A walk along the promenade in St Leonards On Sea and then onto the beach towards Bexhill On Sea.
The Royal Victoria Hotel is looking smart from a lick of paint.
We drop down onto the beach to remind ourselves of Hastings’ own Banksy street art.
It’s a bright sunshine day, cold and breezy, perfect walking weather.
Some of the “new” replacement beach huts, creating shadows
They have been busy over winter, working on the extension of the cycle route that runs along the south coast from Camber through to Brighton, as part of Cycle Route 2 (Sustrans). I’ll take you to Camber Sands another day.
The beach is busy, dog walkers, fishermen, cyclists and promenaders.
A brisk breeze reminded you it is February, but its good to feel the sun’s warmth..
We take our time, gently strolling along, looking back at the view over to St Leonards and the pier, stopping and staring out to sea.
Our beach is changing, they have been working on the sea defences for several years.
It has changed the shape and the aspect of the beach. Removing and repairing wooden groynes, replacing them with alien rocks from Norway.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so busy. The new path is popular, or maybe it’s because we’ve been cooped up all week with low grey skies and now we want to feel the sun on our faces.
We stop for a cup of coffee to watch the world go by.
There’s something perfect about sitting in a cafe, the sun streaming in through the windows, listening to the hubbub of chat, with the backdrop of the noise from a coffee machine.
I couldn’t come home for a few days and not go for a walk on the beach.
Love the photo of the traps. We had bright sun here yesterday and stars at night for the second night in a row.
I love the traps too, they always attract me, I must have taken countless photos of them over the years, maybe it’s their shapes, colours or potential inhabitants!
Although we have a lot of light pollution here in the south-east we still get some good clear nights where we can practice star gazing, in fact in summer we’ve been know to lie on the deck in the garden and look up, saves getting a cricked neck!
So beautifully photographed! Some of your shots would look brilliant framed and on a wall for all to admire.
🙂 Mandy
Thank you Mandy that’s very kind of you 🙂 At least with the blog I get to see and share them, I can never make up my mind as to what I think I would like to hang on our wals! Claire
A nice series. Enjoyed walking with you. I especially like the huts and shadows.
Thanks Ruth, and you have reminded me that I need to send you my address for a flat Ruth trip to the Alps 🙂
thank you for sharing this walk with us! I love the stones 🙂
Thanks Tandy, we do have some sand, but really only when the tide is out. But I love walking on the pebbles and hearing the crunch, and then on other days watching the sea when it’s rougher and hearing the pebbles being drawn up and down the beach as the waves go in and out.
A lovely day for a stroll on the beach!
Thanks for taking us with you.
Thank you Marie, it’s nice to have some friends along for the walk 🙂
Beautiful photos and I can´t wait to get down there to do that walk which I love so much!
Aaah yes, you would know it well! I love getting away from the prom and the road and reaching the quieter bit of beach – plenty of space to breathe:)
Looks like it was a great day for a walk and what a beautiful set of photographs you shot! Thank you for sharing them with us, in effect, taking us along with you as you strolled. 🙂
Hi John and thanks, as I said to Marie its lovely to have some company along for a walk 🙂
Nothing recharges my batteries like a walk on the beach! Your stretch is just lovely! I am a little curious about the beach huts. Pardon my ignorance, Claire, but can you tell me how they’re used? They make a beautiful and colorful showing! Debra
Hi Debra, the beach huts, well they come in many shapes and sizes and as you can see colours. Some are rented from the council others are owned. and some are just handed down through families. They are very simple structures, more like a garden shed. They don’t have electricity or water and you can’t use them to stay overnight in. People use them as they want – mostly for sitting and lounging staring out to sea, great for storage of beach gear, and of course somewhere to change, Lots of beach hut owners will use them to cook up a supper or lunch in summer with a barbi. I have TONS of photos of beach huts, and a few friends who own them so I must get a post together jsut about these beauties. And thank you for asking 🙂
Wonderful photos. Banksy’s street was a wonderful shot.
Thank you, the Banksy is a bit of fun and makes a statement at the same time!
So beautiful photographs… I can see in each of them a story, a poem… You captured such a beautiful images… Thank you dear Claire, have a nice weekend, with my love, nia
Thank you Nia, you are so kind and so very positive and encouraging. Claire
I write, dreaming of the beach.. and you are on the beach! Lucky you! And such pretty photos for us, it felt like I was right there:) Love the beach hut photo the best!! xo Smidge
I’ve just popped over, and what a wonderful poem. The colours on the blue beach hut really stand out don’t they!
Just stunning…
Thank you Smidge 🙂
Stunning, stunning photos! wow. You have such a good eye. Thanks for stopping by my blog – it was a treat to visit yours! I’ve been to the UK once, but fell in love with the beauty, so different from SA. Thank you for sharing!
