Day 7 – Fri 18 Sept

Today was the 100th birthday of Lawrence Stanley Lee – the artist whose stained glass windows I was photographing at the start of this road trip.

Starlings near Crosby Beach - very noisy but cute.

Brenda and I went to Crosby Beach to see Antony Gormley’s “Another Place”.  I love Antony Gormley’s work and this was a ‘must see’ for ‘one day’ – couldn’t believe I was actually going to go there.  It was dull and overcast when we got there and we thought it was going to be a cold day.  The tide was in, though had been on its way out for a couple of hours.  Brenda and I took a few photos of the few figures that were emerging from the water, and some very noisy starlings who were congregating around a couple of tractors and the fence by the car park.

We went off to find town (near the beach are no shops or anything – superb) so Brenda could go to cashpoint and we could eat.  The only place that seemed suitable was a Subway – Brenda’s first time.  I’ve been in Subway several times but I still can’t understand a word the staff say and I’m still not sure how it all works because I bumble through the choices like an idiot.  Is it just me or are they trained to be unintelligible?

I had put a few of my roadtrip photos onto a small memory stick so I could print them at a Kodak Kiosk (in Boots) but for some reason the files had corrupted between putting them on this morning and getting them to the kiosk.  The plan had been to send them as postcards using these cunning self-seal postcard frames.

The sunlight at Crosby was spectacular

We went back to beach after lunch and spent ages there photographing the statues.  The sun had come out and the water and the beach were glistening.  In the distance was a wind farm – surprisingly still.  The turbines across the estuary were turning slowly but the ones in the sea were motionless.  No idea why or how.

Each of the figures was different.  The few near the promenade were just rusty but as you went further away from the shoreline they became more and more encrusted in barnacles and many had mussels clinging to the feet.  Fascinating how each figure had become an individual according to the way the life had grown on it – facial features either disappeared or, in some cases, grown to produce hooked noses, prominent chins or lopsided features.  One had so many barnacles that the arms and the torso were as one.

Brenda hiding behind her camera

Brenda headed back to the car before me and by the time I got there she’d got us a cuppa which was most welcome.  We sat for a while watching the starlings again, who were all standing in the shadows of the parked cars (and possibly also sheltering from the breeze) – and many were being fed chips or bits of bread by the occupants.

We made our way back to Mow Cop, calling at a corner shop for oatcakes, and the chipshop for chips (and a pickled egg) on the way back.  Spent the evening looking at the photos and I managed to post a blog entry.

Miles travelled – 126 (total mileage – 730)

Heading back to the car, I couldn't help looking back for another shot - several times! There's a real person in this one.