Crosby Beach and The Iron Men, January 2020

 The first sunset of 2020 down on Crosby beach with IronMenCrosby. Still air and a slight haziness bring a feeling of quiet calm to the scene.

The first day of January was fine and clear. Down on the beach during the afternoon there are more people than on a summer day, all taking advantage of the fine weather to take some fresh air and exercise on this New Year's Day. 
Late afternoon and the tide is on its way out and has left large pools of standing water on the beach which make good reflections for the pictures.

The sun sinks down through a hazy sky, with solid cloud on the horizon. The Welsh hills are invisible in the haze. A golden disc of the sun slowly disappears into the haze leaving a deep orange glow in the sky. The sea is quite calm again, the surface rippled with a light wind and seagulls are paddling in the pools stamping their legs in the hope of bringing worms to the surface.

Mid month and another evening at Crosby beach, totally different weather to that on New Year's Day It is windier than I thought it would be and the sea is quite rough. It was high tide around 14.30 so the sea is just on its way out, the waves still around the base of the nearest iron men, the noise and roar of the waves is quite loud. At the water’s edge gulls are lined up again doing their little dance with their feet in the hope of attracting worms. 

The air is very cold and the bluish light reflected off standing water on the beach makes it look colder still. There is some colour in the sun before it sinks into a cloud bank over the Welsh hills, the light of the sun glitters off the crests of the waves as they break near the beach and I manage a few good images before the light fades with little colour, the air being quite clear tonight.

Down on Crosby beach tonight as the sun sinks behind a cloud bank over the Welsh hills, the air filled with the roar and glitter of waves on the wind tossed sea. Gulls dance at the water’s edge, the air is chilled and the water a cold blue in the evening light.

The morning of the 23rd January dawned grey and cloudy but by ten the clouds had started to break and the anticyclonic gloom and mist of the last few days rolled away leaving a clear blue sky with just a mist on the distant horizon and sharp bright winter sunshine, a perfect day for some morning images down on Crosby beach.

The calm outgoing sea is a wash of pale flat blue under the dome of a cerulean sky. Sunlight dances and shimmers off the sea and is reflected off the standing water in the tide ripples on the wet sand, wavelets lap at the shoreline and the iron men cast long shadows across the sand. Out at sea the mist lingers around the base of the wind farm columns and obscures the distant Welsh hills. Along the tide line a scattering of mermaid’s purses amongst all the razor clam shells.

Monday 27th January

The afternoon has turned dark and threatening as clouds sweep in from the west. A slight gap in the clouds reflects the light of the setting sun and catches the waves at the water’s edge, adding a touch of sparkle to the otherwise grey scene at Crosby beach.

Next day the weather is very wintery, with sudden squally showers of hail and rain whipping through, driven by a strong, cold north westerly wind. Mid afternoon the clouds break allowing some sunshine and I head down to the beach just after four pm. It is noticeable how much later the sunset is than at the start of January, almost an hour of extra daylight at the end of the day already.

Down on the beach the NW wind is very cold, the tide is just on its way out and the beach is very wet with standing water formed by both rain and the outgoing tide, ruffled with fast moving catspaws across the surface. The sun is just about to descend behind a band of solid cloud over Wales, but I manage to capture some pictures before it disappears, rays of light beaming out across the sky and clouds and sparkling off the wet beach. A bank of cloud moves swiftly overhead its bottom edge highlighted in pinks and oranges by the setting sun. The air is full of the sound of the sea, the roar of the waves at the water’s edge and the calls of gulls as they glide by, riding the wind. A group of Knots rise and fall along the tide line.

Looking back as I leave the beach shortly after sunset I capture this line of gulls gliding in the wind as it rises over the dunes, effortless flight in the evening light.

Alt Estuary Stroll

Yachts from the Sailing Club at anchor in the shallow waters of the Alt at low tide. 

The River Alt meanders around the outskirts of Liverpool and disperses its waters into the Irish Sea on the Sefton Coast just south of Hightown. A recent fine day saw us taking a fine walk from Hightown along the coastal path heading south alongside the estuary. The tide is low, revealing the mud flats, the air smells of salt and there is the clink-clink of rigging hitting off the masts on the boats from the sailing club moored out in the river. 

The feathery brown tips of the reeds sway gracefully in the breeze. A view across the Alt Estuary looking north towards the large expanse of sand that forms the beach at Formby Point.

Common blue butterflies flutter amongst the harebells and everlasting pea plants near the estuary and tall grasses sway gently in the breeze on dunes which offer a raised viewpoint over the estuary mudflats towards the smooth sands of Formby point where higher dunes line the coast to the north beyond the Altcar firing range.

Harebells 

Wild Japanese Roses in the foreground of this view across the Alt Estuary

Common Glasswort springs from the mud flats of the estuary

Looking across the flat sands of the estuary at low tide, the distant sea is almost invisible and the mountains of Snowdonia quiver in the heat haze.

There is the vibrant green of spiky common glasswort on the beach, ringed plover and dunlin wade in the shallows of the mud flats that line the river and. Across the distant sparkling waters of Liverpool Bay the mountains of Snowdonia quiver in the blue heat haze.

Dunlin

Ringed Plover

Sea Holly on the dunes

The footpath from the small beach at Hightown meanders over Sea Holly covered dunes close to the sands of the Estuary. As the tide moves swiftly in across the sands near where the Alt meets the sea we spy more dunlin and a large egret stalking the shallows. Two grey herons battle over territory on the flat sands of the estuary.

Two Grey Herons squabble over territory.

Wild Japanese Roses grow freely along this stretch of coast.

Curlew

The footpath over the dunes meets the tarmac of the cycle path just beyond a white sculpture called "The Pebble" and on this stretch we spot a Curlew picking its way through the pools at the edge of the beach. From here it is an easy walk down to the car park at Hall Road and the promenade at Crosby.

Introduction

I have developed this blog to post reports from the Sefton Coastline, the stretch of coast north of Liverpool from Seaforth to Southport and will be posting reports from time to time.

The Sefton coastline stretches north from the docks that line the banks of the River Mersey heading out of Liverpool, the Port of Liverpool’s Royal Seaforth container terminal, the leisure lake at Waterloo and the start of the stretch of beach which is the site of Antony Gormley's Another Place installation which continues north through Crosby and Blundellsands. The artwork consists of a hundred iron men, cast from moulds of the artists body scattered along one and a half miles of beach.
The coastline continues north, the beach split by the Estuary of the River Alt near Hightown, here mud flats abound with wild fowl and wading birds, avocets, shelduck, oyster catchers and herons.
The entire stretch of coast is home to several sites of scientific interest (SSI's) with rare plants, natterjack toads and sand lizards.
Inland from the Alt Estuary the river meanders across flood plains behind the historic villages of Little Crosby and Ince Blundell at Lunt Meadows where the Wildlife Trust have a large sanctuary for many visiting birds and wildfowl, lapwings, avocets, plovers, Canada geese, greylag geese.
Beyond Hightown the military have a firing range then the coastline continues with the sand dunes of Formby point. These sand dunes continue all the way up the coast to Southport, inland is the National Trust area of Formby Pine Woods and the red squirrel reserve. Beyond Formby point the beach contains areas of prehistoric footprints from Neolithic times. 
Inland from the beach along this stretch are several golf courses including the famous Royal Birkdale, venue for several “Opens”, then we arrive at the Victorian resort of Southport with its large marine lake.
Beyond is the wide Estuary of the River Ribble with the bird sanctuary at Marshside and Crossens. On the far side of the river we see the tall silhouettes of the large rides at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Blackpool Tower.