Sunday 5 April 2015

The Afterdrop


My brother James was down so we decided to go for a swim at Meadfoot Beach in Torquay. It's particularly lovely because of its islands, and its stark, geometric rock formations.   It also has a cafe which is always a big plus.  To our surprise, when we arrived, we saw SAND on the beach; in the old days it was known as Meadfoot Sands but in recent years it's been all pebbles.  So over the winter, somehow, some sand has arrived from somewhere.  As we waded in we could see the water was incredibly clear; such a refreshing change from the last few months when it's been constantly murky.  We swam out and around Triangle Point, passing a protruding rock that looked just like a pig's head. We were having a great time exploring but then I looked at my watch and realised we'd already been in a quarter of a hour.  We swam back in and went up for a mug of tea and very welcome slice of Victoria sponge in the cafe, at which point James started to shiver.  Yes, it was the dreaded afterdrop: the moment, roughly twenty minutes after you come out, that the cold reaches your core.  We drank up and headed for the car and drove off with the heating on full blast.




3 comments:

Anna said...

How lovely to see clear water xx

Dartmoor swimmer said...

The sand comes, the sand goes.
There has also been more sand than usual at Scabbacombe the last few weeks.
There is also a place at Long Sands (aka Long Pebbles!), a nook in the rocks where I sometimes stash beachcombed 'finds'. Some days it can be at knee height, other times I have to reach above my head.

Valerie said...

Sounds like a good swim. Glad the water was finally clear!