In Full Leaf Hoop

Time and Tide ….

I’m sure almost everyone is familiar with the saying “Time and tide wait for no man” and you may be familiar with the old English tale of King Canute proving to his nobles that nobody, not even the seemingly all-powerful king, could hold back the waters once the tide had turned. I lived by the sea for most of my life and so knowing what the tide was doing was a very important part of my daily routine, determining whether walks on the beach, picnics and rock-pooling would be a possible activity that day - and if so when the tide would be low enough for us to pack everything into large canvas bags and set off down to the beach.

If you’re visiting the seaside on holiday it’s equally important to know what the tide is doing as, even if all you want to do is visit the beach to build sand castles, if it’s high tide when you arrive there may be no sand showing - and you may have a car full of disappointed youngsters into the bargain. And here also a note of caution - if all is well and you’re happily settled in for an afternoon, or even a whole day, at the beach, do please bear in mind that it’s always safest to go swimming or out in a boat when the tide is coming in. So if the worst happens you’ll be washed back to land again, not further out to sea.

When you arrive at your holiday destination it’s always a great idea to pick up a local tide table most small shops and post offices seem to stock them in holiday areas. You will find that there are two low and two high tides (usually) in every 24 hour period. Each tide averages just over six hours,