Catho

Catherine Hill Bay is just south of Newcastle and is a coastal village of about 100 houses, mainly timber miner's cottages. It is known as Catho to the locals. I wanted to have a look at the pier - I have in mind a morning shot but wanted to see where would be the best place for access - nothing worse than stumbling around in the dark with camera gear when you don't know the area all that well.

There are signs up everywhere - "Save Catho". There is a war between the locals and a developer who wants to (in my words) ruin the place. It would be such a shame. Maybe one day I will do a blip of some of the old houses. Mining stopped in the area in 2002 and the pier was used to transport coal to Newcastle.

I had one of the most surreal moments in my life this afternoon. I could see a big bank of clouds out to sea and thought it would colour up nicely as the sun went down. Well it did and it changed minute by minute getting more and more purple. As I was walking along the beach I could hear sounds of Deep Purple coming from Catho Pub - Smoke on the Water. I couldn't think of anything more appropriate.