Clacton-on-Sea - Kiss me quick

3. Clacton-on-Sea 

Clacton has it all; a pier, arcades, a golf course, seagulls that form up as squadrons to descend on waste bins, caravan parks and even an airfield. The Clacton Air Show, for which we were too early, takes place in August

Developer Peter Bruff founded Clacton as a seaside town before he moved up the coast to make a start on Frinton. Originally the main means of admission to Clacton to was by sea; steamships operated by the Woolwich Steam Packet Company docked from 1871 at Clacton Pier.

This is London’s Blackpool

Butlin's first holiday camp opened at Skegness in 1936 was followed by Clacton, two years later. The camp closed on the outbreak of war in 1939 and was immediately taken over by the Army. It was intended to use the site for housing prisoners of war and barbed wire and floodlights soon surrounded the camp, much to the anger of local residents who feared the lights would attract the enemy.

Clacton’s camp was sadly closed 1983 when, due our discovery of Spain and British holidaymakers made a mass exodus to the Costa Brava. At the time Clacton employed over 900 seasonal staff with a further 67 permanent workers.

However a buyer was found in the form of a company called Amusement Enterprises, sadly the new venture only lasted 4 months.

The place does have an exuberant atmosphere. And if you keep your eyes peeled some wonderful 1930’s architecture, one instance being the Gentlemen’s Toilets on the Pier – huge and all tiled and ceramic like the nave of some basilica.

My good friend photographer and architect conceived the idea Travels with My Architect. It was and is a series of seaside jaunts where Trevor with cameras and I, with Moleskine and pens visit the offbeat parts of the Essex, Suffolk and Kent and get the place down on paper and film.  We seek out the unusual, outré, and idiosyncratic bits of any place where we end up.

Our early travels to Jaywick, Canvey Island, Shotley and Dungeness are published in the book Curious Coast. You can download the PDF for free right here http://www.timbaynesart.co.uk/free-stuff.html

Frinton-on-Sea - dead posh

Frinton - Posh and now with a pub!

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In the 1890s several developers created a town from scratch and laid out the golf course. And plans for a pier rejected, they did include a Greensward, which separates the Esplanade from the sea.

Here on the Greensward Trevor and I enjoyed our fish and chips.

In the first half of the 20th century, Frinton attracted visitors from high society with a lido complete with palm trees, shopping with, Connaught Avenue, named after the Duke of Connaught and christened East Anglia's Bond Street!

 

Until recently there were no pubs. Although there have long been bars in seafront hotels and at the golf and War Memorial clubs. Frinton’s first pub was the Lock and Barrel, opened in 2000.

My good friend photographer and architect conceived the idea Travels with My Architect. It was and is a series of seaside jaunts where Trevor with cameras and I, with Moleskine and pens visit the offbeat parts of the Essex, Suffolk and Kent and get the place down on paper and film.  We seek out the unusual, outré, and idiosyncratic bits of any place where we end up.

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Our early travels to Jaywick, Canvey Island, Shotley and Dungeness are published in the book Curious Coast. You can download the PDF for free right here http://www.timbaynesart.co.uk/free-stuff.html

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Back to School

And the 6:31 is full again,

WHSmith quite empty.

Tans on the train, whinnying of "a marvellous time!"

"and how was yours?" not caring for the answer.

All those building works that limped through August now recover their pace,

A cavalcade of Travis Perkins HGVs dance attendance, more materials.

Every rat run is now full again,

Luminous black Range Rovers in strict convoy,

And strictly one per child, 

All jockey for pole position outside the school gate.

Misty rain makes a damp start,

to a new year.

Hooray!

Lovely Laugharne

Laugharne August 2017

We’d fallen hopelessly in love with Laugharne. This is a tiny town in Carmarthenshire, not far from Carmarthen town Wales, lying on the estuary of the River Tâf as it flows out to the sea. We visited first in March – Story of that visit is here http://bit.ly/lalalandinwales

A pall of mystery and creativity hangs over this town.

