Sculptures and Spidercrabs

Yeah, an odd title I know, but it'll make sense. Eventually anyhow.

Back in May, I was lucky enough to see a very gifted friend - Ian Peaston - play at the Brighton Fringe, the second time I'd seen him perform. This time he was appearing solo as Violin Variations (you can read my post One Man, a Violin, and a Laptop here).

Me, outside the Brighton Royal Pavilion

It was also a rare opportunity for my husband and I to have some time away from our three little monsters, so we took full advantage. With Ian performing in Brighton, we booked a place to stay in Hastings. Neither of us had ever been, and since the road we live in is named after the infamous Battle of Hastings - where King Harold fell to William the Conqueror in 1066 - it seemed appropriate.

Sunset over the beach

Stainless steel Winkle statue

Spidercrab

Aside from having an interesting wander around Hastings (I loved the stainless steel sculptures we found) and enjoying a very tasty but late dinner in a local Italian restaurant, it was the beach that fascinated me. Here in Essex, we have broad sandy beaches at Frinton-on-Sea, pebbles at Walton-on-the-Naze, and gravel and mud at Mersea. Shellwise, you'll see a lot of oysters at Mersea (it's famous for it), and maybe cockles and mussel. Hastings has a gravel beach, but the thing that caught my eye the most were the spidercrab shells. We mostly have shore crabs in Essex, so the long, spindly legs of the spidercrab made a big contrast. Funny how it's the little things that can remind you you're somewhere different.

So sculptures and spidercrabs. Told you the title would make sense eventually!

Monsters in Mersea.

 Mersea Island, on the coast of East Anglia, might be more famous for its oysters (one of the reasons the Romans invaded Britain way back when) but for us it's the best place to go crabbing. I don't know if it's something done anywhere else in the world, but I grew up with it as a child. I can remember my husband's scepticism when I told him about it, but the stunned look on his face the first time we went together and I repeatedly pulled crab after crab out of the water is something I'll always remember. :)

I don't know if it's the time of year, but normally we'll just catch dozens of little ones - our record is 120 crabs in one session. Today was a day for monsters - and I don't just mean my kids. :-P We caught about five that were the size of my palm if you didn't count the legs. Usually a local seal hangs around in the hope of being thrown the scraps of crab bait at the end of the day, but he wasn't there today. Most likely because the number of crabbers has dwindled with the drop of temperature - we're just insane.

The local crab bait recycler

It's probably the last chance we'll get for such escapades with winter creeping in. Already the temperature has dropped a couple of degrees over the last few days. Tomorrow my dining room is being half demolished to gut the rotten wooden windows letting in a gale, to be replaced with some nice french doors - something to enjoy when, and IF, we ever get a summer in the UK.

So I finish with a last glimpse of sun for probably a long time to come.

Mersea beach

The walkway over the Mersea mudbanks