Nature through the eyes of my camera

Friday 22nd March - Braille Braille was create by a French man, Louis Braille. He lost his sight as a child and later developed a code for the French alphabet. Braille is a system of touch reading and writing for visually impaired people. Raised dots represent the letters of the alphabet, numbers, punctuation marks, special symbols etc. Braille consists of a set of six raised dots. The number and arrangement of the dots used distinguishes one character from another. Uncontracted Braille (grade I) - is the study of basic dot combinations for the letters of the alphabet, the main punctuation signs and the numbering system. Contracted Braille (grade II) - uses the same letters, punctuation and numbers as uncontracted braille but adds a series of special signs to represent common words or groups of letters. There are 187 contractions in Braille 2 Contracted Braille is used as it requires less space. Books, magazines and other information use it as it produces less bulky books and magazines...

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Thursday 22nd August - 4.5 miles. Route taken: Beach, A12.. (Time taken 2.35 hours) Having realised the Walking Men sculptures were only on the beach at Lowestoft until the end of this month (something my husband and I wanted to see), it seemed like an ideal time to cover the above walk for my Voyage award. Our walk started from East Pavilion Point, a Victorian-style glass pavilion. From here we had a look at the harbour entrance, which is very narrow, but can be approached whatever the tide. The Shannon Class Lifeboat is moored just inside the first harbour. We made our way along the promenade. There was much squawking coming from the beach  where a flock of gulls had gathered with their young. Two bird hotels have been built out to sea for nesting kittiwakes. They have been nesting in Lowestoft sine the 1960's. Their numbers had been in decline due to lack of nesting sites and over fishing. Since the hotels have been erected numbers are on the increase once again. The South pier ...

Wednesday 21st August - Distance 2.4 miles Route taken: Beach, shingle and track. Time taken 1.30hrs. Having had a pleasant stay over night at the Hotel Victoria we decided to walk back to where the walking men were to try and take photos while there weren't many people about. There was a total change in the weather today. There was a strong southerly wind blowing and it was much cooler. The wind was whipping up the sand on the beach. I found the beach along this section fascinating with its pristine surface as far as you could see. Time to collect the car and make our way back to Kessingland so I could continue my journey to Benacre. I had delayed the start as long as I could. I wasn't looking forward to walking this section. I would be walking into a strong head wind on uneven ground, on my own. I passed more beach huts as I headed along the coast heading out from Kessingland. A lone hut stood forlorn above the shingle, presumably belonging to a fisherman. Marram grass bent o...

Sunday 15th September - 2 miles - Route taken: via beach. Time 1 hour Today was my penultimate walk from Benacre to Covehithe. A short walk before a longer one tomorrow. I was dropped off where I finished my Kessingland - Benacre walk. The drop from the collapsed road to the beach was steeper than I had anticipated but with my hands free and some careful foot placements I reached the beach fine. The tide was on its way out as I walked along a pristine beach in a silent world except for the gentle waves breaking onto the sandy shore. It was clear to see just how much damage had been caused by excessive storms and high tides. The cliffs were crumbling and vegetation and trees were being lost to the sea and and erosion. Even the pill box had found a new view point. (for aquatic life only now). I was in a happy place as I strolled along, (not another human being in sight), knowing I was nearly at the end of this adventure. As I approached the Benacre nature reserve I caught my first glimps...

Monday 16th September.  Distance3.15 miles Route taken: via beach and cliffs - Time 2hrs 18mins After a night spent in a lovely hotel in Beccles, beside the River Waveney we made our way back to Covehithe to begin my final journey on my Suffolk Coastal Path walk. My husband dropped me off near the church then journey onto Southwold where he would begin his walk to meet me. It was a beautiful morning as I walked across the fields. On my right instead of rows of houses there were rows and rows of pig sties.  I followed the track round until I could see the sea. At this point there was a way down, but too steep for me.  I walked on a little further until I found a suitable place to climb down. I looked back along the beach where I had walked the day before. I thought how far I had come since those first walks way back in March. The start of this walk was very much a continuation of yesterdays except there were more people, and their dogs about. I hadn't gone far before I enc...

 Tuesday 18th May Distance 1.5 miles  Coastal. (Time taken 55mins) A save journey across the Blyth on a bright, breezy morning and I was in Southwold harbour. There was plenty of fishing gear around and huts that were selling fresh fish. On the other side of the sea defense wall that I was walking along, (trying to keep free from the mud) the reeds were whispering to each other while birds flitted amongst them, trilling as they went. I stood and watched and listened for a while to the sound of nature before heading to the dunes. From the top of the dunes, Southwold lighthouse and church loomed in the distance. The waves could be heard crashing down on the shore and dogs could be heard yapping as they chased each other around.  After a while I dropped down onto the beach and onto firmer sand. The sky appeared huge from here as the storm clouds gathered. Occasionally the sun would put in an appearance and the beach huts and the lighthouse would become luminous. As I neared ...