NORTH SEA SUMMER

Full moon at sunset - Hookseil Fedderwarderseil was the first of a series of 'seils' or sluices that I came to around this part of the coast of Frisland. Back in 1903, when 'The Riddle of the Sands' was published, the 'seils' were tiny hamlets inhabited by very few people - farmers, fishermen and the people who maintained the sluices. Today they have turned into seaside resorts where holidaymakers can enjoy the bracing atmosphere of the Wattenmeer. There is, as I have mentioned before, not a lot of sand to be seen, and often it appears to be imported to create a small beach oasis in the mud. To the west of Feddeerwarderseil is the large bay where the River Jade enters the sea. On the far side is the port of Wilhelmshaven, where the German battle fleet was based in WW1. The Jade bay has the deepest water on the North Sea coast of Germany. There was rumoured to be a ferry across the bay between Eckwarderhörne and Wilhelmshaven but I had heard ( I can't r...

After sampling the local beer the night before I felt I should visit the home of the brewery, Jever. It was a hot morning and the route wound though flat, green farmland crisscrossed by wide drainage ditches. East Frisian landscape It was very like any flat, fenny landscape on the east coast of Britain, except for the German farmhouses. I guess their similarity to each other has something to do with them all being built on reclaimed land - it was the same in Denmark. I only needed to photograph one, because they all looked like this one, more or less. Jever had plenty of shops and cafes -a pleasant small rural town. By the time I left it was very hot, and when I reached the coast again at Harleseil I realised it was too hot to cycle further. I didn't even have the energy to visit the dyke museum, but instead cycled a few kilometres along the coast to Neuharlingenseil where I put my tent up on another vast campsite and sat under my umbrella trying to stay cool. I ga...