Hi there and thank you! I’m not sure whether I said or not but I found you through Chica 🙂 I have loads of South African friends, mostly picked up from my days living and working in London (such an international city), and I’ve never made it out there, maybe one day….
Chica’s a darling, isn’t she?! If you ever make it to SA, be sure to contact me! If you’d like to try camping, I can help 😀 We may be the back of beyond, but you will be glad you came.
Thank you, that’s a very kind offer. I love camping!
Great photos–almost like being there…
Thank you Inger I’m pleased you liked them 🙂
A sunny day at the beach is lovely…no matter what time of the year it is. I’m so full of energy on a sunny winter day and love being outside if only for a few minutes. Love all of your photos, they are beautiful. Thank you for a lovely tour.
You are welcome Karne, I think sunny winter days on the beach are some of my favourite kind of days
Wow, gorgeous photos! I love the one of the boat houses peeping over the sand dunes.
Thank you, the beach changes shape in Winter as the winter storms and tides tend to push the pebbles up th ebeach a bit more
What a nice stroll! I live no where near the ocean but visit it every now and then on vacations.
In another life I would live by the ocean!
Stacey
Thank you Stacey, I moved from London to the coast 10 years ago, I think I made the right choice! On good days it’s like being on holiday all over again 🙂 Claire
What a magnificent walk! It’s wonderful you had such great sunshine, spring is certainly on the way. Beach huts are new to me also. Nothing remotely similar here in California! So much enjoy you sharing, how else would I learn about these things? Just magical Clare.
Thanks Deb, it’s funny isn’t it – what is normal everyday stuff is completely novel for others. The fun of blogging is sharing and learning, by sitting at my computer I get to see the world 🙂
Thanks for bringing a little sunshine in our lives. It has been over 14 straight days with no sunlight in Hong Kong and your walk along the beach really brightened my gray day. Take care, BAM
Oh gosh, I remember friends who used to live in HK saying the weather was something else – always humid, and often rainy and cloudy. So I’m pleased you enjoyed your walk along the beach 🙂
beautiful photos!
http://www.freddieandcinnamon.com
Great photos! At the risk of sounding stupid though, what in the world are beach huts? What do people do with them? I live in a landlocked area and have never seen the ocean, so those are new to me. I need to get out more!
Hi Julie and thanks for the compliments, and no not stupid at all. I now realise that there’s a lot of folk out there who haven’t heard about let alone seen beach huts before. I guess they could be described as sort of simple Cabanas, if that helps. wikipedia give a basic description and history – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beach_hut. But I think what I’ll do is a spearate post on them – I have TONS of photos 🙂
Lovely photos and narrative. I lived near the beach in southern Virginia (USA) for four years and still treasure the memories of beach walks in the “off season.” Thanks for sharing this wonderful stroll!
Thank you and you are welcome along for the walk! You are so right about the “off season” being a great time for beach walks, just as long as you are wrapped up 🙂
So nice to walk along with you! I live only 20 minutes from the ocean and life just gets so busy I forget to take the time to head over there. But when I do, it feels like a mini, relaxing vacation – which you just brought to me thru this post!
It does feel good doesn’t it, something about the sight and sound that heals and revives at the same time. I hope you get to see your ocean soon
A beautiful post… and a beautiful story. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Thank you, I do appreciate your thoughts.
So beautiful. I don’t think I would be able to pass up a walk there either! That last photograph reminds me of my Mother-in-law from behind, it’s the hair. Anyway, she and my Father-in-law used to go to England any chance they had. They made lots of friends there and some of them even came to visit them in California. So fun for them! ~ Lynda
I know what you mean about the hair, I was sitting waiting for my coffee and I couldn’t help myself and had to take the photos, and then I couldn’t chose which one to use!
It sounds like your MIL & FIL had a high old time and made lots of friends!
I think I love the beach the most in the cool weather of ‘shoulder’ seasons, when it’s not quite so squirming with sun-bunnies that the water becomes almost invisible, and the sea-birds are delighting in their acrobatics, the chop gets rather high in the seasonal winds, the salt spray stings the face just a little . . . This was such a welcome, evocative walk with you! Many thanks, Claire!!
Thanks for coming on the walk Kathryn. I’m not sure we get that many sun bunnies here in the UK 🙂 But there are days in the height of summer when the beach is busy, but I get a kick out of that too, as it means people are out there enjoying themselves. When I first moved here it surprised me to see so few people on the beach, but that seems to have changed. And that salt spray you mention – I wear glasses and I get back and they are covered in sea spray gouk!