open country

I had a yearning to be by the sea so early this morning I drove down to the Solway Coast at Mersehead. It's not the proper sea, really, and the tide was way, way out, but it was lovely to walk on a long and empty beach. The sand was covered with a thick layer of frost in place and the sun was very bright and low over the water. I put my hand out to reduce the glare but then decided to take a photo with my hand in it! Jess and I had the place to ourselves, but when we got back to the carpark at midday it was almost full. I still have loads of extras to use up so you can see what the beach looked like.

While I was processing my photos, I was listening to "Open Country" on radio 4, all about  Nan Shepherd and "The Living Mountain". I love that book - there is a wonderful chapter near the end about sleeping outside which helped to inspire my bivvying this year. I'd like to have met Nan Shepherd. Her portrait is on the RBS £5 note along with a quote from "Quarry Wood" - "Its a grand thing to get leave to live." Amen to that.