Christchurch - Pt 1

The medieval bridge that hops you from one island to the next.

We went to Christchurch today to find some inland islands. They don't seem to have any official names. Addresses on the island in this post settle for Bridge Street, Christchurch or Rossiter's Quay, Christchurch. A beautiful medieval bridge carries the visitor onto the island, along with the traffic.

West bank with fishing punt

If an island is something as simple as a land mass surrounded by water then these islands certainly fit the bill.

Bridge Street

Bridge Street runs straight across the island and is lined with fine historical buildings and quite a few empty shops.

Rossiter's Quay

Rossiter's Quay is a new development, think Venice in the Little England style.

Rossiter Boat Yard

Once through the houses you get to a great boatyard. Boats scatter the ground and bristle the bank like iron filings on a magnet.

The island's southern tip.

Boat's sail down the Avon into Christchurch Harbour.

The east bridge with added pedestrian footpath

Outdoor Photography Island Journal Pt 2

T's latest installment of the island journal has just been published in Outdoor Photography, issue 117, September 2009. The piece concentrates on Coll & Tiree.

Stack Rock

Stack Rock

Just before the industrial jetties of Milford Haven sits Stack Rock. On the rock sits a fort built in the 1860s. It has a very pleasing rounded shape with a roof used by wild animals as a playground. Though dilapidated, it's still an impressive structure, and comes as no surprise that it was bought on the open market a few years ago.

Three island walk

Carreg Fran

Walking from St Non's to Whitesands on 14/07/09, we passed three small islet clusters. Carreg Fran was first, stretching an arm out to the mainland. It's also known as Crow Island.

Carreg yr Esgob

Carreg yr Esgob has an unusual hole shaped like an upright letter box. You can just see it in the middle rock.

Carreg-gafeiliog

Carreg-gafeiliog is nearest Whitesands, but doesn't add up to much more than a smear of rock in the sea.

Midland & Ynys Bery

Ynys Bery

Following on from Ynys Cantwr, is the small lump of Midland which you can just see on the far left and then Yenys Bery. This group of three islands come out of Ramsey like a jointed crab claw. Just behind Midland is Yenys Eilun.

Ynys Cantwr

Ynys Cantwr, Ramsey

Ynys Cantwr is linked to Ramsey by a short chain of brown boulders at low tide.

Ynys Gwelltog

Ynys Gwelltog, Ramsey

One of the islands in Bay Dillyn is Ynys Gwelltog. You might just be able to make out it's deep, eye shaped scar through the rain. You can't help but look at it and contemplate time, the ages that have passed in the creation of that gouged mark, until your mind can no longer forget just how soaking wet you are.

Bay Dillyn

View of Bay Dillyn through the rain on the southern tip of Ramsey

On the southern tip of Ramsey lies an attractive clutch of islands forming Bay Dillyn. Just as we reached this point the rain absolutely clattered down. We struggled on before giving in and returning to the tea room. It was closed. We settled for the hut on the jetty with all the other visitors but it seemed such a waste. We headed out again to get a better look at these islands. We got soaked, even through the waterproofs, but the rain abated just as we got there to give us a grand second viewing.

Inside the tent

Entombed in our shelter 14/07/09.

The Lost Leader by Mick Imlah

I took Mick Imlah's last book of poetry The Lost Leader with me on our trip to Mull and the ensuing islands earlier in the year, thinking it would be perfect to dip into while we were up there. It was, but somehow I didn't have enough time to read it all. The first poem of the collection was one that I couldn't stop re-reading, it was entitled Muck. As it turns out, we're hoping to get to Muck in October as part of our next batch of islands in Scotland. The poem as a whole is so complete but these three verses and one line offer a flavour of what we might expect from Muck.

So we did go, in wash-tub coracles,

and hauled ashore for an hour or so, on a
black upturned platter of rock, stained
with sea-lichen and scummy pools
of barge flies and crab water.

No trees, then. No welcoming men
or women either. But out on a spur's end
we spotted a sham temple - being a few
upright poles fashioned from driftwood, which

when we straggled over to them, seemed,
without a text or rune to vent their purpose,
to have their say in fish.

Listen to the whole poem at The Poetry Archive
Interview at Oxford Poetry
Review at TLS

The Lost Leader on Amazon.co.uk
The Lost Leader on Amazon.com

Pembrokeshire - day 9 - Hometime

Tent imprint

Dark clouds - homeward bound - missed train - unfortunate breakfast - comforted by Bill Bryson's Notes From A Small Island - busy train with pet rat on board - thank God for pillows!

Pembrokeshire - day 8 - Milford Haven to Neyland

Oil refinery, Milford Haven

Rain - boat trip no.1 cancelled - feel like going home - friendly gesture from a fellow walker - walk coastal path from Milford Haven to Neyland - Gaelic football in Irish pub - unexpected taxi ride - news of sunshine back home - boat trip no.2 cancelled - glorious Musselwick Sands

Pembrokeshire - day 7 - Herbrandston to Milford Haven - Gateholm Island

Night ascent of Gateholm Island

Sleep at last - boat trip cancelled - walk the coastal path from Herbrandston to Milford Haven - refinery - lunch by the marina - woolly mammoth exhibit - second attempt on Gateholm - success! - shipwreck and 400 pigs

Pembrokeshire - day 6 - Herbrandston to Dale

Towards Great Castle Head

Rough night - tent whipped from side to side - clothes soaked through - boat cancelled - cheered by bacon sandwich - walk coastal path from Herbrandston to Marloes - frustration - idyllic Musselwick - exhausted - delicious chorizo stew

Pembrokeshire - day 5 - Marloes

Walking above Marloes Sands

Wet - move camp to Marloes - fax machine that doesn't fax - severe weather warning for Wales - baguette in a bucket - failed attempt to reach Gateholm island - rain - fed up - hot shower - wind - fear of power lines

Pembrokeshire - day 4 - North Bishop

North Bishop

Sunny day - coffee from the billycan - free milk from a friendly neighbour - skipper is quietly confident - dip our toes in the sea at Whitesands - lifeboat launch - military guide - porpoises - puffins - manx sheerwaters - sea swell - North Bishop

Pembrokeshire - day 3 - St Non's to Whitesands

Porth Clais

Hard rain - lunch at the visitors' centre - boat trip to North Bishop cancelled - walk coastal path from St Non's to Whitesands - fields of corn - butterflies dart from the grass - thunder rumbles - choughs dig the ground - howling wind - sleep in waterproofs

Pembrokeshire - day 2 - Ramsey Island

Aber Mawr, Ramsey

Coffee in The Bench - bus to St Justinians - sleepy-eyed surfer dude - lifeboat station - boat over Ramsey Sound to Ramsey - compost toilet - bell heather coming into bloom - three peregrine falcons close enough to touch - weather takes a turn - rain - hail - wind - soaked to the bone - tearoom closed

Pembrokeshire - day 1 - St David's

Caerfai Organic Farm, St David's

Broken down train - glinting sands, green hills and hedgerows - farmer in wellies on an electric bike - discount for being car free! - sea view - warning of wind - St Non's chapel by candlelight - chicken pie on a picnic bench

Tent

Thanks to Nina (again), we have a tent for our trip to Wales. We're off to Pembrokeshire to visit Skomer, Ramsey etc and hopefully see our first Puffin.

Canon EOS 500D

Read T's latest review of the Canon EOS 500D in the August 2009, issue 116 of Outdoor Photography.