NORTHUMBERLAND COAST THE ART OF EROSION By Robin Hudson The Northumberland coast is one of my favourite locations for landscape photography. I have visited on numerous occasions for workshops, solo photography trips and family holidays. When lockdown restrictions were lifted in the middle of April this year, I hastily arranged a three-day visit with the aim of building up my portfolio of abstract rock images. Whilst Holy Island, Bamburgh Castle and Dunstanburgh Castle are iconic landscape locations and popular for obvious reasons, there are plenty of other opportunities to explore the coastline for the more intimate landscapes, which I love.
Spittal Perhaps the best-known of these amongst the landscape photography community are the sandstone outcrops on the beach at Spittal just South of Berwick-on-Tweed. If you drive into Spittal, there is small free car park at the farthest point of the road (which is a dead-end). The rocks are situated at the South end of the beach but are only accessible when the tide is out. The outcrops look insignificant from a distance but on close inspection (in the right conditions), they offer a wealth of opportunities to explore the texture, form and colours of the sedimentary sandstone bedrock. I stress in “the right conditions” because being at the mercy of the tides and weather, they can be virtually covered by sand. If they are exposed, they can’t fail to impress. The following images are from a trip I made in 2017.
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July 2021 Volume 6 Number 5
