Friday 18 June 2021

I Am Only Making One Post Today,

as there are lots of photographs,


of our day out to Whitstable

we were soon leaving Whitstable station behind us,

as we made our way to the beach,

as well as a fishing port and centre for growing oysters, it is a depot for aggregates and gravel,

the legend,

we were soon walking past some of the portside cafes,

at the moment it was low water, the tide will be in at 4 o'clock this afternoon,

but the low tide did not stop the boats on the quay being unloaded,

a very early design of lifeboat, now now longer used but it is kept as a heritage craft,

one of the larger cafes quayside,

the harbour mouth,

unloading continues,

along with new supplies being brought onboard,

we then chanced on a film crew,

this one an interviewer was giving the low down,

but there was not just one film crew,

there were lots of them,

all over the place,

filming artists,

on the quayside,

we continued our walk, I was tempted with the whelks, 

looking back at the artists being filmed,

as we made our past some of the net drying buildings that had been converted into shops,

the harbour at low water,

the aggregate buildings in the distance,

we decided to walk the west part of the beach first,

we had not been to this part of the beach on our last visit,

the beach itself all pebbles,

there was also another arm of the harbour here, 

with more than its fair share of artists,

they could not have picked a better day,

there were so many of them,

that fact and the number of film crews in the area,

something was going on, but what?

this artist was chatting to a member of the public,

he mentioned that so far,

he had lost 2 tubes of paint to marauding seagulls! it seems that there are a few styles of painting, standing up,

or sitting down being the obvious choices,

the choice of subject seems to be looking out to sea or along the coast,

the third choice is looking inland at the boats and houses on the shore, the view,

and the painting,

this artist had a slightly different approach,

although difficult to see, she had used cardboard, both plain and corrugated to give her paintings depth,

a look along the coast that we were going to walk along,

the beach itself pebbles and shingle, then unfortunately mud,

looking across the beached boats towards the arm of the harbour where the artists were painting,

day yachts parked up, I have to say sailing using wind as a power source has never appealed to myself, my idea of sailing goes along the line of "full ahead both, and bring me a pink gin!',

some of the oyster beds that Whitstable is so famous for, the history of the Whitstable Oyster Company goes back 400 years, and had recently been faced with closure and the loss of 200 local jobs, the council jobswortths have decided to tell the company to remove nets, from land the company legally owns! a classic case of the local council working for the community, not,

the beds seem to go on for miles,

these are repurposed fisherman's hut, great if you fancy staying here for a few days or even a week or two,

we walked along the beach front footpath,

more oyster beds,

I made a quick panorama, what a glorious day, not a cloud in sight,

looking back at the oyster beds,

we had arrived,


all of that walking was thirsty work!

we chose a table right at the front of the beach,

looking back to the harbour,

a coke for Diana, a cold white wine for myself,

and we were on our way back towards the harbour,

we walked back past the groynes,

and some holiday homes,

with a nice selection,

of salt resistant plants,

we were soon back at the harbour,

when we saw this,

so that is what all of the artist and film crews were all about!

I must remember to pack this piece of kit next time I want to make a video!

by now the tide had come in,

a quick pose, 

looking over the harbour wall this boat was unloading,

its catch of fresh sea bass,

for those of a nautical nature trips around the bay are to be had,

times here,

the legend of the harbour,

the life boat now clear of the mud,

along the quayside,

lots of small huts have been set up,

for souvenirs,

along with arts and crafts,

and of course eateries,

we passed out of the harbour,

and along to the west beach,

and there it was, the same open air restaurant over looking the sea we ate at the last time we were here,


in and upstairs we went,

almost where we sat the last time we were here,

'Cheers!', 

a chilled white wine for myself, a J2O orange for Diana,

the Savoy next door,

although difficult to see, there were about 20 or more wind powered generators out at sea, not a single one working, thank heavens for nuclear power!

well that is the dessert sorted!

we both had cod and chips the bill came to £42.00,

there is a no swimming are near here for boats to call into the beach,

we stared our walk along the beach,

I have to admit I tweaked the colour of this photograph a tad,

a quick sit down,

before we were on our way again,

just the slightest touch of cloud,

one of the beach hut owners tidying it up for the summer with a new caot of paint,

and there were lots of huts here,

in both directions,

we passed the hotel,

and just had to stop for a ice cream, we made our way back to the station,

and soon arrived home in sunny Beckenham, feet up a for a few of our favourites, a Midsomer Murder, and a New Tracks, it is strange, we had a quiet relaxing day, but we were both so tired, so for us we were then off to bed.


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