Aldeburgh Suffolk

Aldeburgh has almost no recorded history before the time of Henry VIII, but archaeological evidence indicates the earlier presence of both the Romans and the Saxons. Before the age of Henry VIII, history here is largely unrecorded, carried instead in fragments: shards beneath the soil, traces of Roman feet, the lingering suggestion of Saxon lives shaped by sea and weather. It is a town that began not with a chronicle, but with a coastline.

By the time the Domesday Book was compiled in 1086, this corner of Suffolk was among the most densely populated in England. Foreign merchant ships already moved along the coast, and nearby Dunwich was rising fast, destined—briefly—to dominate the shoreline. Aldeburgh, by contrast, remained modest: a small fishing settlement.

Everything changed after 1500. The restless coastline shifted again, opening a sheltered haven where boats could anchor safely. Shipbuilding followed, then trade, and prosperity soon took hold. In 1529, Henry VIII granted Aldeburgh borough status, marking its arrival as a town of consequence. Legend long claimed that two of Sir Francis Drake’s famous ships—the Greyhound and the Golden Hind—were built here, though stronger evidence places their construction in Plymouth. Even so, the story reflects Aldeburgh’s brief moment as a maritime force.

As the River Alde slowly silted, larger vessels could no longer reach the port, and Aldeburgh’s commercial importance ebbed away with the tide. What remained was resilience. The town endured as a fishing village until the 19th century, when it reinvented itself once more—this time as a fashionable seaside resort. Fishing boats still launch from the shingle today, their catch sold from wooden huts along the beach, linking the present quietly to the past.

Aldeburgh is also a town shaped by ideas as much as industry. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and stands at the heart of the internationally renowned Aldeburgh Festival, centred at nearby Snape Maltings. In 1908, it made history again by becoming the first British town to elect a female mayor: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, whose legacy continues to define Aldeburgh’s progressive spirit.

Set within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the town is protected by shingle banks and rewarded with expansive views across open sea, marshland, heath, and estuary. Its buildings tell their own stories: the 16th-century Moot Hall standing firm at the centre, and a solitary Martello Tower recalling the anxieties of the Napoleonic era.

It is December, and the town reflects the season.

Traelanípa—also known as Slave Cliff and Gasadalur waterfall

Vágar and Mykines are home to some of the most iconic landscapes in the Faroe Islands. Traelanípa, in particular, is famous for its striking illusion of a lake sitting high above the ocean.

Geology of Trælanípa

Trælanípa is part of Vágar Island’s volcanic basalt plateau, formed millions of years ago during intense volcanic activity in the North Atlantic. The islands themselves are built from layered basalt flows, and these layers create the massive “stepped” cliffs that define the Faroese coastline.

Key Geological Features

1. Basalt Cliffs and Columnar Structures

The towering cliff face—sheer and nearly vertical—consists of stacked basalt flows that cooled into broad, horizontal layers. Weathering and erosion over thousands of years have carved distinct ledges, crevices, and caves at sea level, visible in your images. These caves form where the sea has exploited softer or fractured sections of basalt.

2. Marine Erosion

Powerful North Atlantic waves constantly batter the cliffs, sculpting arches, notches, and alcoves. The dark sea caves cut into the base of the cliff in your second image are classic examples of marine erosion at work.

3. Raised Plateau and Tectonic Calm

Above the cliffs lies a gently sloping basalt plateau. Its smooth contour contrasts sharply with the cliff edge where the plateau abruptly terminates, giving Trælanípa its iconic “giant blade rising out of the sea” appearance.

4. Waterfall and Coastal Interaction

In the first photo, the waterfall plunging directly into the ocean from a high cliff is a signature Faroese landscape element. Water from inland streams cuts through basalt, exploiting vertical fractures, and then free-falls into the Atlantic. This kind of straight-drop waterfall is typical in the Faroes due to the extreme difference between plateau height and sea level.

Scenery and Landscape

What makes Trælanípa so mesmerising is the combination of geology and the island’s raw atmospheric conditions.

1. Cliffs Meeting the Ocean

The cliffs rise sharply from the deep blue waters of the Atlantic, giving a sense of scale and isolation. The crisp contrast between sunlit basalt and the ocean’s shadowed surface was captured in these images. 

2. Dramatic Light and Weather

The Faroes are known for rapidly shifting weather, producing stunning light conditions—golden sun on the cliffs, dark clouds rolling in, and rainbows forming over mountain slopes, as seen in the first image. The angled light emphasises the textures of the basalt and the rugged patterns of erosion.

3. Sharp Headlands and Vertical Spires

In the third photograph, jagged basalt spires rise from the coastline. These formations are the eroded remnants of harder volcanic rock layers that resisted the sea longer than the surrounding material. They stand like natural fortresses guarding the shore.

4. Views Toward Other Islands

Looking west and north, distant islands appear as silhouettes across the water—another distinctive feature of the Faroes. The interplay of cliffs, sea, and far-off ridges gives Trælanípa a sense of vastness despite the island’s small size.

A Landscape Shaped by Time and Ocean

Trælanípa is both austere and beautiful—a place where geology is exposed with unusual clarity. The vertical basalt walls, the relentless Atlantic, sculpted coastal caves, and the atmospheric light all combine to create a landscape that feels ancient, powerful, and profoundly wild. It was an icy ascent today.

We drove to Gasadalur to catch the last light of the day. A brief rain shower passed through, followed by a clear rainbow stretching across the valley. The changing light transformed the landscape noticeably—today the slopes and cliffs displayed distinct autumn tones, with muted browns, yellows, and patches of remaining green standing out across the terrain.

Bøur, Faroes

Bøur is a small, picturesque village on the western side of Vágar Island in the Faroe Islands. Set among steep mountains and traditional grass-roofed houses, it feels both remote and timeless. From the shoreline of Bøur you get one of the most iconic views in the archipelago: the dramatic, uninhabited islet Tindhólmur with its jagged peaks, and the famous sea stacks Drangarnir, rising sharply from the Atlantic.

We took a boat to the peninsula of the archipelago to photograph the Drangarnir stacks.  The tough climb was worth the amazing view.

Bad Weather in Shropshire

 

Images from my Collection

A few images from my collection.

North Berwick - a Creative Reteat with a View of Bass Rock

 

North Berwick is a delightful seaside gem and former Royal Burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. Nestled on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, just 20 miles east-northeast of Edinburgh, it’s a place where the sea breeze and rolling light seem made for adventure. Its sweeping beaches and ever-changing coastal scenery are perfect for experimenting with ICM (Intentional Camera Movement) photography — every wave, cloud, and gust of wind offers something new to explore. The colours were surreal.

A week’s retreat at the Beach House on Tantallon Terrace was pure creative bliss. Under the warm guidance of Shona Perkins (My Beautiful Scotland) and Scottish artist Fee Dickinson Reid, we four guests turned our seaside captures from Seacliff, Gullane Sands, and Belhaven Beaches into vibrant paintings, blurring the boundaries between photography and art.

Next time, I’m eager to wander further — perhaps to Tyninghame Beach, Ravensheugh Sands, and Yellowcraig, where the mysterious outline of Fidra Island beckons on the horizon. Who knows what new colours and compositions await there?