2018 - rule213.com

December 2018 Picture Roundup

Details: Published: Friday, 11 January 2019 13:56

A mild autumn continues into December.

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My least favourite month, it has to be said.

January runs it pretty close, although at least by then the days are slowly lengthening even if it is still a world of seemingly endless dark and cold.

If, like me, you suffer from low spirits during the winter months I can recommend Boots Max Strength St. John's Wort tablets. If nothing else, the dreams are amazing.

Go for Max Strength, nothing else.

The family came up to us for the holidays. Lovely time had by all. Gavin cooked while Daniel was on Dad duties with Ted.

All staggered (including me, actually) that you could buy a round of drinks in Cleethorpes for 5 people and get change out of a tenner. Good old No. 1 pub.

September 2018 Picture Roundup

Details: Published: Sunday, 21 October 2018 12:36

September was OK. Cooling down now, after such a cracking summer.

It was worth revisiting Burghley House Sculpture Park as so much had changed since we last visited two years ago.

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And then something a bit different.

August 2018 Picture Roundup

Details: Published: Wednesday, 12 September 2018 14:12

Mostly photos taken in Cleethorpes, but also a few from further afield.

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There was a spectacular sunset on August 18th, during the height of the hot spell. Jack and Sidney (cats) posed for some snaps and Sidney became a regular visitor to my man cave (the garage, basically) where I was pleased to finish my latest book, with Sidney's help of course. It's provisionally titled Circus Girl, but I think that may change.

There was a dramatic visit to Cleethorpes beach from the coastguard helicopter, bringing a medical crew to attend to a woman who was thought to have been stabbed. And a visit to the antiques centre at Hemswell led to the purchase of a 'new' winter

July 2018 Picture Roundup

Details: Published: Sunday, 12 August 2018 06:16

A fine, hot month with very little rain.The town was full of visitors practically every day, making local tradespeople very happy.

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July is my second favourite month, after May and June, which tie in first place. Quite partial to August, too. Least favourite? It's got to be December.

Went to see the still-marvellous Del Amitri in Nottingham. They just get better and better. Apart from that, didn't go far, but then you don't need to when you already live at the seaside.

Discovered the Maitreya Buddhist Garden, near Lincoln, but the photos are in a separate gallery. Looking forward to a return visit when we've had some rain and the grass isn't all withered and brown from the prolonged lack of moisture. Also paid a visit to Gainsborough Old Hall - another fascinating place which has its own gallery elsewhere in another article.

June 2018 Picture Roundup

Details: Published: Friday, 13 July 2018 10:17

June was very warm, even here on the cool North Sea coast, where if it is 25°C in London it's quite likely to be no more than 17°C or 18°C here in Cleethorpes. Also, like the rest of England, we had almost no rain during the month, so it was out with the watering can every evening.

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It was great to be able to stroll out in the evening without a coat, just armed with a camera, and go down to the beach to see what's going on.

The ever-changing light here is a photographer's dream.The beginning and end of the day are the best times usually, but a stormy sky at any time of day is worth putting your coat on for..

The changing tides also add to the variety of photo opportunities. A high tide in the afternoon when people are on the beach means lots of people in the water; a high tide in the evening brings out the fishermen (almost invariably it is men).

May 2018 Picture Roundup

Details: Published: Wednesday, 13 June 2018 09:26

We had several spells of very decent weather in May, as the photographs will attest.

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North Sea folk are a hardy lot.One of the surprises of moving to Cleethorpes was the discovery that the resort is busy all year round and not just in the summer months. I expected it to be dead here in the winter but the reality is far from that.The donkeys are out pretty much every weekend, right through the winter months, and at weekends especially there are droves of people walking their dogs on the beach.

Which only goes to prove the old saying that there's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes.

April 2018 Picture Roundup

Details: Published: Thursday, 10 May 2018 15:32

Easter was disappointing, in fact a washout. I blame Global Wetting.

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But the staton clock was back, after being restored locally.

There were a few fine days, which people took advantage of.

Summer is coming...

March 2018 Picture Roundup

Details: Published: Tuesday, 10 April 2018 14:56

This month in Cleethorpes was dominated by the 'Beast from the East', a fearsome easterly blast that lasted for days and remodeled our beaches.

It wasn't much fun to walk to work in either. When there was some more clement weather it brought popole out in good numbers, to stroll or walk the dog or explore on the sands.

Hardy, North Sea folk will survive what ever the weather throws at us.

As they say, there's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes.

February 2018 Picture Roundup

Details: Published: Sunday, 11 March 2018 08:04

Didn't go far in February. Visited Thornton Abbey and the Fishing Heritage Museum in Grimsby during half term week, but I've given them their own galleries.

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Apart from the snow right at the end, February was a cold, dry month with bitterly cold winds off the North Sea for long periods.

Well, what else should you expect on the east coast? There isn't much, apart from the ocean, between here and the North Pole.

Snowdrops and daffodils are out in the garden, birds are chirping and there's so much more light around. Spring is coming!

January 2018 Picture Roundup

Details: Published: Saturday, 10 February 2018 16:44

Didn't go anywhere much. Sitting out the winter, basically. New Years Day was a highlight - a day mooching around Grimsby Docks.

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The few industrial structures that remain in the dock area, built mostlly from dark red engineering brick, reminded me of Middlesborough, where I worked in the late 1970s. The steel industry had more or less collapsed by that time, a parallel arc of decline to that of the Grimsby fishing industry. Or something. Anyway, it made for some nice photographic opportunities. And there was absolutely no one about.