19th January from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth
After three days of hard frost the grass is crisp and crunchy. Where the paths were ice-free, they have now acquired a white sugar coating. But the sun is warm and the open grass is now covered in thousands of glittering jewels except for the places in the deep shadow where the cold is still biting. This contrast leads to a sort of photographic image on the path of the posts and rails where the white frost transitions abruptly. The sea slushes restfully. The wagtails are as busy as ever and then, suddenly, for the first time this year, the unmistakeable wheezy voices of the greenfinches from the low bushes.
From 19th January 2022
Half an hour before sunrise at it is still midnight dark. I can just make out a purple sea and a thick, heavy cloud cover. But then, Just above the horizon, a narrow ribbon of orange gold stretching right across the horizon showing that, behind the massy black, the dawn is in progress. #Bournemouth #westcliff #winter #January
From 19th January 2021
The surf rampaging up the beach provides the continuo and the wind streaming through the pine tops the obbligato to the violins of the storm. The wind stirs up the damp resiny scent from the thick carpet of pine needles and the the heady warm odour of the wild garlic on the cliff top. The growing light diffuses through the soft grey mist out in the bay and the steady drizzle provides an intoxicating uplift.
