23-09-2007

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At the end of the sea front at Seaton is the mouth of the River Axe which forms a useful natural harbour which has been the scene of quite a bit of building work during 2006.

Another similar view, in this one there is an oil boom along the side due to the grounding of a large container ship nearby - see below for some photos.

A close up of part of the harbour including the Joanna sitting on her reflection.  The bridge over the river, seen in several of these photos, marks the inland limit to the harbour.

A view along the shingle spit that separates the harbour from the sea.

The harbour mouth - also the mouth of the River Axe of course - with some breakers just outside.

Another view of the harbour mouth as it cuts across the shingle beach.

Low tide sees shingle exposed almost like a small delta where the River Axe enters the sea.

A look along the beach towards Beer.

Another view of the harbour with a large house in the background - it looks like they've craned their boat out of the water and over the wall to the bottom of their garden.

Looking along the beach towards the cliffs beyond the river gives no clue that harbour or river exist.

Looking the other way along the beach towards Beer and Beer Head.  This area is part of The Jurassic Coast World Heritage site. which extends from Exmouth in the west to Purbeck in the east spanning millions of years of geological history.

A closer view from the end of the promenade of the cliffs, there is a geological fault line here at the boundary between the chalk and sandstone.

The British love their beach huts such as these along the prom at Seaton.

Looking inland from the sea front, a view of some gardens with a clock tower.

Another one looking inland to the main shopping street.

 There is a narrow gauge tramway from Seaton which runs alongside the River Axe before turning inland to Colyton.  This is one of the trams waiting at the Seaton terminus.

The trams give a great view of the estuary with its flocks of birds, in this view two trams are passing across the river from Axmouth with the river at low tide in the foreground.  There are some photos of the birds here on Wildlife.

Turning from taking the above there is a lovely thatched house set against the backdrop of the wooded hill, the hedge is unusual in being two marked different shades of green.

Branscombe beach, between Seaton and Sidmouth, was the scene of the grounding of a container ship, the Napoli, which was starting to break up.  This photo was taken after she had deliberately been split.

The bow section left was being readied for towing to Belfast to be broken up.  The stern section right wasn't in a fit state to be towed away, apparently it will be loaded on a giant barge to remove it.

Looking the other way there is no sign of the Napoli, just a pleasant East Devon beach to stroll along on a sunny Sunday.