The race is on

My local football club, apart from finishing at its highest ever position in the Premiership (sixth) has, for the first time ever in its 127-year history, qualified for European football* next season. 

No, really. Once considered by some to be a club with no real ambition, it came to within a whisker of becoming extinct during the 2008-9 season before staging a meteoric rise to top flight football in the English League just six years later.

The ground - Dean Court (currently known as Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes), was totally rebuilt in 2001, and has a present capacity of 11,300. However, plans have recently been approved to develop the site, which will include the demolition of the south stand and the filling-in of all four corners of the ground to increase the crowd capacity to nearly double.

Working on a Bank Holiday, the race is on to get some of that work finished before the start of the next season in August... and European competition.

*Europa League

© 2026

 

Blue carpet

                                                                       Bluebells in King's Woods, Challock.

© 2026

Something a little less theatrical

Today marks the start of British Summer Time, and that means first light is now back to a more civilised moment - at least for the time being. The sky turned a fiery red as sunrise approached an hour later than yesterday, and although photographed de rigueur, I opted for subtlety rather than drama for this post.

© 2026

Water, water, everywhere

Water: apart from being vital for all known life forms, is also very photogenic. It's one of the reasons I spend so much time shooting seascapes. Overnight rain had already began to evaporate on the Ekki decking of a local pier by the time I arrived, which nicely outlined the individual boards. The blue sky, its reflection, and the warmth of the rising sun did the rest.

© 2026

Only me as a witness

There's a strong northwest wind blowing, and that nearly always means rapidly changing weather; great for outdoor photography. I have no predetermined location in mind for shooting this morning, but one or two gaps in the pre-dawn sky give me hope that I might get some usable light at the beach. Surprisingly, my local pier gates were wide open to all comers as I pass by at 05:30 (two-and-a-half hours earlier than usual), and that gave me the option of shooting along the surf line from an elevated position at sunrise.

The gusting winds of the past thirty-six hours or so have blown the beach smooth; I just need some light. Experience, and a watchful eye, tells me I just have to wait - and not for very long, Obligingly, the cloud breaks in the right places and I start to get something good, and because of the early hour I'm the only one there to see it.

© 2026 

Spring, and spring tide

It's Spring in the northern hemisphere (the vernal equinox was yesterday), and a spring tide - they have nothing to do with the season; they happen every month - at sunrise lures me to the beach. For the most part I try to avoid contrails in images, but this morning they add some much needed detail to the sky.

© 2026

Making it work

The visual transition into spring is well established now, but winter appears to be doing its best to reprise its role. The wind is gusting, and temperatures are just a couple of degrees celsius above freezing as I leave home in the pre-dawn gloom.

There's no cloud whatsoever this morning when I arrive at the beach. Photographing the sun rising into a clear blue sky never really works it for me, so today I look to shoot something that's more evocative than depictive.

© 2026