Tag: Seaside

Titchy play: Monster

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

IMG_20190331_173838_459

I wrote three little plays for the Titchy Theatre yesterday.  They were read out at the show. I will post them here one a day.

Monster (tourist to reporter – look south or some such channel)

Reporter : so where did you see it?

Tourist : down by the quay, you know, the harbour?

R: and was it big?

T: well… It was as big as a boat, no… A ship

R: what did it look like?

T: er…. It had glowing all over it

R: what sort of lights?

T: Well… Yellow-ish. Like Glowing yellow eyes, and I think it had huge teeth too!

R: why?

T: it seemed to have a grill or something over its mouth, but you could see light shining through… You know… Glowing like an alien?

R: did it make a noise?

T: yes, a very low humming, and a metallic, clanking noise.

R: so…. how do you feel?

T: very scared. I’ve never seen anything like it before

R: can I ask you where you’re from?

T: oh yes. Stoke-on-Trent

R: so … Have you ever been to the seaside before?

T: oh yeah. You know, magaluf, Malaga, Ibetha.

R: and there was nothing like this there?

T: No… Just always sunny, and at night we went off and partied… The other thing I remember is this long wailing noise! I mean, it was foggy, so I could only sense the looming figure  the Monster…. .!!

R: OK. Well…. We checked with the Coast Guard… .

T: Yeah??

R: the wailing noise was from the lighthouse foghorn.

T: Oh

R: And the big, dark, lit-up ship thing.

T: Yes?

R: Was a car ferry…….

Christine Mallaband-Brown

 

Memory of the sea

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

IMG_20180825_171657

Sunny day, top of the steps, Rhyl.

Over beyond this wall is my sea, the one I remember as a child, the one we visited on steam trains when I was very young.

Out beyond this wall the beach is flat and spreads far out. The sand is yellow and ochre. There are ridged ripples in the sand caused by the waves. Lines of groynes (posts with flat planks in between) hold back the waves and stop the long shore drift washing the sand away. New sea defences have been built to try and prevent flooding during storms. In summer planes fly over for Rhyl air show. Thousands of people arrive in mid summer like a migrating flock of starlings to see the show. Then disappear as quickly. Sometimes the days are wet and windy, other times the sun beats down and uv rays and ozone help burn your skin.

This old lamp post was once lit with gas. Now it’s rusting in the salt air. It looks like it was highly decorated in years gone by. Rhyl itself sometimes feels like time is leaving it behind. There are attempts to restore its faded glory though. If you want to see the sea its worth a visit. Just follow the A55 road North West of Chester and on into Wales.

X

Remembering south devon

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , Leave a comment

I just found photos of this perfect small bay near Plymouth, Devon.

I think these were taken in 2015 or 2016. We stayed at a nearby caravan park and would come down to the bay either in the day or during the evening depending on what we had been doing.

Luckily there is little or no plastic pollution. The water looked very clear and it was warm enough to swim. However caution is required for going further out. Apparently a woman died a few years ago after trying to swim round the headland to the next bay.

on the way back to our caravan we had the excitement of seeing a slow worm (a type of lizard) in the field next to the pathway.

I do want to go back again soon.

 

Seaside

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

This is a new footbridge at Rhyl. The bridge can lift up on both sides of the footpath so that boats can navigate the lower area of the river. The footbridge is at the west end of Rhyl just near the blue road bridge and next to Rhyl’s bike hub where you can hire bicycles.

On our visit the sun was shining, but it was quite windy. The river below looked quite muddy and because the river is tidal the water was rushing out towards the sea.

The structure is interesting, the footpath seperates around a central mast and you can see down to the hydraulic rams that can lift up the two halves of the bridge. I haven’t seen in operation but I imagine it looks spectacular.

 

Two old paintings

Posted on Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

You know when you find old paintings? You wonder where you were when you painted them, what you were doing! These bring back memories of a holiday at Challaborough in Devon in 2002.

The rocks were dark and solid, with red brown sandy beaches. Across the bay you could see Burgh Island, a small island across a stretch of sand. To visit it you had to drive up from Challaborough and follow the coast road round to a little hamlet opposite the island.

The stretch of sand is really a sand bar that reaches out from the coast to the island, sometimes it is under water and can only be reached on a sea tractor that has a seated platform high above the waves. The island is worth a visit  because there is a 1930’s hotel on it that Agatha Christie, the famous crime fiction writer, stopped at. There was also a pub near the shore of the island, called the Pilchard. Im not sure whether they are still open as it was over 16 years ago that we were there!

I remember taking little canvases with me and sitting painting the view from the caravan site we stayed at at Challaborough, I also remember having to stay there longer as I twisted my ankle because the caravan steps were rusted through with the sea air and collapsed when I climbed up them.

Anyway these are two small canvases that bring back memories…..