#East Cliff

[richs-pics]

A beautiful northern gannet catching the afternoon sun

[jahtheexplorer]

Portland Lighthouse

I have really good memories in Maine.

[sitting-on-me-bum]

East Sussex, UK

‘The cliffs of the Seven Sisters looking east from Cuckmere to the Belle Tout lighthouse on 5 November.’

Photograph: Mike Williamson

[upstairsdownstairsandinbetween]

From Neal Grundy’s "Safe from Harm" Series

[yz]

Coast of Southern Maine. Late fall.

[forestnymphingaround]

Beachy head, Eastbourne (East Sussex)

[dinosaurchurch]

Sunset at Topsail Beach.

August 8th 2024.

[vox-anglosphere]

Soaring over 530 feet, the Seven Sisters are a bracing coastal hike

[travelling-my-little-pony]

Lightning is admiring the views from Beachy Head.

In East Sussex, in England.

[richs-pics]

Daisy, daisy, daisy

[herd-reject-arts]

Obed River trail at Lilly Bridge, Lancing, TN (March 25, 2024)

There's something almost spiritual about walking along the edge of a cliff, seeing the water hundreds of feet below, knowing the valley the river sits in was carved out by it for an amount of time the human brain can't even fathom. I just wish there had been a path along the river so I could admire just how high the cliffs stood. This part of the park is also a dedicated dark zone, and I really want to go back at night some time to see the stars.

[jahtheexplorer]

[thorsenmark]

Guest Viewings of Chaco Culture National Historical Park by Mark Stevens Via Flickr: A setting looking to the east while taking in view across the Chaco Culture National Historical Park landscape present to my front. In composing this image, I took advantage of some high ground. I was located on an angled my Nikon SLR camera, so that I could create more of a sweeping view, leading off into the horizon. I wanted to keep a balance between the blue skies and clouds above with the earth-tones in the lower portion of the image. I felt there was a color contrast that seemed to complement the entirety of the image.

[partynthem]

her majesty The Pacific Ocean on the last day of summer 🩶

[scotianostra]

.

Tantallon Castle.

Was a perfect day today for taking photos, and doesn't Tantallon look great, it's just a pity that visitors can't get in at the moment until essential maintenance work is carried out.

I like to describe Tantallon as a formidable castle, but prefer the French pronunciation, I think it just sounds better! The importance and the history stretches from the mid 14th century, right through to the mid 20th century!

The castle was built in the mid-14th century by William Douglas, who became 1st Earl of Douglas in 1358 (after murdering his godfather, Sir William Douglas of Liddesdale).

The house of Douglas later split into two branches in the 1380s: the ‘Black’ and the ‘Red’. Tantallon passed to the junior line – the earls of Angus also known as the ‘Red Douglases’, inherited by George Douglas, illegitimate son of the Earl of Douglas. This branch of the family owned the castle for the next 300 years, updating it as warfare developed, and often clashing with the Crown.

Tantallon Castle survived numerous sieges, including by James IV in 1491, James V in 1528 and Oliver Cromwell in 1651, though after Cromwell’s siege the castle was utterly devastated and left in ruins: it was never repaired or inhabited afterwards. The Castle was later sold by the Marquis of Douglas in 1699 to Hew Dalrymple, Lord North Berwick.

In 1944, the Castle played a role in preparations for the Normandy invasion. A few weeks before D-Day, captured German radars (used by the Germans defending the French coast), were moved to the Castle and used in the training of RAF bomber crews (including 617 Squadron, the famous “Dambusters”). These bomber crews were part of a large effort to deceive the Germans about the actual location of the Allied invasion.

Today, the castle is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. The dramatic cliff-top ruins of Tantallon Castle are quite a sight, particularly its remaining curtain wall – the best example of castle architecture from the 1300s anywhere in Scotland.

Normally visitors can climb up to the castle’s battlements and enjoy views over the North Sea to the Bass Rock and its large seabird colonies, as well as discover more about archaeological digs at the castle and view replica guns used to defend the castle against James IV and James V.

Tantallon Castle is also a popular filming location, and appears in the film Under the Skin, starring Scarlett Johansson.

If visiting try and pick a day like today, the last time I visited you couldn't see very far because of a thick haar surrounding the cliff. If driving it is less than an hour from Edinburgh. By public transport there are regular trains to North Berwick, Eve coaches run the number 120 to the castle, it's about a ten minute walk from there. The buses from Edinburgh to North Berwick are the 124 and X5, then the aforementioned 120.

About a 30 minute walk from the castle is Seacliffe Beach, pics of that to come.