Bagpipes at Clevedon Beach on New Year’s Day
There’s only one thing less appropriate than me posting this drawing now, in the heat, in May, and that is the fact that before I posted this it still said Merry Christmas as the first post on this blog/ website. Opps. So, without further ado, I shall just get over myself and show you the picture I finished in January. Then I’ll promise to keep it more up to date. Again.
At least you can now rest assured that there will be a 2026 calendar in my shop on Etsy in the autumn….
Clevedon beach, 7.30am New Year’s Day morning 2025, where were you lot then…?
High tide was 7.38 (allegedly), and as you may know swimming in the sea is only possible at high tide at Clevedon. However this particular morning not only was swimming available but drowning was a distinct possibility so Andy, our intrepid piper, serenaded the crashing waves, the circling seagulls and the pouring rain from a small patch of (not very) dry land at the foot of the steps down to the beach, and then we retreated to the Marine Lake.
After a second serenade under – ahem – the flagpole bearing the Cornish flag, we swam in an overtopping lake with the tide still trying to come in.
I might just mention that I was the only one to swim to the end and back – again – though maybe Andy should be let off – cold bagpipes take a lot of puff, even though he’d played them to warm them up at 6am which I am sure his entire household found delightful.
And then as a final flourish to the morning, Debbie handed me a cup of rum as I got out of the lake… a superb and slightly surreal start to the year. Happy new year all!
WaterDrawn 