Halloween on the Beach and we’re not in Dubai!

Having had a half term of birthday celebrations (yes, they did become somewhat extended!) and a lot of sport for all the Tribe, it culminated with a ridiculously balmy day at the beach – at the end of October!  How fantastic.  Hengitsbury Head was our destination rather than the usual Mudeford.  Bizarrely we found an almost totally empty car park costing an even more bizarre £1 for the whole day!  From the car park a short sandy track took us to the long, wide and virtually empty Solent Beach (previously known as Hengitsbury Head).

The Littlest back on the beach
The Littlest back on the beach

While I unpacked our picnic the Littlest of the Tribe reacquainted herself with the beach and started playing in the sand and Gerald Durrell was off beach combing.

A romantic lunch on Solent Beach
A romantic lunch on Solent Beach

Just along the beach from us, an older couple had a table and chairs set up with crockery, cutlery, glasses, food and a bottle of wine – how civilised!  If it hadn’t been for the Tribe being with us, our picnic would have felt distinctly inferior.  That is for the future when the Tribe have grown up and are off exploring the world on their own.

The Boy digging!
The Boy digging!

And then we will look back and remember sandy picnics filled with laughter (with a smattering of bickering) on sun filled afternoons.

Finding dinosaur remains on the beach!
Finding dinosaur remains on the beach!

Hengitsbury Head is a site of international archeological importance dating back 12,000 years.  The dramatic cliffs tell a geological story dating back between 65 and 46.5 million years.

Gerald Durrell's sand crocodile
Gerald Durrell’s sand crocodile

 

The headland also has national and international wildlife protection and astonishingly a quarter of Britain’s flowering plants grow here, a third of the UK’s moths have been recorded here, as have 300 bird species.  Impressive stuff.

A blissful afternoon on the beach
A blissful afternoon on the beach

After we had played, dug, paddled and eaten it was time for a cycle to the spit end of Hengitsbury opposite Mudeford Quay before the sun disappeared.  Late afternoon and the light was glorious – that glorious golden glow that makes everything (and everyone!) look beautiful.  The path leading to the spit was busy with people walking back to their cars and it did feel like dodgems as we attempted to weave our way around the crowds.  Fortunately we were going the opposite direction to everyone else.

The Tribe outside the pretty beach huts
The Tribe outside the pretty beach huts
Looking across to Mudeford Quay
Looking across to Mudeford Quay

After passing the jetty for the ferry and the Beach House Cafe (our favourite spot for lunch on Boxing Day after a long walk and ferry ride), we stopped just outside the Black House looking across to Mudeford Quay.  There were still people milling around the quay and the penultimate ferry ride was busy taking passengers back.  imageAs we returned past the pretty, pastel coloured beach huts we noticed a couple of paddle boarders on the still, mirror-like, water.  Three little girls in swimsuits with damp hair ran past shivering, looking for the warm towels that their parents had waiting for them.  It felt more like a late summer’s evening than the last day of October.

Getting ready for Halloween
Getting ready for Halloween

As we cycled across the grassland to the car park, the sun now almost disappeared, we saw a fabulous sight of a crow in a leafless tree, silhouetted against the darkening sky – perfect for the start of an evening of trick or treating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

www.visithengistburyhead.co.uk

www.beachhousecafe.co.uk

www.mudefordferry.co.uk

Author: Mother of the Tribe

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