Along the beach to Uphill 2.5

Change of direction this morning, heading south along the beach towards Uphill.  The forecast is not too clever with rain forecast later but Sue and I will brave it out and see how far we can get.

A Gull

Not just any old gull, I am going to stick my neck out and say it is the lesser blacked back gull as opposed to the greater BBG.  Mainly because this one has yellowish rather than pinkish legs.  Reading up on the GBBG it is a monster, feeding on 50% refuse and carrion and the other half which it hunts and kills in all sorts of horrible ways.  Don't leave your toddlers on the beach when the greater variety are about.  It was just before this was taken that Sue suggested that we should turn back as the weather was looking very uncertain.  Having read a book on the weather some time ago I assured her it would not rain.

The 10th Hole

The route we took today was adjacent to the Weston Golf Club a links course alongside the beach.  This was the furthest from the clubhouse and the trees show which way the wind blows normally around this way. From the SW.  The clouds are looking a bit darker now notice.

Brian Down and Black Rock

Tourists look at this view and think it would be easy to get to either of these, bearing in mind Brean Down is only a couple of hundred yards away.  They do not appreciate that the mouth of the River Axe is in between them and it, and the mud can be a killer, literally.  Black Rock, on the right, is another magnet for the foolish.

River Axe

This river is formed by water from the Mendip Hills filtering through the hills into Wookey Hole caves where it rises from there and runs along a V shaped valley into the Weston Bay at Uphill.  Wales in the far distance is under all those black clouds.  Guess what, at this point it started raining and we had to turn back.  Our umbrella turned inside out and we got soaked.  Now, where is that book on the weather?

An interesting 2.5 miles today.  At least walking home the wind was behind us.