Tuesday 11th April 2023 - Another Seal Pup, Local Craft Market and Mobile Library

There has been another grey seal pup here in Overstrand, this time on the beach. Assuming it is the same one, we first saw it west of the ramp down to the beach and again today, this time on the east side. Both times were in the morning and as it looked fine, we didn’t phone it into British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR). We assumed it was digesting its last meal and would go out to sea on the incoming tide. I have just read yesterday’s BDMLR’s Facebook post where they reported a seal, here in Overstrand, had been harassed by people and dogs. I am presuming this is the seal we saw. I wish I knew how it could be got over to visitors, the basic essentials about seals, but I don’t. What seems to be the obvious way is to put up posters but visitors come for time on the beach and focus on this and, for the most part, don’t read signage. Maybe it needs a nationwide campaign, through the media, to make people aware of the do’s and don’ts, but then would these be listened to and read?

The Easter weekend was pretty quiet and up until yesterday, we had no complaints about the weather. However, Easter Monday was wet and quite miserable, although there was an improvement towards the end of the day. In the morning, I went to the Local Craft Market in the Parish Hall where there was a good selection of goods on sale. There was a reasonable number of people looking at the stalls and others enjoying refreshments but I couldn’t help thinking, given The Londs is a popular thoroughfare, if the weather had been better, more would have popped in to have a look around. I took a few photos, which I have included here in my blog.

We have just returned from a visit to the mobile library. Like so many local Government run facilities, there are threats of cut backs. Talking today, to the librarian, he said some stops were going to be removed from the current routes but our stop in Overstrand is secure. We have tried, over the years, to encourage others to use the mobile library but whereas there were four of us regulars, now it is just Peter and me who peruse the shelves each month. Such a shame, as it does provide an opportunity to dip into and read books which you may not wish to purchase. I have some cooking books, which I first took out of the library. Finding they had many recipes I wanted to try, I subsequently purchased copies. Details of dates, times and places the mobile library visits Overstrand can be found on the Village Calendar page.