28th June

It's close but there is a refreshing breeze from the south west... The vegetated shingle banks steeply and in places is undercut. On top, the yellow-horned sea poppies are in full bloom.
More starfish have washed in on the tide and there is a large Winnie the Pooh balloon and old tin of Brasso, alonside the usual rope and food pots punctuating the shingle along the tideline.

high tide: 14.02 hrs 2.7m, low tide: 22.41 hrs 0.6 m (est)
time of arrival: 18.33 hrs  
weather: sunshine, wind  SW 14 mph, temperature 24c
marine litter: small amounts - the usual suspects...

15th June

A brisk wind blows from the south and the sea is delightfully lively. Apart from a couple of anglers (usual story: they have only caught bass too small to keep), the beach is completely deserted so my dog can run wild (his speciality). He is getting the hang of this litter-collecting thing: as paper and bags fly down the beach in the wind, Rolf flies after them and brings them back with a spring in his step.
The seakale is over now but poppies have burst into bloom in the disturbed sand of the cliff fall.
More Olympic legacy on the tide in the form of a washed-up Coke can...
As I fight the breeze on my walk back, I wonder again why I always collect on my outward walk, only turning round when my bags are nearly full, rather than walking unencumbered and only collecting on my way back? The problem is I seem to be pathologically incapable of walking past a piece of litter and just leaving it lying there.... When will I learn?

high tide: 08.25 hrs 2.5m, low tide: 13.54 hrs 1.1m
time of arrival: 12.46 hrs  
weather: sunshine, wind  S 20 mph, temperature 17c
marine litter: 2 small bagfuls, mostly rope and balloons

 

 

9th June

 Another windy - though warmer - day after yesterday's gale force winds and rain. For a change we approach thorpeness from the south.The shingle is steeply banked from yesterday's storm and there is a smattering of plastics all along the upper tide line with more washing up on today's high tide. The vegetation on the shingle ridge is almost lush after recent rains: sea pea, yellow horned poppy, sea kale (nearly over), lupin, rosa rugosa... a rich scent fills the air.
I find the other half of a toy plastic train that I found a few weeks' ago a mile or so up the beach.

high tide: 14.12 hrs 2.9m, low tide: 07.52 hrs 0.8m
time of arrival: 11.30 hrs  
weather: cloud with occasional glimmers of sunshine, wind  SW 22 mph, temperature 14c
marine litter: a mixed selection thrown up by the gales of the previous day