I had this desire to take a sunset photograph at the seaside.  With the pandemic, it has been a long time since I have seen the sea.  Natasha and Rob were married in Kos, Greece last year and I saw the sea every day for a week. I had my fill of beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Therefore, the plan was to visit Weston super Mare and experience the seaside and hopefully a sunset would happen as well.  The visit to Weston was with my photographic companion John Bray and our first port of call was the town of Burnham on Sea to visit the low lighthouse

Just opening the car door on arrival in Weston and breathing in the sea air was exhilarating.  Hold on! The next sensation was sand being blown into my face and mouth.  Yes! this was Weston super Mare and in the middle of flaming June, it was blowing a gale!  It did not spoil the fun of being at the seaside. We parked on Marine Parade and then set off to take photographs of Weston.  Within 30 minutes it became obvious that the weather was closing on us, and a sea mist was descending on the town.  Photographs of the Grand Pier, Marine lake and Knightstone Island followed as we made our way around Anchor Head and finally ending up at the abandoned Birnbeck pier.  This looked very sad and in a poor state of repair.  It seems there is an ongoing saga of what is going to happen with the pier.

The sea was being whipped up to a frenzy by the wind and the waves crashed onto the promenade.  There was one person protesting at the strange times we are living in, and he was yelling at the high tide and blowing a horn.  All the walking and photographing had given us an appetite and we fancied fish and chips.  What else would you choose on your overdue visit to the seaside.  It appears that Weston super Mare shuts down at around 7pm and nothing was open except for a few pubs and restaurants.  The amusement arcades were empty, and they too were shutting down for the night.  Fortunately, we found two community police officers who gave us directions to a traditional fish and chip shop.  Hallelujah, at last we found one.  The premises were very traditional and looked new and vibrant against the quietly dilapidated charity shop rich streets of Weston.   Leaving the empty roads to the people wandering around, we returned to Marine parade and sat down to have our fish and chips.  What a racket the seagulls made. They were getting ready to dive bomb us and they hung in the wind waiting for the opportunity to grab a stray piece of fish or even a chip. 

We then looked for the sunset.  Alas that was not going to happen, although there were some occasional flashes of light and the retreating tide left beautiful reflections.  But no sunset! So we decided to call it a day and head back to Birmingham.  It was an enjoyable trip down but we left with mixed thoughts.  Weston has a wonderful promenade but the town is so quiet at night with not a great deal taking place in the town. Maybe the poor weather was keeping people in their hotels. Maybe we should return when the people return.

Whilst in Weston, I did enjoy finding some interesting street art dotted around the parade and the town. The street artist Jamie Scanlon known as JPS is one of the artists that features heavily in the town. There are others and here is a selection of the pictures that I found.