Tag: Kent
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24/07/23 – Late sun, long grass and an alarmed wren
It was the end of the day, the end of the weekend and I was exhausted by life admin when I dragged myself out for a walk. I walked past the patch of heathland where cars always linger, past the tangled bracken and high nettles. I slipped through a break in the woods, off the…
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16/07/23 – Strong winds beside the sea
Yesterday it was so windy it was an effort to walk into the face of it, but we pushed on. We were on the edge of the ocean, a raised path between the fields and the heaving blue sea. The long grass, the green leaved crops, the yellowed fields all whipped in the wind, constantly…
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04/06/23 – Waves over the wall at the tidal pool
On Sunday I was so tired I didn’t think I had the energy for anything, but I still dragged myself to the sea. The wind was high and the waves were rushing in, bands of white flushing forward to the shore. I walked out along the concrete wall of the tidal pool, which was thick…
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27/05 – Low tide sand shapes
I waited till the evening, when the sands were quieter. I walked away from the main bay, from the beach swings and trampolines, the bodies stretched over the sand. I walk away, across the sand. The sand was high, reminding me that the beach is an ever shifting place, an edge but also a moving…
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02/04/23 – Mermaid’s purses and egg sacs on the shore
Yesterday I went to the tide pool. It was windy and I wobbled as I walked out to the first ladder. Great swathes of seaweed had spread since I’d last been and they were spread-eagled beneath the surface, black through milky grey. I climbed down the ladder into chest clenching cold, swam across with the…
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20/02/23 – Dusk in the city and sunset at the coast
Two walks this weekend, one at dusk when I walked to the car and saw the sky was lighter than I expected, tree branches wriggling across it in dramatic lines. I walked past the car and down the street as the street lamps came on. I took my gloves out of my pocket and heard…
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06/02/23 – Cleared undergrowth and snowdrops
Yesterday I found that the undergrowth in the wood has been cleared. The narrow path I usually squeeze down is wide now, the bracken and brambles gone, with only a few brown stalks left to show what was once there, what has been there for years. The trees still made a tunnel overhead, and I…
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21/01/23 – Frozen sunset in the woods
On the way to the woods I spotted the furry buds of a magnolia. The end of one branch had snapped, leaving a silky prong on the pavement. I picked it up and carried it with me. The birds were loud as I went through the gate and up the mulchy path. I don’t know…
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11/01/23 – A falling down fort and an early moon
Yesterday I went to the end of the road and down the back lane to where a small track runs off into the undergrowth. The path was sticky after so much rain, but solid still, bouncy underfoot. I walked along the back of the houses until I came to the woods, then turned down the…
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22/12/22 – Low Tide
Yesterday I was tired and more than anything, I wanted to swim. I headed for the little bay next to the main sands but on the other, quieter side of the harbour wall. There was a huge digger on the ramp down to it, along with workmen in high viz jackets. I could see the…
Bonnie Radcliffe 