23rd June from the West Cliff Green, Bournemouth
A hazy sky smeared with high white clouds. A fresh breeze keeps the sea sparkling and dancing and the dry grass on the clifftop bending before it. On the beach a circle of keep fitters jump up and down and do press ups. It is still hot and uncomfortable. A small white dog chases a pigeon that considers its position for a long time before languidly taking off. A trolley from Lidls has somehow managed to wander onto the West Cliff and is grazing in the long grass in the shade of a grove of trees and bushes. People stop as they always do at the top of the steps and take photos of the beach and sea below. Today, the clifftop flowers seem extra brightly coloured. The sweet peas, thistles, mallows. The blackberries are alive with bees and hover flies and skippers. A white throat sings from one of the bushes. The silence under the trees is broken by a chorus of blackbirds.
From 23rd June 2022
A quilted grey sky and occasional watery but warm sun. A smart little breeze. Dainty waves with lacey edges like a tea table set with delicate doilies. On the bay several small boats crowded with day fishers looking like some children's cartoon. The tractor pulling the litter picking rake on the beach approaches a lady who has already set out her towel. But she is not going to move and the leviathan has to describe a wide circle around her leaving her, presumably, sitting among the cartons and plastic debris on her own little island. On the clifftop, the teasels are very nearly flowering and the pink sweet peas have spread a good distance along amid the long grass. A few domestic pigeons have joined our flock of wood pigeons on the grass. #bournemouth #westcliffgreen #June #summer
From 23rd June 2021
The bottle green sea is choppy and the little waves are being driven onto the beach by a brisk breeze. Just the day for flying a big yellow kite from the beach. The blue sky is smudged with big billows of cloud that blot out the sun from time to time bringing a sudden chill to the sunbathers. But in the sheltered places the day is warm enough. Last years fircones are raining down onto the grass making room for a new crop. Although on some pine cones will cling on for several years before giving. The new families of squirrels are having a field day with this bounty.
From 23rd June 2013
We went out on the West Cliff to look at the Supermoon. The air thick with the scent of resin from the pines and bats flickering in and out of the branches. The moon like a big white dinner plate at the end of the long silver path across the darkening sea.
From 23rd June 2009
Beyond the glossy leaved sweet chestnuts and the self-satisfied summer oaks; through the pines heavy with resinous scent; down the bank alive with fat black wood ants building their citadels from sand and pine needles; the grecian blue water of the harbour was fringed with sea lavender and thrift.
