleasant walk.  All that remained was to head into Mablethorpe for an excellent meal of fish and chips at Salty's.

Mablethorpe Time and Tide Bell

On 22nd August, needing to take Jet for a walk and also wanting to go and find the new Time and Tide Bell Sculpture north of Mablethorpe we headed down the coast.  It wasn't long before we parked up on a quiet car park at Theddlethorpe.  It was warm and sunny as we made our way through the dunes, wide at this point, and out onto the wide expanse of beach.  

We turned south and before long could see Mablethorpe in the distance.  All around were piles of razor shells, which we collected to make plant labels for the garden - much better than plastic.  We also had excellent views of a wheatear already making its way south to Africa, its summer over.  Other early migrants, terns, could be heard calling as they fished just beyond the tide line.  After about a mile we reached the time and tide bell.

The Time and Tide Bell is a sculpture by artist Marcus Vergette’s placed on the shoreline to the north of Mablethorpe in June 2019. It is the seventh such bell to installed around the country since the start of the project in 2009 and the only one in Lincolnshire. At high tide the waves ring the bell adding an extra dimension to the artwork.  The beach to the North of Mablethorpe is vast and entirely unspoiled. The tidal bell adds an unexpected piece of art to be discovered whilst fitting in with the natural surroundings.