Back from the sunny climes of Kent – well it is that time of year, with the seasons changing again and the weather has definitely become more autumnal. Still, on a recent holiday exploring the cinque ports and other parts of Kent, I managed to get up early one morning and make my way through the old town of Hastings and down to the Stade- which is a shingle bank next to the beach. The Stade is an area where small fishing boats are dragged up onto the shingle, a traditional practice that dates back at least to when the old harbour silted up (hundreds of years ago) and part of the cliffs here collapsed. It turns out that ‘Stade’ is a Saxon term meaning ‘landing place’.

So, at about half-past six one morning I made my way through the town to the beach, carrying my trusty sketching stool and drawing stuff. It seems that fishermen tend to get up really early – depending on the tide (as in the middle of the night) but on this occasion I was lucky enough to come across a boat fresh in, being unloaded before being dragged up the beach. With the sun just above the horizon and another sunny day just beginning, this was pretty good, so I set up and started drawing.

Here is the scene below.

With the boat ashore, I just carried on sketching in a panoramic sweep and did a couple of other drawings…

…eventually turning to draw a couple more boats, the cliffs behind Hastings and the old cliff railway.

The Stade is also home to a quite extensive collection of fishermen’s huts, old tractors, bulldozers, netting, buoys and other collected debris. Here are a few photos of some of this, some of which also made it into my sketching.

Later I tided up one of my sketches…

…and later still added some watercolour.