It was one of those mornings today. Hectic and stressful, but the boys got to school on time, the wife got to work on time, and I now had the car, and the morning to myself. I could go home, wash up, sort the laundry, and then try to fit in some writing before the errands that I had to do. Or, I could go to the shore and take in some sea air, listen to the sounds of sea meeting land, and enjoy the reassuringly predictable sounds of the trains passing at speed. I chose option 2, and at 9 am on a week day morning, the place should be deserted, except for the odd dog walker here and there.
I was wrong. So wrong that I couldn’t even find somewhere to park. There is always somewhere to park here, but not today. The place was full of white vans and big cars. A production crew for the TV series The Bay. I didn’t see any actual filming happening, but there were lighting rigs set up and lots of filmy-crew type people wandering around.
I did manage to park the car in the space of last resort, at the very end of the track, where the thorns grow over the ruts in the unmetalled road, but even then, there were film crew wandering around. They stopped doing what they doing while I got out of the car and wandered around the gravelly beach looking for beach glass. I didn’t find any and sensed that I wasn’t welcome there. Instead, I would go to another beauty spot, Half Moon Bay.
Power Station Venting Steam in the Distance
As is usually the case, when I decided to leave, the barriers came down.
Ghost Train in the Machine
Northbound Class 88 pulling a container train.
Once I got to Heysham, I could see that the power station was indeed venting steam. If I didn’t have complete faith I could be quite worried, but I’m not.
Power station venting
That faith was shaken a little a few weeks ago when we heard a loud banging noise in the night, coming from the direction of the docks/power station. It turned out to be an unplanned shut down at about 11 pm on 15th August. It was heard for miles around, and to me it sounded like a steam train at speed.
There is a new sculpture by the shore at Half Moon Bay, with information about the bird life to be found here.
I wandered around for a bit, but the morning was getting on. I hadn’t had breakfast yet and there was a steak slice in the fridge begging for ninety seconds in the microwave. I didn’t get my soulful wander by the waves, but I did see the film crew, and I am looking forward to seeing the series on screen. Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow.
Duggan's Dig 
Morecambe is a place I’ve been to many times over the years so I watched the first series of The Bay early this year out of interest. It was a good series and I’ve been looking forward to its return, although I believe the characters and plot are different this time.
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