Sea People

It had to happen one day. Thousands of beach-hours spent pounding the sand into glass powder in search of the past, made almost inevitable the possibility that I might eventually come face to face with it.

In terms of natural resources, this rocky sand belt has everything that you’d need to survive, and I have often wondered about its tenacious offspring - the people who once lived down there, in the caves and behind the waterfalls.

Where there’s a crossing there will always be good business – on both sides of the water – and even though the tides have repeatedly thrashed the old trading grounds, evidence of money exchanging hands still survives in rock pools and sand-soaked clumps of seaweed.

It wasn’t a brilliant return as far as treasure hunting goes -  a couple of shoe buckles and a corroded penny - but the weather was fine and the atmosphere was almost rarefied, so it didn’t seem to matter.  Sometimes it feels as if someone is standing between the big rocks, and on a good day you can fair feel the eyes of history upon you.

So there I was, crouched down on the sand, scratching around in the pebbles – concentration level maximum -  and then ... suddenly a hand presses down on my shoulder, and a husky male voice whispers closely in my ear,” Who are you?”

What happens next is predictable: a sharp intake of breath; military-style body roll; frantic grapple for spade, mobile and finds-bag. I desperately scrambled to my feet and spun around, attempting to take up a sort defensive stance.  Futile. There was no-one there.

Can’t remember the order of my feelings as I stood there alone on the shoreline: confused; uneasy; amazed; incredulous - I guess I felt them all at once. The seagulls were screeching overhead and the wind was blowing off the sea in just same way that it had been before I heard the spirit-voice. Everything was unchanged, except that I was trembling slightly and feeling just a little silly for having been ‘caught out’.  I expect that this sort of experience is par for the course when you’re seeking out the personal effects of people long lost to this world.

@beeadamsart   : beeadamsart.co.uk : @carolynwarburton