It amazes me to think it is now 35 years since I lived with Marie near Wembury through the summer of 1975 - memorable in the UK as one of the hottest ever . Climbing over the rocks to the east of the village we found a deserted stretch of coastline completely cut off except at low tide.
There we spent countless days swimming in the refreshing Atlantic which was quite calm on that stretch of coast. The sea seemed to move languidly, like mercury, glinting in the sun.
Our favorite spot was a little rocky inlet we named Mermaid Bay - this photo shows it at low tide but later the sea would come right up to the massive slate boulders which had been worn smooth...
... making them very comfortable to lie on...
... or lean against.
They also acted as giant reflectors making it very luxurious to warm up after a cold swim:
We often took picnics or made a small barbecue out of driftwood so we could stay for hours until the next low tide, clambering over the stones, exploring rock pools and snorkeling in the shallow water, meeting the same fish time and again.
All the summer created marvelous opportunities for photography though in the direct sunlight the contrast was quite difficult.
For some pictures I just tried to capture the dazzling effect of looking into the light where you could see almost nothing in the shadows.
For this one I had the sun behind me creating a kind of "direct flash" effect - I had climbed the rocks and looking back saw Marie reading the paper having put some oil on her skin making some nice textures contrasting with the rocks.
All the summer we only encountered one man and a quite elderly couple who just waved and wandered on by - they all seemed to have taken the opportunity to become unofficial naturists as well.
These photos, some taken on Ilford FP4 or HP5 and some converted to B&W from rather faded Kodachromes, are my memories of that wonderful idyllic time. More can be seen on my gallery JonathanCharlesPhoto.com.
