Originally published on Photoblog by Gethin Thomas FEBRUARY. 05, 2021
[188-365] 5th. February 2021- In our desperation to get out of the house we ventured out with a view to getting to the lighthouse if we could. The weather was looking bright but when we got to the path down, there were some threatening dark patches of sky over to the north. With doubts, but hoping that the dark patches were moving east away from us we decided to carry on down the steep path.
This is Start Bay as seen from about half way down the path which was when the heavy shower hit, or at least the edge of it. It was dark to the north and sunny to the south and we were in the middle looking east, in a weather no man's land of indecision, rain or shine? It couldn't quite decide if we were going to be let off the hook. So it spluttered and wheezed a bit, it suddenly blew in a different direction and we put up our hoods, testing them for the first time. It threw a few scattered heavy drops of rain at us every now and again, that arrived horizontally, but it wasn't sure, it didn't seem committed to travelling far south enough to encompass us as well. It seemed to want us to hesitate, trying our mettle to see how much we really cared about this project.
On the plus side there was a beautiful rainbow just for a couple of minutes while the sun competed with the rain for effect. The effect was almost a sphere of rain with clearer air outside the rainbow, the sun and wind seeming to be trying to push it back to the north like an enormous child blowing a bubble from a hoop.
A couple of hardy sheep are visible on the wild land that falls away to rocky cliffs below, and they didn't care at all. Living every day of your life outside on Start Point, this counts as a lovely day, where the elements are always testing each other at this frontier between water and land.
The spine of the headland which is Start Point rises sharply above the path behind to rocky pinnacles which protect you from the prevailing wind.
We debated whether to carry on to the lighthouse or turn back, our mettle tested, but we were determined we were going to get there. At the end of the path we sheltered in the lee of the wind in the protective shadow of the lighthouse for some minutes before setting off on the walk back. The walk back is up hill all the way. The rain was disappearing off to the east.
So we started at Start, we hesitated in the middle of Start and we got to the end of Start. Start was a mission accomplished, with a start middle and end.
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