Another thing we weren’t short of. Boats. Watching the tide ebb and flow, the wind whipping up waves, the ferryman with his foot passengers, row boats, motor yachts, windsurfers and sailing dinghies was fun.
Perhaps not so much fun for this person who fell foul on a sandbank. We got quite a shock this morning and not just from the look of that sky.
We thoroughly enjoyed our week by the water. So much to look at we were never bored.
One thing we weren’t short of was a dramatic sky.
I did a lot of popping in and out of the terrace doors in the evening to capture the sun setting or the rain clouds. We get some stunning sunsets here in west Cornwall, but I have to get in the car to capture one over water.
Brightlingsea has a sandy beach called Brightlingsea Beach, which features colourful beach huts and runs along the Western Promenade next to Bateman’s Tower.
I am particularly fond of photographing beach huts and had a walk along the promenade on a very sunny though extremely windy day. The clouds were almost more appealing than the huts.
Behind the row of beach huts is a boating lake which looked a lot more attractive than on our previous visit back in 2016.
The huts along with Bateman’s Tower make a rather nice backdrop when the sun sets behind them.
One thing we weren’t short of was a dramatic sky.
It was supposed to be a 2 week break covering Essex (to see our latest grandchild) then onto Suffolk and finally across country to our old abode in Ludlow. But things didn’t quite work out as planned. Such is life.
We spent most of the week in Brightlingsea itself other than a couple of trips into Colchester which has the most horrendous traffic (and roundabouts). Our apartment however was magnificent and I would move there in a heartbeat if I didn’t have to go anywhere near London or Colchester. The views across the water, the sunsets, even a couple of sunrises, endless fun watching the goings on including people crabbing from the heritage jetty (feature image), the ferryman taking foot passengers back and forth to Point Clear, river policemen stopping for their lunch break, posh yachts coming and going, rowing clubs out on the water and more.
Brightlingsea is a coastal town and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England. It is situated between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea, at the mouth of the River Colne, on Brightlingsea Creek.
I have split the photos up into several posts (there are a lot of photos) so let’s first go for a walk around the Waterside Marina area in which we stayed.
The weather was unpredictable with sunshine, some heavy rain and almost always windy, with the terrace doors open we were serenaded by the ‘whap, whap, whapping’ sound of the closest yacht’s rigging slapping against the mast and on the windiest days a shrill whistling or howling sound. I have to say that I actually liked it. Made a change from the usual cattle sounds.
Sunset over Hyde Street Pier San Francisco
People don’t often associate San Francisco with beaches, but there are some around. One of the reasons I like to stay in Fisherman’s Wharf is the fact that I can go down to the beach at sunset and see the colours over the bay. The historic ships at Hyde Street Pier add to the atmosphere.
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