Ships that pass

We were taken out for (superior) fish and chips at Porthgain, an old quarrying/fishing village down the coast. I'd hoped to get some shots of the place which is highly photogenic with its curved stone harbour and the ruined granite bins looming above but was blowing a gale when we arrived and still raining when we left.

So all I managed was this blurry shot of fishing boats tied up within the harbour's sheltering arm. How it looks in the daylight can be seen here. Once this was a place of noise and toil, with controlled explosions releasing tons of falling rock, stones being graded, tipped and loaded on to ocean-going vessels and the general bustle of rural and nautical activity going on alongside. Now Porthgain is a venue for holidaymakers and walkers with a handful of local fishers bringing in a reduced catch that if you're lucky you can sample in the busy pub or the fish restaurant.

I liked the painterly quality of this image because it reminds me of the Cornish artist Alfred Wallis, a simple fisherman who took to painting scenes familiar from his life and surroundings - see a collection of his boats here. I think he would have been utterly at home at Porthgain.