New reflections on Beachy Head
July 28, 2024
Archaeologist and writer Annalie Seaman has been writing a series of blogs focusing on Beachy Head and ocean awareness.
Here is one of her latest seasidey musings:
A white-winged gull swoops to land on a wall by me, he watches side-eyed to assess me, what kind of human I am. The morning sun shines clear-through his beak-nostrils and I am transported to the sea where I picture him diving for a fish and upsurging, water streaming from his nares (nostrils).
A coastal town is like this, even in-land, it brings salt-tangs and gull-cries and the presence of the sea like a sixth sense. You find yourself heading seawards, on foot, on bike, by car, whichever way you can, travelling until you arrive at the sea’s limit. There you stop and look around, and see the shape of this island as it is carved by the sea.
But mostly what you see is the sea. I follow the lure of the ocean and find myself on the beach at Birling Gap, white cliffs and warm sun behind me, blue, blue sea and sky before me.
The morning brings other lured-ones to the pebbles and the sand. Early morning swimmers splash with dogs and wellies. Some come seeking solitude and sea, some come seeking towel space. A little girl wades through rock pools with a long net, as her mum takes photos, memories for another year.
I wade out into the soft sand and sink through sediment, a lingering moon hangs overhead. The waves roll on and on. The beach goers roll in and in, the lure is real.
A few days of warm weather and we’re a changed people, soaking up rays and blues and memories; families and their pets sweep in like the tide, crunching pebbles, sliding over rocks. Whatever the call is, it’s strong, whatever the reward is, it is calm and tranquil, like old cliffs softly standing.
This is the headland in its summer guise, shimmering and sparkling in the early hours, the cafe above bakes its pastries, the warm scents wash over the sands
As human tide meets ocean tide, the day begins. I reluctantly leave when I leave. Taking something of the sea with me.
