Round two for this weekend was a sunrise trip to Covehithe with a meet time similar to yesterday, it meant a rise and shine time of 05:10 – ouch!
About Covehithe
Covehithe is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It lies on the North Sea coast around 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Southwold and 7 miles (11 km) south of Lowestoft. Neighbouring settlements include Benacre, South Cove and Frostenden.
The coastline in the Covehithe area suffers from the highest rate of erosion in the UK,[1] and the settlement has suffered significant loss of land and buildings in the past. Attempts to slow erosion are thought to be unsustainable, and estimates suggest that Covehithe will disappear entirely within 100 years.[2] The village is located within the Suffolk Coast & HeathsAONB.
At Covehithe, on the Suffolk coast, there has been the greatest loss of land. In 1887 sixty feet was claimed by the sea, and in ten years (1878–87) the loss was at the rate of over eighteen feet a year. In 1895 another heavy loss occurred between Southwold and Covehithe and a new cove formed. (Ditchfield, P., 1910).
Modern Covehithe has a population of around 20. The parish of Covehithe has been combined for ecclesiastical purpose with that of neighbouring Benacre. The area is largely used for agriculture and has formed part of the Benacre Estate since 1742 and owned by the Gooch family since 1746.
The Shoot
We noticed the morning light was appearing fast so made our way from the cars through the village, past the church and down the track by the field. A left-hand turn into the field and a walk along the cliff top to a small woodland area led us to the beach.
There are lots of varying opportunities for photos, from woodland/trees to tree remains on the beach, to clifftop trees, and a pillbox much further up the beach. There is also Benacre Broad, a large expanse of water and home to lots of birdlife.
For my first shot, I quite liked this tree remain.
I had a look around but was struggling to find anything that appealed to me.
I took this shot of the clifftop.
I took this next shot by looking up at the cliff. I liked the tree and the pink colours in the sky.
As the light was getting a lot brighter now the sun was above the horizon, I headed back to where the main clump of tree remains were on the beach.
I took this shot below using a reverse graduated filter to help control the brightness of the sun, and it’s perhaps my best of the morning.
In this same area, I moved along a few feet for the shot below. I quite liked the two branches in the left foreground that cross over, but it is a cluttered shot.
And that was a wrap!
We made our way back to our cars for coffee and a debrief.
I enjoyed Covehithe having only been once before many years ago in the middle of a hot and very bright Summer day.
It has lots of potential but you need to hunt out subjects to isolate and find a decent composition. Definitely one to revisit, and perhaps at a higher tide.
I wrote about the crazy notion of indulging in a dangerous consecutive days of Ronald’s finest. Did I resist? Did I exercise self-control? Nah, bacon roll meal mate, down the hatch!
Until next time…. Onwards and upwards…