Thursday, July 16, 2009

To 'Another Place' and Beyond

We've been up to the Lancashire coast and yesterday we visited Crosby beach where we found this fellow

Just one of the statues which make up the wonderful art installation that is Anthony Gormley's 'Another Place'.

There are 100 figures spread out across the beach some gazing straight out to sea, others gazing across to land in the distance.

We walked and gazed at the statues, the wind turbines and the passing ferries, no doubt bound for Ireland or the Isle of Man. We had the beach pretty much to ourselves at the start of the morning but as we returned from our long walk it was filling with coach loads of visitors all there to find 'Another Place'.

You can only walk up to one or two of the statues nearest the promenade as the sand around the ones further out was wet and quaked underfoot and going any closer would have been dangerous as you can see from the photo below.

In the afternoon we visited one of our favourite beaches - Ainsdale Sands. Here you can take the car onto the beach and drive until you find a suitable parking spot. We sat at the edge of the dunes and ate our lunch, the seagulls were waiting to see if there were any leftovers.


No statues to see here, just people walking dogs, flying kites, metal detecting and windsurfing

Although it was warm there was a strong wind

There were masses of razor shells in clusters all over the sand


and the odd jellyfish or two


This morning I was outside cleaning the mud and sand from Crosby beach off my walking boots when a flock of gulls passed over head - quite unusual for an inland midlands town - their mournful cry, plus the sand sprinkling from my boots, reminded of yesterday's adventure, of the smell of the sea, the salty air and the warm sun on our backs as we strolled across the sand.

12 comments:

  1. Lovely...a little holiday...a sweet memory.
    The statues are wonderful..it gives the beach a very 'lonely 'atmosphere! Indeed another place...well,my kind of place ..I love the beach when there are no...or just a few people:)
    Is it still warm and sunny at your place...enjoy..rain is on its way again overhere...storm and thunder!For aleast three days...
    I am going to do my shopping for the weekend and then stay at home reading and listening to the summer rain....Have a happy weekend!

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  2. Hi Rosie, it sounds like you had a delightful trip to Crosby Beach. I enjoyed all of your wonderful photos but my favorites are of the wind turbines. I find them extremely fascinating.
    Thanks for sharing your trip, I enjoyed the journey... :D

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  3. Those statues are incredible.

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  4. A differing take on the statues of Easter Island, looking out to sea, methinks!
    I love walks across the beach, you never know what you'll see or find, nor what might have been carried on the tide from anywhere around the world.

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  5. What a wonderful art installation! So moving, I thought. Lucky you to experience it!

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  6. What a lovely day out. Thanks for taking me along with you. Ive never been there - another to add to the (ever growing) list. Your photo's are lovely.xx

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  7. Hi Rosie!
    It's amazing those art installation and totally in keeping with its surroundings!
    Your pictures looks always great!
    I was going to put my pictures on Picasa, but a friend had her album with several hundreds of picture deleted, so I choose Flickr..
    Have a lovely weekend!

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  8. Beautiful pictures. You have a wonderful way with words Rosie.

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  9. Okay, you had me going there for a minute with the first picture! Whew, I needed a cool rag. lol

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  10. For a moment there Rosie I thought you had become a naturalist! I think you must have been near to the red squirrel place?

    When we were children those sand hills were a favourite picnic spot. I loved "trudging slowly over wet sand".

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  11. The photo with the seagulls is stunning. Lucky you, Crosby Beach, another wonderful place I would love to visit some day. I do wish we had something like this down on the South coast. Do you know if the statues ever completely disappear under water? x

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