BEACHCOMBERS-JOURNAL

LADY'S TOWER - ELIE FIFE, SCOTLAND Lady's Tower at Sauchar Point, Elie, Fife. "the tower is a Cat-C listed building" FASCINATING BUILDINGS Another little building with a fascinating history. This is Lady’s Tower located at Sauchar Point near the Scottish village of Elie in Fife. The tower is next to the Fife Coastal Path on the edge of The Firth of Forth, and there is parking nearby at Ruby Bay car park south of Elie. HISTORY Lady’s Tower was built in 1770 for Lady Janet Anstruther (nee Janet Fall) the wife of Sir John Anstruther (2nd Baronet). Lady Janet used it as a summer house, she would sit there enjoying the view across the Firth of Forth, and while away the time after her daily swims. The building did not always look this derelict; it is reputed to have still had a roof, glazed windows, a door, a fireplace and plastered interior walls during the early 1900’s. The tower is now a listed building. Below the tower on the beach there is a man-made cave built into t...

THE LOOV'RE - BERWICK UPON TWEED The Loov're Cafe "a Grade II listed building" FASCINATING BUILDINGS I love photographing unusual architecture, and this little place immediately grabbed my eye. This article kicks off a series about fascinating buildings and we found this one at Berwick-upon-Tweed - The Loov're Cafe and Ice Cream Parlour. We spotted this curious little coffee shop while walking the town’s ramparts, its located on Bank Hill, near the big car park at Castlegate. HISTORY The building’s design, size and bright colours give it a pleasant old-world charm. To me it looks like a tiny house despite its lack of windows, but its elaborate design obscures its original use, a public loo - hence the name 'The Loov're.' It was originally built in 1899 as a public convenience for women, and it was known as the Bank Hill ladies toilet. At the time public toilets were only just starting to become widespread, and this one was rare as it only catered for w...

NINETY MILE BEACH - AUSTRALIA Ninety Mile Beach, Victoria, Australia "the second longest beach in the world" LOCATION Ninety Mile Beach is in Australia down on the south eastern coast of Victoria State. From Melbourne the beach is 160 miles to the east. The length of the beach of course is all in the name, but for those who like accuracy, 94 miles . It is an unbroken stretch of sand running from McLoughlins in the south to the Lakes Entrance in the north. OUR VISIT My wife and I first visited Australia back in 2012, flying into Sydney from London. It took me a few days to get over the jetlag (something I didn’t plan for), after which we hired a car for a few weeks with a view to exploring the coast down towards Melbourne. We based ourselves in a motel in Sale for a few days which is about 19 miles from the beach. On the first day there we drove to Seaspray , a small coastal town built on the edge of Ninety Mile Beach . Seaspray is a relaxing seaside town separated from the ...

THE BASS ROCK NORTH BERWICK, SCOTLAND Bass Rock - view from Canty Bay "The Bass Rock on the Firth of Forth - the curious white island!" LOCATION The Bass Rock is a small rocky island in the Firth of Forth estuary on the east coast of Scotland. It is located 1 mile offshore and about 3 miles northeast of the East Lothian town of North Berwick . I have tried twice to photograph it; neither visit was a total success. I have had to contend with either misty light rain or a severe gale. But this is the nature of the territory on this north east coast; it’s totally exposed to the elements and the North Sea. GEOLOGY Bass Rock is a volcanic plug . It formed inside the lava vent of a volcano some 300 million years ago (Carboniferous Period). The big numbers in geology never cease to impress me, especially when compared to our own short lives. When the structure of the rock was examined it was found to have large crystals, indicating that the molten rock ( lava ) from which the island ...

CHALLABOROUGH BEACH  SOUTH DEVON, ENGLAND Challaborough Beach 2002 "Our i dyllic  life at Challaborough - our special place!" BIOGRAPHY Challaborough is a small coastal village on the south coast of Devon, and is within the South Hams district and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It is built at the end of a long valley culminating in one the south coast’s best beaches. The villages of Ringmore and Bigbury-on-Sea are nearby. Challaborough started life as a Pilchard fishing hamlet circa 1400’s. On early maps it is marked as Chale which means ‘throat’ in old English I believe; probably a reference to its location at the throat of a valley. Evidence that the main industry was the fishing, smoking and salting of pilchards is well documented. Some structures that relate to the pilchard trade still exist today.   Smuggling must have been a popular “second career” in those early times, as there are references to this in local folklore and place names, adding to ...

THE START - MY FIRST BLOG POST Hello prospective reader!  This is my first ever blog post. I have had this Blog set up for several years now, always intending to record my thoughts, my travels, and perhaps tell a tale or two.  But you know how it is! Something always gets in the way and the least pressing thing gets abandoned. My poor old Blog page has languished on a web server in the internet void of a far away land, neglected, unloved and lonely. That all changed tonight as I decided it's high-time I recalled my empty Blog page back into the land of the living. From now on I intend to lavish it with attention, images, text and colour....... that is, just as soon as I master this web authoring and blogging lark! I hope it goes OK.  Please drop by from time to time and see how I am progressing. Best wishes, Phil.