A View Worth Waiting For - a photo on Flickriver

I watched from my lofty viewing platform as the lone figure gradually made his way towards me up the steep and winding slope. He bore the unmistakable signs of a photographer. The bulky pack, the heavy looking tripod, the regular stops to stand and admire a view he's seen a few times before. Should I rush down and offer to carry something? No, leave him to enjoy those moments on this perfect summer evening. He'd be joining me all in good time.

I too was feeling the joy of this August golden hour magic. And for me it was the first time I'd ever visited Boscastle. Why had I never been here before? Fifty years living in this county and yet this had remained among the places that my compass had never found until now. The lower part of the village nestles out of sight at the bottom of a sheer valley, a few miles from the romantically named Atlantic Highway - or the A39 as we like to call it. It's a tourist trap of course, but it really doesn't take much to escape the masses if you don't mind an uphill leg stretch. And if you do make a bit of effort, well, you'll be glad to have done when you see the view from here.

It's becoming a thing these days. I spend the afternoon being worn out by my two and a half year old grandson in nearby Wadebridge, and if that in itself were not reward enough, I head for the coast with the camera for sunset. It's a neat way to discover these northern latitudes when you live an hour or more away in West Cornwall. And because I'm close to mission control, I send a message to Brian to see if he wants to come out to play. If he can't think of a good excuse not to, I might have the pleasure of some entertaining company for a sunset hour or two. Who better to have with you than the local expert? Widely recognised by his loyal followers as the Tsar of Trebormint Strand, he's taken many wonderful images along this part of the north coast. From Bedruthan to Bude, if he hasn't photographed it, it probably isn't worth wasting your time with. Just occasionally you might see an image in his feed from Devon, or even Dorset, but it's mostly about his beloved Cornish homeland.

Talk of the devil, and here he was, having negotiated the last incline to set up his tripod alongside mine on this perfectly situated granite shelf just below the top of the headland. Always a modest smile and a gentle anecdote. If you happen to meet him, drop the phrase “tug of war” into the conversation. You'll be amazed at what he has to tell you. We talked about you - again - and discussed your latest posts. We exchanged grandchildren related anecdotes and hatched up plans for future meetings along the north coast. And then he reminded me of that infamous event from more than twenty years ago. “There are still believed to be quite a number of cars out there,” he pointed towards the sea. Then I remembered the terrible flash flood in the summer of 2004 that swept through the narrow valley and left a trail of destruction behind it. By some miracle, nobody was lost, although a large number of cars were. And a few buildings too. Hard to imagine such devastation on a balmy evening like this. I remember that fateful day quite well, because I was gallivanting around Cornwall at the wheel of a 1968 E Type Jaguar over a long weekend, sloshing along a very wet Glynn Valley with a throaty roar when the news came through. Unlike Brian, who was a regular stunt double for Roger Moore in his James Bond days, and keeps a Jensen Interceptor in which he spends weekends touring the Cornish Corniche under his private swimming pool, I've never driven another car anything like so glamorous and exciting, neither before nor since. It's strange how an experience like that paints an added layer to one's memory of the terrible events in not so distant Boscastle that day. Hard to imagine what horrors it holds for the people who live in the steep sided valley here.

But what a place! And a gorgeous evening too. It should be even better in a month or so if we get the right conditions. That's another afternoon with Haughton Junior to look forward to then. And another evening with Pedlar Senior too I hope. Today's image was a bit of a faff in the editing suite. Wide angle lenses and big vistas tend to offer up results that look as if they've been reflected in a concave mirror at the fairground, all drunken horizons, leaning landmarks and hanging corners. When I looked at the raw files I could sense the spirit of Salvador Dali beside me, nodding enthusiastically and asking where I was going to insert the melting stopwatches. It's really not pretty to deal with, and a good deal of colourful language was quietly muttered in bringing the final image to viewers. But persistence eventually helped to deliver something that resembles the memory of an evening well spent. Even if those boats still look suspiciously like they're dangling from a collection of fishing rods to me. Enough said…….

Brian is a great guy and lots of fun to spend time with. If you haven't seen his gallery and his hilarious anecdotes, well, here he is www.flickr.com/photos/137633664@N05/

Taken in: UK / England / Forrabury and Minster / Forrabury (show map)

Taken on: August 14, 2025

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Boscastle

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ukcoast

British Coast

cornish coast

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sea stack

sea stacks

golden hour

Sunset

summer

summer evening

wide angle

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Boats

islet

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Sets appears in: • Boscastle • Explored

Groups appears in: • The Amazing Photos • * * * The House of Image Gallery (Post 1 and must Award 3) more » • in explore • ~The View from Above (No AI, CGI or Small World) • **Special Landscapes** • Best pictures on Flickr • WONDERS OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN GENERAL.MARAVILLAS DE LA FOTOGRAFIA EN « less

Camera: Nikon Z 7_2, f/13.0, 1/30 sec, 17.5mm (=17mm), ISO 64 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon Z 7_2
Lens:	NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S
Aperture:	f/13.0
Exposure Time:	0.033 sec (1/30)
Focal Length:	17.5mm (35mm equivalent: 17mm)
ISO:	64
Exposure Bias:	-2/3 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic 14.5 (Windows)
Show full info

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