2018 Northumbrian Beach Bivi #1

Really really attentive readers will recall a multipicity of beach bivis in 2017 and, possibly 2016 too…
The idea is simple – go for a walk involving bagging something, head to Ross Farm and carry huge amounts of water, teabags, food, dog biscuits and a towel for a mile or so  and then eat, sleep, brew and dip for a day, or, possibly two if the weather and the sea conditions allow.
Now camping is Not Allowed on Ross Back Sands on account of it being disturbing to the snoozing of the local seals and the sand gets all churned up and in the wrong order. And, I expect, that some campers may light fires and leave litter and general poo all over the place. We’ve always been much tidier than this, leaving no trace at all of our short residencies, apart from a bit of flattened grass and sand and some footprints. It’s a big and spectacularly beautiful place and only gets busy in a small area and, after hours, there’s nobody else at all. Apart from the wardens guarding the terns and the fishermen chugging about just offshore. And the seals who like to watch people from a distance. And a fox and a lizard and some birds.

On this occasion we didn’t bother with a pre-bivi hill-bagging but proceeded direct to the beach where Dawn put up a small tabernacle or shelter into which we retired for a snooze due to the fact that it was cloudy, misty and a bit chilly. In the late afternoon, the sun broke through suddenly just a short while before it set, but the next day was hot and sunny and the sea was relatively friendly, apart from the odd wayward current which, if ignored, would probably carry off the dipper towards Aberdeen. And some random and lively waves mixed in with the more gentle stuff just for added excitement.

In the evening, we were visited by a “warden” – a chap unbothered by our bivi but what excited him was the prospect of us , and LTD, of course, disturbing the terns wot are nesting half a mile to the North, guarded, it has to be said, by  some notices, fencing and a permanent staff of..er.. guards in a hut. Anybody approaching the area during the nesting period, which seems to end at the end of July, is approached by a warden and diverted politely whence they came. There is legal force to all this, so trespassing is a bad idea. In any case, the terns will have soon done their stuff, so if anybody does want to wander around the nearby point, a postponement till August would seem to be just the thing.
We managed several dips in the sea, which had warm waves and cold waves, till it was time to leave on Saturday afternoon.
We may well be back. We left no trace at all, not even LTD’s squishy poo. You wouldn’t know we’d been there had the wardn not chanced on our camp.