This Week We Have Mostly...

This week we have mostly been doing stuff close to home and the pace has been a bit slower. The park, ice creams on the Ha’penny pier, swimming and sleepover. We went crabbing this afternoon which rounded off the week nicely.

The sleepover was fun. Four kids and a dog all piled up together – once they had finished playing musical beds that is! Then they decided they could hear a ghost which turned out to be Harley – at least I hope it was Harley.

They were awake late and up by eight the next morning ready for pancakes for breakfast.

I have a tide table so I can calculate the best time to go crabbing. However, I forgot to note the height of the tide. Today full tide was 4.09 metres. On Monday it was 3.84. It doesn’t get that high where we go crabbing, but it was enough to make a difference.

There we were on our ledge merrily catching crabs when suddenly the ledge was awash. I grabbed my bag and the shoes and put them up on the prom out of the tides reach. Probably just as well as the two smallest ones were dangling their feet in the water by then and I was a bit concerned about their little toes. There is no danger of anyone being washed off the ledge – at least not in calm seas, although you do get the occasional swell when a ship goes past.

Dipping toes

We never have too many crabs in the buckets or keep them for too long before putting them back in the sea. I hate to see crabs piled up in buckets on top of each other.

People often stop to look at our catch and have a chat. Today it was visitors to our town and we couldn’t place their accent. They definitely weren’t German or Dutch or Scandinavian. They were very friendly wherever they had come from and warned me when one of the lines was gradually being tugged over the edge so I managed to save it. The kids showed them their catch and there was communication of sorts, mainly smiles and laughter. You can say a lot with a smile and children seem to know that better than anyone.

A couple of years ago when we went fossil hunting in Walton on the Naze, I took a photo of Harwich from there and was surprised when I zoomed in that I had got the Low Lighthouse in the shot. Today I took a photo of Walton and managed to capture a couple of the giant wind turbines that stand in the sea off Clacton. Some days you can see them very clearly from here. Some days not.

Walton on the Naze

In the foreground of the photo is Beacon Hill Fort and you might just be able to see the start of the Stone Pier and the barrier which warns people not to go out on it at high tide. On extra high tides like today, the pier is completely covered. When I was a baby, my grandad used to push me out to the end of it in my pram and as I got older, I often went out to the end. I even tried crabbing off it once, but the sides slope too much and any crabs used to fall off long before you’d hauled them in.

The Stone Pier was built as a breakwater. You can read a bit about it here and if you’re interested in fishing, here.

Beyond that with its landmark tower is Walton. You can read about the tower here.

Certainly can’t complain about the weather for the first couple of weeks of the school holidays. It’s been near perfect.