Among Drifts of Sea Thrift

 

 Back rested and revived from my few days away on the Isle of Portland. On arrival at Weymouth, the beach was packed with families enjoying the sun ( and a traditional  Punch and Judy show) - very different from when we visited in March! The first thing I did after I'd dropped my bags off  at the hotel was head out to the  Chesil Beach visitor centre. This was also busy with  visitors - you could hear the determined crunch of feet  heading up the slope from quite a way off. But only a few metres away it was much  more peaceful. The expanse of pink and yellow flowers was glorious and I found a sheltered spot to sketch crouched down among drifts of sea thrift, listening to the sky larks. 

Refreshed after a good night's sleep, I  walked directly from the hotel on one of the 'Legacy  Trails' of the old quarries including DWT King Barrow Quarries nature reserve.  More pinks and yellows including some of my old  favourites from my chalk grassland survey days:



 Polygala vulgaris ( milkwort)

 Hieraceum pilosella ( mouse-ear hawkweed)

 Lots of Common Blue butterflies

 Sculpture both natural wind blown trees and hewn from  stone  like 'Still Falling' by Antony  Gormley ( below) in Tout Quarry

Then a  walk down hill  to lunch at   Jacksons' Gallery with views out to sea and excellent soup, coffee and Florentines .

 

 Inspired  by  the current exhibition by Roy Winstanley , I walked down to Chiswell  and onto the beach for some sketching  and taking lots of photos of weathered surfaces and beach detritus.  

 

  With good timing, I was  in the area during the  ArtWey open studios fortnight so with the weather the following day being rather wet and windy , I headed inland  by bus to Upwey. Bit of a trek from the bus stop   but I was made very welcome at the Gallery on the Wey  ( particularly liked the etchings of Wendy Batt) .

I had a lovely lunch at the Wishing Well Café  after some purchases from Upwey Potters:

                                           Raku 'axe head'  by Bill Crumbleholme

   Dish by Laurence Eastwood

 

 

The Heights hotel where I stayed was a very different experience from our usual 'home-from home' of Ferrybridge Cottages  but perfect for a  brief breathing space . My room was comfortable  and the staff  so helpful and I spent hours looking out at this view  of Chesil from the bistro -  both at breakfast and evening meals I had a window seat. Spectacular. 

 

Golden Time in Weymouth

Just  returned for the evening  to our 'home -from-home' cottage in Weymouth after a tasty fish supper of local plaice at the Chesil Beach Visitor Centre, accompanied by golden views as the sun set  

 

 

This was  first place we went to on Tuesday   for a leisurely lunch overlooking the constantly changing colours and shapes of the Fleet Sandflats ( as featured in one of my quilts)   One of my favourite places anywhere, I never tire of it. 

 

 

Well fed and watered , we went into Weymouth for some shopping ( Dorset Red cheese and a new rucksack) , watching all the dogs  being walked on the beach (they're not allowed on in summer so make up for lost time in the winter) 

Wednesday we visited our friends in Wellington, very early start  but lovely to see them ( could have done without the delay at Castle Cary tho')

Thursday we walked across the causeway to the Cove House Inn in Chiswell, Portland for lunch - very low tides revealed sandbanks and it was a glorious sunny day. After lunch we walked to West Weares- amazing patterns of waves on Chesil Beach - they looked too regular to be real!

 Today (Friday) we caught the bus into Dorchester to have a look around the Roman Town House and lunch at the Blue Raddle.
In between walks and eating, not much stitching has been done but I've painted several 'thumbnail' watercolours the  proportions of  this years journal quilts to develop design ideas

 

 

 

I've also just had fun experimenting with recording the variety of weather conditions and looking out of the bedroom window attempting to capture the colours of first light over Portland

 

Chesil Waves and Sirens

Last Thursday in Weymouth ( a week ago now!)  we got the bus  across the causeway to Portland to have lunch at the Cove House Inn - special of hake  with chorizo, spinach and mushrooms was  delicious. Rather  more tranquil scenes to when we visited in February  (below)!

 A few days after we visited in February there were monumental waves  that engulfed the pub ( below image from news item). As it happened during our visit this time the pub was covered in scaffolding  and they were just putting the finishing touches to new storm shutters. 

 

After lunch we strolled in the sun  along towards the Chiswell Earthworks  a land sculpture by John Maine. Along the sea wall  the Environment Agency was out in force, providing information on flood defences while they  were  having practices of the flood sirens( very loud - as it needs to be)

On Friday we went  into Weymouth itself for our annual visit to the beer festival  -  lovely to see the tall ship 'Pelican'  in the harbour. Our  favourite was GIPA from Gyle 59.
Then after lunch at the Ship we  caught the 5pm train home - a bit tiring but it  meant I could go to the Quilters Guild Regional day in Vauxhall the following day ( talks by  Linda Seward and Liz Trenow about their books )

Fleeting Moments

'shibori 'Clouds

'Shibori' waves on Chesil Beach

You would be forgiven for thinking that our breaks in Weymouth revolve around food and real ales! Today we had the treat of a traditional afternoon tea at the 'Height's' Hotel and Restaurant overlooking Chesil Beach. The first time we've been inside, we usually make our way there at some point for the amazing views.

Probably our favourite spot however is the'Taste' Cafe at Chesil Beach Nature Centre- we walked there for lunch both yesterday and today. I never tire of  watching how the Fleet lagoon changes by the minute, with the tide rising and falling and different light and weather conditions.It formed the basis of my 'Fleet Mudflats' quilt  and I've had various bits of fabric marinating on my design wall for the last few months.

Lots of little waders (Dunlins?)spotted when I didn't have my  new binoculars with me ! 

colourful beach debris 

Seedheads at Smallmouth Bay 

Thumbnail sketches 

The dining table becomes my studio space - scraps of fabric for journal quilts today, mono-printing planned for Thursday (we're  visiting friends in Wellington tomorrow) and beer festival on Friday ( our 3rd)

Big Skies, High Winds, High Seas, Low Tides

 An exhilarating weekend in Weymouth for Ian's birthday,  with strolls on Portland between meals experiencing the varied weather and its effects, and a bit of sketching from and on tablets while it was still fresh in our minds.   
First thing on Saturday the combination of high tides and high winds meant you could see the waves crashing against Portland from our cottage in Ferrybridge ( about a mile away!)  It was a bit calmer ( still 30mph+ winds) and heading towards low tide when we went by bus to Jackson Gallery and Café for lunch - delicious mini pizzas and Florentines and views out over the sea

 We headed down the hill to the Cove House Inn for  a pint, very blustery and difficult to keep the camera still. You can see the high water mark right at the top of Chesil Beach ( going over the top in places) with sea spray like smoke.

 After a lovely dinner at Floods on Saturday( red mullet baked with fennel -yum) , Sunday was a little  calmer although still windy  with incredible skies and cloud formations as the sun rose.

 After a leisurely lunch at Blue Fish Café  we walked back over the causeway, stopping off at the Chesil Beach visitor centre to admire the mudflats in the waning light  and then headed to the oyster beds at Ferrybridge - I took so many photos!!!

Finally at the end of the Rodwell trail, the sea was so far out that you could see the remnants of the pier associated with the  old Whitehead Torpedo  factory  and there were hundreds of seabirds where land met sea.  There was a very high tide again as we left on Monday but nothing  as  bad as in January.
Update 5th Feb - video of waves crashing over Chesil  earlier today.