A February walk along Goring Beach

Even though we live close to the sea, I must admit that over the last few years I've not spent nearly as much time at the beach as I should have. But since the children moved schools last September I'm spending a lot more time driving along the coast to pick them up, and along with trying to increase my exercise levels I've been making the effort to leave home early a couple of times a week and take myself for a walk along the beach.

I've found a car park where I can park for free on Marine Crescent in Goring, which is pretty much empty at this time of year. There is also plenty of free parking along the seafront itself. The footpath is separated from the road by a stretch of grass, so it's nice and peaceful, and at this time of year there aren't too many people out and about. 

I like looking at the beach huts, although they are all shut up at the moment, I don't know anyone that owns one. They seem to sell for around £15000-£18000, and there are also council owned ones that you can rent although there's quite a waiting list. I must admit though that even in summer I never seem to see them being used very much!

On my most recent walk the tide was out, and there was actually quite a lot of sand on the usually pebbly beach. You can walk quite far out before you get to the sea. 

I'm always keeping an eye out for beach treasures, in particular nice shells or sea glass. I'm also secretly hunting for washed up Lego or rubber ducks. I'm terrible at finding things though, the best I usually manage is mermaid's purses, cuttlebones and crab legs, which I leave where I found them!

After a short walk west you come to Goring Gap, the stretch of coast between Goring and Ferring. It's a protected area, and you can't see any buildings to the north (although there are a few houses and a main road) right up to the South Downs.

This fishing boat has been here for years, I assume that it goes out to sea because it seems to be in good condition!

On my way back I spotted this buoy which must have been washed up on the beach at some point - the sign on it says 'Beach Office Aware'. I've had a quick look online and it seems to be a navigation buoy, I hope that its absence hasn't caused any problems!

It's a lovely walk along the coast and I'm looking forward to seeing how it changes throughout the year.