18th June from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth

A soft, shadowless day. The air is fresh and there is no sun in the milky, hazy sky. Sounds carry a long way but people are oddly muted. Summer continues. Plants have reached as high as they can. Hazel nuts are fat and finished on the bushes but still green. A pigeon takes off from beneath a holm oak tree and throws up a cloud of dried leaves with its wing beats. Under another tree, the dried leaves are a strange pink colour. On getting nearer we can see they are confetti. Later I see a giant pink rabbit which may have been part of the celebration. The sea sighs softly and after midday a fine drizzle begins which turns occasionally to cooling raindrops.

From 18th June 2022

Lumpy and grey for most of the day but warm enough for the visitors to begin to crowd the beach. Then little gusts of wind and occasional patters of rain though not enough to put the swimmers off. As the afternoon progresses the wind backs to North and still the sun burst through from time to time. Magpies rattle at each other in the treetops where the sound of the wind is continuous. Little shivers of delight spread out across the waveless green bay. Now the wind is strong. Twigs and leaves begin to litter the path and a large branch of sweet chestnut sags and snaps under the burden of summer leaves. A few hardy beach goers remain but the Green is deserted. Greenfinches chortle from the depths of the bushes. More drops of rain. We await developments. #bournemouth #westcliffgreen #summer #June

From 18th June 2021

After the oppressive heat of the last few days the thunderstorms we were promised have not materialised. But it has been raining steadily for several hours and with a strongish breeze everything feels fresher. Puddles have formed everywhere many of them covered with a flourescent yellow green film that looks as though someone has spilt a can of Duluxe around the place. It is in fact the pollen from the pine trees that has been washed out of the air demonstrating what sufferers of hay fever and asthma have been putting up with recently. The grey green sea rolls lazily onto the flat, empty beach. The short grass has greened up appreciably and the leaves of the trees are glossy and polished. Branches of sweet chestnuts hang down to breaking point under the weight of water on their big, flat leaves.