Landscape

Evening Light At Wells-next-to-Sea, North Norfolk

A few weeks ago, late August 2017, we visited Wells-next-the-Sea on the North Norfolk coast.  I had a practise at taking some more evening photos.  But as we are still away in France, I was hoping to take some evening photos of Cannes on the French Riviera tonight, but the traffic was horrendous, so we gave up trying to get along the coast.  This morning we had a wonderful day driving through the French Alps and saw some amazing rock formations, which I will post later, but my laptop is still not letting me down load any new photos.  So while we are away, it will be old photos only 🙂  I must say their wifi in Grasse, where we are staying, is so fast, amazingly so.  Anyway hopefully tomorrow I will get to photograph some more old churches to go with the few that I have visited so far. 

 

Margate Lighthouse, Kent

I bought a lighthouse book the other day ‘Lighthouses of England -The South East’, and while reading through it, I recognised a lighthouse.  At the end of October 2015 we went to visit our daughter and her family in Kent……looking back now, the weather was amazing for the end of October.  Anyway we had gone to do Halloween with our youngest grandson and he wanted to go to the beach, like they all do at 6.5 years old.  So we arrived  at Margate, a seaside town and the place was packed, there was some kind of bike race on.  I know nothing about this sport, but I took loads of photos because I liked the way the bikes moved on the sand.  I’m glad I did, because I got the lighthouse in a few of them.

A little history……Margate’s first lighthouse was built in 1828 to mark the town’s newly built breakwater. The original lighthouse was a round Doric column.  It had a square gallery and cylindrical lantern, but this tower became a victim of the Great Storm of 1953.   Strong seas pushed the old tower over, leaving it leaning at a precarious angle for several hours, prior to it collapsing, along with a large section at the end of the pier.  In 1955, the current octagonal concrete tower was built, topped by a copper lantern housing a fixed red LED light.

 

Fishguard North Breakwater Lighthouse, Wales

The lighthouse that I had noticed on our way to Strumble Lighthouse, in Wales, September 2017, was in Fishguard Harbour which opened in 1906. The new development included a stone breakwater, extending from Pen Cw at the north end of the quay into Fishguard Bay. This breakwater was later lengthened to about 850m and a octagonal brick lighthouse, lower part black and upper part white, was constructed on the eastern end.  The light is operational and flashes green, every 4.5 seconds.

 

Sunday Drive, West Norfolk

A few weeks ago at the end of July 2017, the weather was behaving, so we went for a Sunday drive.  We drove up to Snettisham on the west coast of Norfolk, about five miles from Hunstanton and had a walk along the near empty beach.

We then drove towards Hunstanton and passed Caley Mill, Norfolk Lavender at Heacham.  

A little history for you……Norfolk Lavender is the home, of around 100 acres of lavender fields and an oil distillery, plus on-site gift shops and restaurant, lavender distillery, national lavender collection, herb garden and a new rare breed animal centre. … with masses of rare and unusual farm animals, set in 10 acres of landscaped grounds Caley Mill was built using carrstone quarried at the top of Snettisham Hill and bought in 1837 by local landowner Hamon LeStrange. The introduction of the railway saw a decline in the mill’s fortunes and it ceased to be a working mill by 1919. It eventually became derelict and was finally purchased in 1936 by “Ginger” Dusgate as the new home of Norfolk Lavender Ltd.

On our way home, we passed through Sandringham, where the Queen has a holiday home.  Passing the Royal Stables, we saw the postman delivering royal mail.

Not far from home, we noticed that the farmer had been busy turning his fields into rolls of golden straw.  

 

Ruadh Sgeir & Na Cuiltean Lighthouses, Isle of Jura, Scotland

 

When visiting the Isle of Jura in 2016, I saw these two lighthouses and I think they are Ruadh Sgeir & Na Cuiltean, but I am not too sure which is which, but again its the location they are in.  These modern lights have replaced older lighthouses.  As with the other lighthouse I have posted about on Jura, this is as close as I will get to both of these lights, so it’s straight in to the Lighthouse Category.