Report on the Photographic trip to Nash Point

10/04/11

Camera Club trip to Nash Point

The Portishead Camera Club trip was going to be Dunraven Bay, but in true style, it was changed half way through the organisation, to Nash Point. Well, I had seen some very nice pictures from Nash Point and it was easier to get to (more on this later).

Once again there were many replies, but due to a slight clash with an AV competition on Saturday a few people dropped out...and so, the magnificent seven, rode out from Portishead and headed to Wales on their Magical Mystery Trip.

Two cars headed off, one with SatNav and one following. The SatNav car decided to take a slightly longer route than the one planned using Google Maps and human intelligence. Not that much longer, it just decided to prefer motorways for as long as possible...As we got closer to our destination we started dodging and squeezing through some very narrow country lanes and eventually arrived at the pub at Marcross at about 12:30. Relieved that we survived the onslaught of traffic, and hadn't put any cyclist into the hedges, we stopped for a quick drink and a quick snack before heading off to Nash Point.

Nash Point had a large car park with a real character of an attendant, nearly pouncing on the car at great cost to his life (well...I was driving), in order to get his £1.50. We parked and descended a steep path to the beach....and then navigated over the boulder bed that surrounded the limestone platform. How we didn't break our legs was a miracle.

It was a lovely beach, nice scenery, a very hot day. Nash point itself has a very prominent rocky headland with a very narrow valley....but there was something very wrong...it wasn't the people in red and pink, or their dogs, or their incapability to realise a camera club was there and they should all go home...

No, it was the very, very, very blue sky. Not a cloud in sight.

So after taking a few photos of the cliffs, most of us pottered around by the sea front while the tide was on its way out. Nigel got his big stopper out, and seemed extremely happy on the water's edge. I (Martin) decided to head off to another location to see what was around the headland, but apart from some quite nice views of the lighthouse area (with a very blue sky), there wasn't much else to see. I met Eunice and Paul heading off to the same area as I was coming back.

I decided to head off with Lynda up to the car park and took a walk to see the lighthouse, it was a very white lighthouse (as they are), but with cars parked around it I only took one photograph (well 5 actually).

On top of Nash Point is a little cafe, As Lynda and I walked back I was looking forward to a lovely ice-cream to cool me down...I arrived to see Lynette and Lynda already planning some coffee and tea, and then the disappointment struck again....they had no ice-cream. It wasn't long before everyone else arrived and at about 5:30pm we headed back to the pub in Marcross for an early evening meal.

It was a nice meal, a nice pint of beer, but like all true professionals we were itching to get back for the sunset. At 7:15pm we headed back to the beach. Alas, there was no-one to jump out at the car (but the parking attendant did say he wouldn't be there when we got back).

Back on the beach we found a few more photographers lurking near the shore with expensive equipment.

The sunset itself was a let-down, the cliffs didn't light up as much as they should have done (partly due to the amount of sand in the atmosphere blocking the setting sun), and with no clouds to illuminate the scene it was a rather disappointing end...but then a few of us pointed our cameras at the sea, slapped on a few filters to slow it all down and came away with some surprising shots of ethereal wisps of tidal ebb and flow over the prominent rocks.

It was magical...and it was something, I for one, had not done before.

At around 8:30pm the Magical Mystery trip to Wales had come to an end and we headed off home...on surprisingly empty roads.


Martin Walters