Swanage Bay: Banjo Pier and Ballard Down

Very high tides accompanied by an angry swell have been bombarding the seafront with sand, pebbles and even small rocks.

Here the incoming swell is wrapping itself around the rounded end of Banjo Pier, creating a garland of spray; the brown colour of the water is presumably attributable to the sand which it is churning up. (This same pier end featured also in my blip of nine days ago.)

Behind the pier are the tall chalk cliffs of Ballard Down. Ballard's highest point is 530 feet. The Red Arrows (the RAF's aerobatic display team) swoop low over the Down during the Saturday of Swanage Carnival, so the Down provides an excellent vantage point for close-up photographs.