The first few were taken a couple of days ago on a low tide. The further down the beach you walk the further back in time you seem to go. The last two were taken handheld this evening and the three or four large ships in the photo have been out there for about a week now, maybe they have run out of money. I like to see a bit of coming and going on the sea. I grew up near two large ports, so an empty sea looks a bit boring to me. We would have all the ships, The Canberra, the QE2, large oil tankers and all sorts of entertainment.
The only good thing about the Napoli being sat two miles up the coast was that there was something to look at in the water, though it was good for the tourist trade as well. On the night, it was refreshing to see all the torches and fire on the beach, pretty much as it must have looked when any wreck has happened throughout history and it's fair enough for the locals as they have to suffer the inconvenience of it all. The tabloids did their spoiling bit by printing a treasure map with a big X over Branscombe, ensuring that looters came from far and wide to the coast seeking plunder, the greedy fools, as anything remaining was largely destroyed by the next tide and it's a long way to come for shampoo and biscuits. There were stories of people breaking into local sheds and stealing stuff if they hadn't found anything on the beach, it didn't really bring out the best in people.
