Findhorn

Back in August, The Wombats visited Findhorn in Moray – and of course I grabbed the chance at a few Wander-style photographs. Findhorn is a tranquil coastal village, with miles of wonderful duney white sandy beaches. LOTS of boats, as you’d expect – look, that lot’s all upside-down.

 

 

There are plenty of rules to be observed in and around the bay. Keep your flapping halyards quiet. Also, “watch your wake”? Shouldn’t you be watching where you’re going?

 

 

 

 

The James Milne Institute, apparently, complete with thrilling bunting.

 

 

 

 

There are some very pretty houses – note the fishing reference.

 

 

 

 

 

Sky, trees, boats, water, tracks, sand, stump.

 

 

 

 

 

Findhorn has a fascinating history, in fact. The original village has long disappeared under the water.

 

 

 

And here’s @goodboyben leading us through the dunes to the rather wonderful and huge-skied beach.

 

 

 

 

There are real proper wooden groynes – picturesque, historic. I love the texture of weather-beaten wood on beaches.

 

 

 

 

 

Also, some brilliant pebbles for skimming and skipping on the water.

 

 

I’ll finish with a gratuitous panorama shot of the beach…

Robin Hoods Bay

Wombat here, catching up by blogging some earlier Wanders that I didn’t have time to upload earlier. I’ll start at the gorgeous Robin Hoods Bay.

You’ll probably have seen loads of shots of the town already, so in the spirit of Twitter Wanders, I’ve tried to find a few angles that you might not have seen before. Firstly, though, I couldn’t resist the traditional seaside mine, collecting charity for Shipwrecked Mariners.

The sea-wall, along the top of which you are likely to walk if you wander into Robin Hoods Bay from the North, is impressively high, as you can see. Your sense of scale may be helped by realising that those little dots on the beach are people. Or dogs. Well both, actually.

The tummy-tickling drop from this wall has apparently proved tempting to adventurous souls in the past, for the seats that offer rest to the weary traveller along the top of the wall all bear this notice to tell us that they won’t bear the weight of an abseiler.

You can also play at “Spit On The Unwary”, if you are a horrible, horrible disgusting person. Or instead, take photographs of the top of people’s heads.

 

 

Finally Wombat! A photo that captures the feel of the place – the sea, the sand, the fishing and the history. The history is mostly to do with smuggling actually, although there’s one cool story of mariners dragging a lifeboat overland.

 

 

The streets are narrow and bendy, and brilliant for walking down when you’re strolling down towards the sea. Not quite so refreshing when you’re heading back up and you’re all knackered.

 

 

 

 

And this is the quay / harbour bit, where the Coast to Coast walk ends (or begins). Yes, there’s a pub.

 

 

 

 

As it is traditional to celebrate doors in Twitter Wanders, I chose to photograph this old smuggler’s door, with the old smugglers’ wheelie bin just outside.

 

 

 

 

One for the ladies (and Doodle) now – a lovely shop selling lovely things.

 

 

 

 

I noticed this gate at the old Police Station / Prison House, and was taken by the carved mice. It was, of course, made by Robert “Mouseman” Thompson.

 

 

A narrow but pretty alley, at the end of which are a couple of second-hand bookshops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

@little_mavis took this photo across the beck from the humpbacked bridge – someone has a fascinating rickety balcony, stairs and back yard.

 

 

 

An old mangle outside the fascinating small museum.

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, a look back down to the main street from up the hill near the sun deck thingy bit.

 

 

 

I’m sure most of you have been to Robin Hoods Bay already, but if you haven’t, it’s well worth the effort. Fascinating place.

Hurt's Yard wander

During my recent quest for alleyways to #wander, I discovered that there are surprisingly few left in Nottingham. It seems that it has been common practice to either gate them off, or extend shop façades to cover the alley.

For example, the area on Nottingham between Long Row North and Upper Parliament contains a large number of buildings that do not face the street, or have any public access. It must be a warren in there.

One surviving public right of way through this area is called Hurt's Yard.

The unremarkable upper entrance to Hurt's Yard is from Upper Parliament Street, it has obviously survived many many changes of the building surrounding it.

There are at least 4 'ceiling' levels in the passageway leading to the alleyway.

Old timber - and presumably rather newer plaster - is exposed on the ceiling.

Turning round, I walked backwards down the passageway...

And two more shots, moving away, to show the other end of the passageway.

It is clear that Hurt's Yard hasn't been a commercial success since it's late 20th Century regeneration. It has more closed and abandoned shops that it does working ones.

This partially burned-out building has scaffolding, but nobody working on it.

This is Robs Records Mart - it is bursting with vinyl, and is apparently rather famous amongst Nottingham's music aficionados.

Walking further down reveals a short terrace of beautiful, but unloved Georgian shops. I peeked inside one, and although it was completely empty, it wasn't in bad order, and it appeared to have been properly re-plastered, but never decorated.

Here is a shot, almost at the bottom, looking up.

And facing down again - revealing a strange, squashed outbuilding.

Nearly at the end, this is the back of one of the shops on the main road.

And then through the bottom passageway. Looking down....

...and looking back up...

...almost out...

And back on the street, where another unremarkable entrance conceals a remarkable little piece of Nottingham

I hope you enjoyed this wander. If you know anything about the history of Hurt's Yard, please get in touch via the comments, or to me at @thom_white on Twitter.

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