If you know me well, then you’ll know that when an opportunity arises to travel to one of my favourite UK destinations, even if for day or two, it won’t be passed up.

So last week I took this opportunity to drive down to North Devon late on Wednesday evening to meet my brother Rob who was making the most of the September weather on a week long vacation in Croyde.

As I have widely documented over the years, as an individual, as a family, and as part of a group of friends, I have been making the journey to this small but inviting coastal destination regularly for over 40 years. This year alone having drummed up over seven different trips during 2022 so far, and that’s not hopefully ruling out another out-of-season visit this Autumn / Winter.

So what keeps drawing us to this particular area of the North Devon coastline, well… I think there are probably a couple of reasons, but basically it is something that has been embedded in me since an early age. There is obviously the childhood and teen memories and the nostalgia that comes with those holidays and the lasting memories that they have produced. But undeniably it is also the irresistable pull of the dramatic coastal landscape that is juxtaposed with Croyde village with its old cottages, thatch roofed properties, along with the super friendly people who live there, and from a photography point of view the opportunities that these offer.

Blessed with some stunning weather on Thursday 29th September, we all took a walk out to Downend and enjoyed a pre walk cuppa at The Beach Cafe, this is where there is a fusion of Sri Lankan food alongside the Croyde Bay Surf Crew. From here you are treated with some stunning beach views, perfect for assessing the surf conditions as well as enjoying the sunset as can be seen in my next blog post.

We then took a walk out to Downend itself, back along the beach with its fantastic ripples and textures on show with the tide far out. With some decent surf comes surfers, and there were plenty in attendance, that is customary here even on a week day.

Out of season visits provide so many benefits, the opportunity to spend time speaking to locals, more space to enjoy everywhere, less snarlups and the ability to secure a table in The Thatch!

After having some lush food at Baggy’s Surf Lodge and enjoying the view, we walked upto Baggy Point. This walk is essential if you are visiting and provides a wonderful vista looking out towards Lundy Island. One noticeable difference on this trip however was the landscape. Usually the coastline is rich in green vegetation, flowers, trees, shrubs, ferns, gorse, birds, sheep, insects, bees, butterfiles and more… but due to one of the many coastal grass fires that ripped through the UK countryside last month, it has now been transformed to what you see in these photos.

I felt it important to document this transition, as heartbreaking as it is to witness, especially when you know this landscape so well, it did give me some optimism to see that already in a matter of weeks, there was evidence of life returning, with some green blades of grass as well as ferns slowly sprouting from the blackened earth. The air as we walked still smelt of smoke as the light breeze blew, which added to the realisation of what had happened a matter of weeks prior.

As I walked I felt this would make for an interesting post not only to highlight and document the destructive aftermath of a grass fire and the change in scenery that it produces. But also from an artistic photographic viewpoint.

*Please note that the main photograph featuring the seabird is most likely a combination of two different factors, the burnt landscape mixed most likely with a victim of the recent bird flu epicdemic that has hit the South West quite hard in recent months.

These photographs were captured on my Canon R6 coupled with the 50mm f1.8 STM Prime lens. It is a lightweight lens perfect for taking on a walk which has a decent close up ability, and this allowed me to isolate some of the burnt details and the lens produced some nice bokeh whilst isolating these subjects. The sun was shining again so high contrast was in play, but this has allowed me to capture some very dramatic black and white edits which I feel help emphasise some of the scenery and help document the severity of the subject matter.

The land shown here is managed by the National Trust and if you haven’t already, it’s definitely worth checking them out via their website link below. By subscribing to the National Trust it allows them to secure and manage a wide range of landscapes and historic properties across the UK, and will certainly help them to regenate this scarred landscape at Baggy Point over the next couple of years, and bring it back to its former natural state.

National Trust - Baggy Point