L'Ancresse Bay

I was determined to visit L'Ancresse Bay: a wonderful beach in the north of Guernsey where I had spent a family holiday in 1968.  It was pretty well as I remembered it, apart from being smaller (as always with childhood memories) and much busier.

Yet again it was very hazy, so out came the IR camera...

For some reason, after 43 years, I believed I could find my way back to the flats I'd stayed in as a child.  Wrong!  An hour and a half was spent wandering the labyrinth of lanes around L'Ancresse Common attempting to find the elusive building, without knowing it's address, current name, or even whether it still existed!  Needless to say I failed to find it, but I have since discovered that my vague memory of the name (Hirondelle) is correct, and that The Swallow Holiday Apartments are still very much alive and well, albeit rather up-market compared to the late '60s.  Still haven't found them on the ground, though, as the map on their website is truly appalling...

Here are some pictures I took while thoroughly lost in the L'Ancresse area. 

 

Eventually I spotted a landmark I'd seen from the bus earlier in the day: a cow tethered by the side of the road, apparently a natural hazard associated with the L'Ancresse Golf Course.  I've included a natural colour shot of the animal too, just to prove that Guernsey cows aren't blue...

The afternoon was spent on the beach playing silly games with Izzi, but I also went for a paddle in the sea.  While doing so, I spent ages photographing the patterns made by the water retreating over shells and stones.  Here are a few of the results.