Solstice

Exactly a year ago, the Minx and I got up at four in the morning, made some coffee, and went out into the garden to watch the sun rise. We knew what time the sun was due to come up but that didn't take account of the hills to the east. Plus, it was rather misty. So, although it was lovely to sit out in the early morning light, sipping our coffees, it wasn't the most successful solstice experience.

This year we decided to take a different tack and opted to watch sundown rather than sunup. (And, given the fact that we had an evening out on the town, last night, it was much better sleeping through four a.m. instead of the alarm going off.) To get around the hill problem, we decided to go across to the coast and watch the sun sink below the horizon. Looking at the map, the nearest place we could do this was at Heysham, where the sun would set just south of Barrow and there would be no hills in the way.

We packed a flask of hot chocolate for the kids and some Prosecco for ourselves and set off at about half-past eight, travelling down the Lune valley and then through Lancaster, before hitting the wide roads that lead out to Heysham. We parked up by the Half Moon café and took the short walk to the beach, with twenty minutes to spare until sunset at 21:47. The Minx had thought to bring a kite and, once she'd got it into the sky, Dan and Abi entertained themselves, running up and down the sandy beach with it.

It became apparent, though, that the sun had no intention of setting over the sea and, once the Minx had checked her 'phone, we could see that the sun would go down northwest by west of us. (I must say this confused me a bit; I thought that on the solstice, the sun would set due west.) However, we didn't let this spoil our fun and we sat sipping our drinks as we watched the sun set behind the hills.

It was quite magical but that didn't stop after the sun had disappeared and we sat for a long while afterwards, watching the colours in the sky while Abi mastered some impressive kite-flying skills. It had been a warm evening but eventually a chill set in, so we packed up and headed for home, singing along lustily to Don McLean's 'American Pie' (although only the Minx knew *all* the words!).