Daddyhole

Daddyhole… what a funny name! According to one website, the origin derives from a natural arch or hole in the cliff which the Victorians named “London Bridge” but which has a much older name – “Devil’s Hole.” In Old English, Daddy was a name for the devil! In some ways I wish I’d never found that out!!

Anyway, today I felt sufficiently better to realise that I was going stir crazy, not having left the house at all for several days. I asked my hubby if we could go out for a while to look at the sea as it was a lovely day, so he took me up to Daddyhole, which is not far from where we live, in Torquay. This is a high-up plateau above the sea, with wonderful views and the air is always fresh. At this time of year there are plenty of wild flowers growing, too.

Coastguard Station.

This is unfortunately no longer in operation and has been turned into a museum.

I love seaside architecture! It’s so light-hearted. Isn’t this a fun terrace of houses painted in their pretty pastel colours.

My hubby.

A most intriguing little archway to the left of the Coastguard Station with a path leading down the cliff.

We found these really weird flowers growing on the cliff top. They look like giant lavender! They were quite large. I have not seen this plant before.

View over the bay.

Looking over the cliff.

Flowers and railings.

Rocks and boats.

I love those three rocks strung out across the sea. Lots of sailing boats out today.

The sky was so beautiful today – I think you will agree that the changing cloud formations are gorgeous. The sky and sea were so blue.

A short, but very pleasant trip out – a change of scene and a breath of sea air. OK, I was knackered when we got home, but it was worth it.

Edited later: Pic of me taken by my hubby. I wasn’t aware of him doing it so I’m looking a bit dozy!

Here’s another pic he took the other day, at Anstey’s Cove, another beautiful bit of our Torquay coastline.

Outing to Babbacombe

Yesterday our sister in law came and we had fish and chips in the garden, and then went to Babbacombe to go along the sea front. It was a perfect spring day with warm sun and a perfectly blue sky which reflected an equally perfectly blue sea.

Here are the pictures I took.

In the first one you can see where the cliff collapsed the winter before last, during those terrible storms we had. A house fell down the cliff.

The sea front path.

The top of the cliff railway.

Going down the cliff railway. You can see the other car coming up.

At the bottom of the cliff.

The little seaside shop. I love these shops by the seaside, full of flip flops and postcards and beach balls and silly ephemeral stuff – all rather tawdry and cheap, but redolent of hot summer days on the beach, and happy lighthearted holidays, and the sound of children’s laughter as they splash about in the sea, and salt and sand and seagulls.

The yacht club. People coming out of their winter hibernation to start doing what they enjoy best – simply “messing about in boats.”

The collapsed cliff. That end of the beach is closed because it is no longer safe.

Paddling in the sea. They should have knotted handkerchiefs on their heads!

The bottom end of the cliff railway. The ramp on the left is for pedestrians to enter the station building – it looks a bit as if the train is going up hill! You can see the track for the train behind the ramp.

Going up the cliff railway.

It always amazes me that plants can grow so profusely out of a completely dry wall.

My hubby being theatrical outside the little theatre!

Gardens by the theatre. There are flowers growing all along the sea front.

We are so privileged to live within striking distance of the sea, and such beautiful views.

Outing to Dawlish

We are both so busy at the moment with our impending house move and there’s always something needing doing, but the weather was so lovely today that after lunch my hubby said, “Do you want to go out?” We decided to let all the work go hang for an afternoon, and set off to the seaside, ending up in Dawlish, where I took some of my best seaside photos a while back – that time was a mid-winter visit – really my favourite time to visit the sea.

Armed with my camera, we set forth and I got some more photos of nice old boats and ropes and grungey rust – I was in my element!

Wonderful encrustations of rust. The rust had even stained the stones underneath the metal railings. Also, I love the heavy duty wire netting holding the stones in place beside the railway.

The rust in the next picture reminds me of a contour map. Look at those gorgeous colours…

Boat decay… The underside of this upturned boat was worn away and you could see the layers of colour of the different paint layers it had received over the years.

Boat lines. Again, I love how the red paint has worn away.

Boat stacks. I love the faded colours – the once bright paint has weathered down to subtle shades as a result of exposure to salt, sun and wind.

The subtly coloured brick wall is a perfect foil for the lobster pots.

One of my favourite shots from today – ropes and floats.

Giant lobster pot. I love the rings around the top, made from bits of old tyre.

Lobster pots en masse. Gorgeous subtle shades, and lots of texture.

A mist of fishing net. I love how the faded turquoise floats are partially covered with the layers of net.

Fishing net ropes. Lovely textures and subtle shades again.

This heap of boat pennants, floats and ropes reminds me of part of a stage set for the American Civil War… battle pennants and canon balls!

More delicious rust. I love how the rust interacts with the remnants of paint, and how the surface has bubbled up, revealing more layers of rust beneath.

Steampunk decay. Fabulous heavy gearwheels and flaking rust. (I think I’m a rust junkie…)

Rust acne? Eruptions of rust!

Even the landscape in Dawlish is rusty. It is surrounded by red sandstone cliffs and the railway tunnels its way through. I love the strata and the weathered shapes, and the texture of the larger stones in amongst the layers.

Out of this barren rock, amazing to find small plants appearing to thrive! In this picture, I also love the pebbles embedded in concrete – the decaying remnants of some man-made structure.

In a world of entropy and decay, beauty is all around us. Even things falling into decay and oblivion can be beautiful, if we only open our eyes and look.

A life on the ocean wave – and a life on the edge!

I love the beautiful lines of this boat – irresistible.

Returning to the car, along the sea front wall beside the railway, as the sea made the sound of thunder as it collided with the undercut of the sea wall, the afternoon sun cast interesting shadows.

What I love about the seaside is not sun and sand and bathing, and all the conventional things people love about it, but the juxtaposition of the man-made and the natural, and the effects of natural forces of erosion, wind, water and salt on everything. The colours become muted and outlines become softened. Objects are redolent of earlier industry which is also now decaying and in decline – there’s a nostalgia about it all, and visions of personal struggle against the elements in boat, net, pot and winch. Most people observing these things tend to think they are old and ugly, if they even notice them at all.