Things you shouldn't see together

I took the wife and lad down the beach today. There's a certain patch of beach that must catch the prevailing current because all sorts washes up there. I sometimes go there to see what nice bits of wood have come ashore.

Today, I saw a yellow hard hat. I was going to put it on for a laugh, to entertain the lad (who is obsessed with 'Bobf' (Bobf = Bob the Builder)). Realising I had no idea how it had ended up in the sea, and guessing it probably set off down the Tees and may have passed through some pollution, I thought better of it.

Then about 10ft away I spotted one boot. A grafting boot, a stealy.

Then about 10ft away from that I spotted one half of a pair of ear defenders.

I also saw a piece of high visibility fabric.

Anything that ends up in the sea ends up on the beach at that point, and indeed today there was also several wheels, numerous bits of driftwood, and a fridge. So the bits of safety gear I saw will no doubt have been unrelated, but I must admit seeing them all together did make me think about the worst possible explanation for it.

 

No more Bob..........

 

id been ringing the cops just in case ya never know x

 

Maybe I should have said that Bob the Builder is now known as Sponge Bob.

 

It did cross my mind, but its nothing like that. Its not unusual to see such things at that part of the beach, because its where everything comes ashore (as I said, there was even a fridge there today).

If it had just been the bits of safety gear, I'd have been concerned. Its not even unusual to see such things there. Its just a coincidence.

Its also a busy part of the beach with fishermen and dog walkers (and scroungers like me), so if there was anything untoward I'm sure word would get out.

 

It's very sad that all this rubbish ends up in the sea and rivers

 

I can understand how flotsam and jetsam can fetch up on your local beach, but why, when you're stuck on a train between stations or in a traffic queue on a motorway, is there always one trainer on the embankment? It's only ever one, and always a trainer

 

We've got a similar flotsam collection place down here Dave. The end of the Chesil Beach where it hooks down to Portland. Full of big old boots, mostly stuff that washes off ships. But you are right to be concerned. I've mentioned before about Willow finding a woman's hip bone, then her spine & shoulder blade, all over the beach. Didn't touch & told the police exactly where to look.

Her name was Ann, 43 years old, she'd been missing for 3 months. They had found her car with the keys still in the ignition by the sea in Devon:(

 

Oh that's horrible Ziggy:( I hope willow was okay afterwards? I don't think I'd like the idea of just coming across someone's remains (not that many other people would...)

 

I've always expected to find something like that Aesculus, i'm always foraging & poking about in the places no one else goes. Not so bad when its only the bones left, wouldn't like to find someone still intact.

As for Willow, the same Willow who was charging up & down the Harbour with the still beating heart of a Mackerell in her hand, terrifying all the other kids? She was alright.

 

That is horrific Zig. That would freak me out completely.

While we're on the morbid note though, we have had the occasional dead body come ashore over the years, but for some reason the ones I've heard about have always come in about 4 miles to north of where the flotsam and jetsom comes in. Oddly enough, that part of the beach was also the tragic final destination of a large sperm whale a few months ago. Yet that same section of beach is the place where the exact opposite nearly happened to me when I was a teenager. I.e. I was swept out to sea, and fighting against the current very nearly didn't make it back in.

 

I'm always digging up bits of dead people as part of my work, phases you a bit more to find bones still with sinew on though. Only used to seeing separate human vertibrae. Whole spine was a bit of a shock.

Sperm whale? Blimey, did you get to see it?

 

The X-Factor contestants and a microphone.

 

No. I had to go to work, which took me in the opposite direction. By about mid day news had broke that it had died. I had to drive past that section of coast on the evening to pic up the wife and lad, who were at her grannies up that end of town, and couldn't believe the crowds that had gathered. It upset me a bit to think that so many people had actually made effort to go and see a poor animal that had died. Ok, I get that its a novelty. Its not every day a whale so large that some JCBs that were in the area couldn't shift it (I think the news said it weighed about 30 tonnes - and apparently it was still just a baby), but I think it was a bit wrong for so many to be so excited about the senseless death of an innocent animal.

According to the news, in the end it was blown up because nobody could think of a better way to move it. The flesh was carted off in trucks to a biofuel factory or something according to the news.

 

I see where you are coming from Dave, its very sad that a youngster had died. But it is in human nature to be curious.

I was sat in the school office holding a wad of stuff against my head to stop the bleeding after i'd run headlong into the railings, must have been 8 years old. A big girl came in & said, "Lets have a look then" thinking she must have been some sort of first aider, I moved the wad away for her to see.

She just said "Eurggh" & left the room.