Clean and Tidy

From cleaning beaches to fixing ladders, holes drilled and filled, cementing, concreting, chipping and chiselling. The 'busy to be ready' harbour frets as the cold blown, wintry winds, shiver down the damp cliffs, opening the rolling mist door that lets in the disembodied days of weak spring sunshine.

We recycled the uninvited flotsam and jetsam of shore strewn plastic. Excavated the locally abandoned, fly-tipped mountain of lager lout cans. Picked through the pebble dashed debris of deserted detritus. We were a rambling collection of tabarded and bin bagged, litter picking beach cleaners, doing our bit for the enviroment, the biosphere, our own perfect beach and of course the "free for the deserving helpers, donated by the whimpering Red Lion, sausage and chip lunch" which was equally enjoyed by those who came bagless, just for the lunch! We were triumphant in our duty, victorious in our collecting; 30 bags victorious.

To help people achieve their adventurous potential, we have, on, around and about our Quay wall; twisting, climbing, clambering, hanging and descending; ladders built for unseen giants and steps laid down for unwanted ogres. Children, of all ages, can live their piratical dreams as they scale and ascend in and out of their childhood. This winter has seen another episode of repair and reconstruction, with new posts and piles, new gaps and cracks, as unlearned carpentry skills and an unachieved aptitude for masonry are dragged into use, dealing hopefully, competently with the small tasks created by the nit-picking of the Atlantic weather and the erroding of the sea.

We've also had the longshore drifting pebbles, shifted from the harbour entrance. S.E.L Clarke contractors came swing shovelling into town and within a few days, cleared the winter gale deposited shingle, sending it on its merry way to Westward Ho! An annual event, a constant expense, but ready now for the first undaunted sailors to leave the safe comfort of their homeport and brave the perils of Clovelly. Our wide mouthed harbour a welcome sight for many a Bristol Channel wanderer.

So now I sit amongst familiar things, waiting for boats to arrive and chilled sea breezes to take on a warmer air. The tide has let itself out and the sun is trying its best to please. I could almost have forgotten it was Easter, if it wasn't for the noisy, chocolate children, crunching across the beach, the winter, too slow to leave, coldly holds our hands, but at least we're clean and tidy, ready and waiting for when the season arrives.