Thoughts and Reflections From the Beach
I used to come here with my friends a long time ago. Once a year, Sans la Femme. A boys weekend of surfing, drinking and playing arcade games. Where we came from is probably the most landlocked area in the UK. The sea was a long way in any direction and people would say "You're doing what ? Surfing ?. Really ? ". We thought we were in the vanguard of something, trendsetters. But of course we weren't. Surfing had been well established in the UK for a long time. Just not on the River Ouse.
I would love to say that I could surf back then, even if I can't now. The reality was more that I went in the water a few times with a surfboard for company. I’m not a born athlete and getting up and staying on a board was only ever a matter of luck. I was happy just spending time in the waves.
That was before I had a family. Then, as a family we would often holiday in Croyde . It became somewhere that my children fell in love with and somewhere that I knew well. Now I was going back for the first time in a while. I was hoping to see it with fresh eyes.
We set out for Croyde in the early hours of Saturday morning and arrived just as the weather deteriorated. As we parked,the drizzle intensified. I got a ticket for the National Trust car park and gently fended off the attendant. She was trying to bag her first new member of the day. It's really hard to say no to these people. We had a cup of tea, then headed for the beach to blow out the cobwebs.
Croyde is probably not considered to be one of the Premier Surfing locations in the UK. I have never understood this. It's a place where so many people get their first surfing experience. Croyde Surf Club has been established for a long time and proudly announces that it is the UK’s number 1 Surf Club. It has ambitions and plans to make its mark on World Surfing.
Photographs of surfing really appeal to me. Action or Location, I think it's that they look and feel timeless, and as a place, Croyde also has that quality. As we walked I started to think about how I was going to create my own perspective.
I would love to be shooting in the waves but my camera gear is not up to being covered in sea water and much as I wanted great pictures that would be too high a price to pay. The heavy rain alone meant that the camera had to stay in the bag. My iPhone however, was waterproof. So I got busy with that.
We walked along the tide line from one side of the bay to the other. I watched the people in the water as they watched the waves. Waiting. Deciding. This wave or the next one? only to have the same dilemma when the next one came.
I find real joy in walking the edge of the sea when it roughs up a bit. The eye cannot rest. your field of view is filled with the breaking waves, full of highlights and contrast. You follow a swell from a long way out. At first It's nothing more than a darker line of sea. As it comes closer it begins to rise, gains shape and holds it briefly. Then it collapses over itself, spreading and creating small bores that fan out, turning back towards the sea and colliding with the next incoming wave. Chaotic and Beautiful.
Today there’s a soft, even light. It's draped over everything There are no shadows only reflections. No edges. No definition. I prefer a falling tide rather than a rising one. It gives me a feeling of having all the time in the world. No deadline. I wondered the shore. Watching everything, and nothing in particular. Once in a while I dodged a wave that came further up the beach than I expected. Sometimes I didn’t.
The weather does not deter surfers. On the contrary the offshore wind was making the surfing better. Every so often there would be a squawk from the loud hailer on the 4x4 of the Lifeguards. This would be the signal for an announcement, updating and warning everyone about the conditions in the water. The wind, the swell, the rocks, the rip. Stay between the flags.
Always friendly and just trying to keep everyone safe without spoiling the fun, when the sensible thing to do would be to say, "Right you lot. Out !"
They often have an antipodean twang to them ( or is that my imagination) and always refer to everyone in the water as “Guys”. I’m not sure how this convention has survived quite so long. It seems to me that it will only be a matter of time before someone points out that this has to change. My suspicion is that it will not be someone who ever spends any time in the water.
On the beach and amongst the rocks it was impossible not to think about the days and weeks spent here with my Son's and especially the time we spent rock pooling. I watched now as parents led their children across the rocks and joined in the pursuit and ultimate capture of a crab. Witnessed the long walk back to Mum at base camp to show her. As I watched I wanted to do it all again with my own, just as they were. But this time be more patient, have more energy.
I seemed to forget the stress and the tears that came when one slipped and fell heavily or another took themselves out of sight and became so absorbed in what they were doing that they did not answer my calls. I remember frantically searching for them among the rocks all the while trying not to lose sight of the other one. Sometimes being a parent is enough to stop you enjoying being a parent.
The next day I went down onto the beach early. Very early. It was cold and wet. I was completely alone and that was just what I wanted. The tide was a long way out. As I looked towards the Atlantic I wondered what I would see if I could see far enough. Would it be Wales Ireland or America.( I since tried to work it out and I think it would be Nova Scotia ) I was fascinated by the idea that there might be someone on the other side of the water looking back, straight at the point where I was standing.
Then someone emerged from the waves on the other side of the bay. I wasn't alone anymore.In fact, I hadn't been alone at all. It was a guy in a wetsuit carrying a surfboard. He’d been in the sea for some time before I arrived. His level of isolation far beyond mine. I was envious but realistic. I had wanted isolation, not oblivion.
I have a great deal of affection for Croyde. The weather has never been a deal breaker for me when I’m at the coast. I will accept whatever it has to offer. Tougher when you have Children, but you ultimately discover how much those experiences have shaped them, and that makes me smile.
While I was in Croyde I bought a locally produced publication called “the Point” The content chimed with me. On the last page one of the contributors quotes the Australian Surfer Joel Parkinson.”I’m always a better person when I come out of the sea”. The same can be said of me even if I only got my feet wet.