There was talk about moving here forever.

A staged withdrawal from the Home Counties was planned and this was stage 1: To discover what the place was like in high season. Sian was nervously eyeing up the caravan and mobile home parks nearby and wondering what their contents might disgorge in August.

So we made this short visit staying in Browns Hotel, the best B&B on the planet.

We had two days of glorious weather, big walks on Pendine Sands. This is a 7-mile length of beach on the shores of Carmarthen Bay. Rosie was in canine seventh heaven on these sands, cooling herself at the water’s edge.  Warm sun and gentle breezes and all the families south wales was here on holiday yet nicely absorbed by this wonderful beach.

Laugharne, here all was agreeable, wonderful walks round the castle. 

Then, each evening it was a brisk climb to a 6pm Chardonnay as the sun lowered. And each early morning a higher sun greeted Rosie and I during our walk before breakfast.

Other happy impressions are ‘pinned’ to these drawings.

LASTLY

I call to mind an extract he Reverend Eli Jenkins’ Prayer in Thomas’

Under Milk Wood

O let us see another day!

Bless us all this night, I pray,

And to the sun we all will bow

And say, good-bye – but just for now!

Walton, Frinton, Clacton - Here's Walton-on the Naze

WALTON, FRINTON AND CLACTON

Essex boasts some of the most exciting coastline in Britain. The architect and the artist were up for another jaunt. I decided that three special seaside towns in the county should be visited. Furthest up the coast is Walton-on-the-Naze, in the middle is Frinton-on-Sea and then Clacton-on- Sea,  all were our ports of call.

Walking in Walton 

Walton-on-the-Naze; the word ‘Naze’ derives from Old English ‘næss’ or ‘ness’, meaning a promontory, or headland’.  I always think of ‘naze’ as meaning ‘nose’  - same difference. Daniel Defoe, visiting Walton before us, in 1722, referred to is as it ‘Walton under the Nase’.

Walton boasts a fine Pier. The first version was built in 1830. And is one of the earliest in the country. The pier was damaged in a January storm in 1871. They built another and that did not last long either.

In 1895, the Walton-on-the-Naze hotel and pier company (then owners what was left) opened a replacement pier 500 feet long and with several extensions it became the third longest in the UK. With this makeover they included an electric tramway to take passengers from steamers to the very end of the pier. This was in use until 1935. In 1945 a massive fire damaged the pier. A diesel locomotive replaced the tram – this too was taken out of service in the ‘70’s.  So, now we all walk. And this was lovely in the sunshine.

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Great to be back in print

Sunday 3rd
Yesterday I visited the Lock Press in Marlow, with my lino blocks, inks rollers and other print making paraphernalia.

Rolling out the ink to then ink up the lino cut

After several years doing no print making at all it was a breath taking couple of hours in this small press room.  

A moment of truth when when after rolling the block and paper through the press you peel back the paper and see what you have got!

I feel like I am back. Ready now to do much more!

Orkney Tales 7 - The last day: To the airfield via the Brewery

Friday – To the airfield via the Brewery

HMS Tern – or Royal Naval Air Station Twatt – operated as a vital part of the Royal Navy’s presence in Orkney while Scapa Flow was the base for the Home Fleet in WWII. It was one of four airfields set up in Orkney during WWII.

Although the aircraft based at Tern formed part of the defences of Orkney, the site’s main role was to provide training facilities for the Navy. Also, when the Fleet’s aircraft carriers were in harbour, their aircraft would fly ashore rather than stay on board, and the facilities at Tern and other airfields in Orkney were expanded to accommodate the extra squadrons.

The airfield started operating in 1941. Many different squadrons were based there, flying many different types of ‘plane – Gladiator, Swordfish, Roc, Skua, Seafire, Chesapeake and more. After WWII the station was ‘mothballed’, but was in the care of the Royal Navy and maintained as a usable station until sold off in 1957.                     

More details of an excellent tour round the airfield 

http://hmstern.co.uk/