The weather may have been very grey and trying to rain most of the time, but it was glorious to be out on the coast and not in lockdown. It is the first drive out of Ipswich I’ve made for over four months.
Of course, we know Coastal Suffolk well and the wind is rarely absent and even in July you sometimes needs a leather coat.
I have been coming to Shingle Street since I was six years old and each time I visit I am surprised at how little it changes. However, it is a long time since I can remember arriving at low-tide and seeing the treacherous shingle bar at the mouth of the River Alde.
Today, as we were walking down towards the shoreline I realised the extent the sea rises and the stormy waves travel during a winter high tide. When I was a teenager I used to imagine living in one of the cottages of this delightful seaside terrace, but now with more and more shocking news about the Climate Crisis I would be too nervous to live so close to the North Sea.
For the time being the sea kale and other wildflowers continue to bloom and seed and partially stabilise this low-lying, marshy coastline and we can enjoy a refreshing walk along the beach.
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Agnes Ashe 
How wonderful to get out at last, thank you for your excellent photographs, you must have really enjoyed seeing old haunts.
Ah thank you – yes I can’t tell you how great it was to be out by the sea. It was properly invigorating.
I sometimes wish we lived nearer the sea. That sort of seaside anyway, bracing and tripper-less. A refreshing day out!
Yes, I live closer now I’ve moved from Norwich. Actually, it’s only 20 mins down to the sea at Felixstowe, but that’s a very different experience. I prefer tripper-less too!!
I need to tell you, Agnes, that this morning I used your mask for the first time – I don’t often need them. It was brilliant! It was so light, I could breathe properly, and … this is something nobody ever mentions in reviews … my glasses didn’t steam up. And I felt quite the belle of the ball (well, the bus, anyway)
Thank you for your feedback. Now, that’s very interesting as my daughter came to visit on the train and within 10 mins of leaving Liverpool St station I received a photo message showing her with mask and with steamed up glasses. Then she realised if she put her glasses over the silk they didn’t steam up. I tied a knot in the elastic in my prototype one to make it tighter. It made it more uncomfortable and also my glasses steamed up. Have since made another version, kept it loose, no steaming up and easier to breathe. I heard on the news this evening they might make wearing face coverings in shops mandatory similar to Scotland. Hopefully, most people will decide not to buy scores of single use ones. It’s all so bad for the environment.
Exactly. I get so cross. And surely, it’ll cost the single-users more in the end? Never mind the environmental cost, which is horrendous. I did think of tightening the elastic on yours, but in view of what you’ve said, maybe I shan’t. Well done, anyway!
Thank you for your support – it’s much appreciated.
What a great insight into your part of the world. I distinctly remember being struck by how big the tides are in England. I made a joke about being able to walk half-way to France at low-tide, and one of the locals did not take that well š
I am guessing that was somewhere in the Kent region – they’re not keen on those Frenchies down there. As your comment elicited, too close for comfort for Kentish man, or woman!
Took me a while to find the relevant post. It goes back 7 years – and hey presto! We were already communicating all that time ago! Gosh! . . . just, gosh! https://garrulousgwendoline.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/investigating-margate/
Yes, I know s e v e n y e a r s !!!!! By the way I have now watched the interview with Julia Gillard, thank you for the link. I think all the women who were interviewed are striving to improve the lot of women in general, but it just made me think how little real progress has been made. Especially the section about women in the boardroom and the pathetic male strategy of encouraging two women to compete with each other rather than challenge the men’s positions for more women on a board. I also discussed the comments made by Julia G about Theresa May – mmm, well I think she was being very polite. I chatted to my sister about it and we’ve always thought Theresa May might have bought Vogue all of her adult life and loved it, but not one scintilla of style has rubbed off on her. Her clothes and particularly her ‘edgy’ shoes were extremely expensive, but together with rest of her clothing choices, she just looked like she tried too hard and her outfits frequently looked desperate – altogether embarrassing. I really was no fan of Margaret Thatcher, but she at least had style and her own authentic look which worked for her time. I personally think Christine Legard, by far, is the most stylish and I thought it was funny how both Julia and interviewer immediately put that down to her being French. I expect she is just one of those women who’ve always been confident in their own choices and it’s taken for granted that if you’re stylish in France you can also be an intelligent and competent woman too. I think within the Anglo-Saxon cultures, certainly here and the US, attractive women are perceived as less intelligent. As usual any excuse to keep women away from powerful roles.
What wonderful thoughtful conversations you have with your family. You are keeping each other up to the mark.
I found myself wishing that Gillard had turned up to the Canberra Press Gallery in a track-suit every day, saying, “There, are you going to stoop to reporting on that, or shall we just focus on our plans for running the country?”
Having said that, I found my red power-suit very helpful whenever I had to report to the male-only board of farmers when I worked at RiceGrowers (Sunrice).
Oh I absolutely agree with you about the track-suit. Precisely.
Nothing wrong with the red power-suit it just needed all the guys to be wearing red one’s too!! What is it with men’s suits – so borrrrinnnng.
Trust me, they got such a shock, that I was five minutes into the presentation before they thought to get cynical about what I was saying