11th June 2022
It is not far to travel into Devon from Dorset, but beware of congestion on the roads! If you are travelling on a Friday, as I was, there are nearly always some traffic hold-ups. It is not surprising though when you arrive at some of the superb beaches, it is obvious why people flock to the county during the summer.
This weekend I swam at three different locations, but as it was very windy I had to abstain from one, as the sea was too rough for me and could have been dangerous. The picture above was taken at Beesands Beach. I sat on the beach for a while before deciding to get in, watching the waves and deciding if it was safe for me. The beach here is made up of small shingle, and whilst it was shelving it was not too steep. The tide was coming in and I watched another swimmer so that I could judge the depth.
Later in the day, I visited the lost village of Hallsands, but not to swim. I would not have wanted to swim there either as the sea was a suspicious brown colour and it appeared to be a sewage outfall. There were no alerts in place but I did report it. The fishing village of Hallsands collapsed into the sea in 1917, I have added a link if you would like to read about why this happened.