Rescue

A few days ago I happened to write about the rescue services which serve us here in the Hebrides.  On Saturday I was suddenly shaken by a helicopter flying low directly over the house.  Any helicopter makes considerable air pressure waves and they are even more obvious if you are directly underneath.  So I grabbed the camera and went outside.  The chopper was flying across the valley and I  saw that it was flying towards a group of people which included ambulance personnel. 

The unfortunate casualty had been in an accident involving one of her horses (I assume that she'd been riding it).   The incident took 10 minutes from beginning to end (first to last photo).

Thankful Thursday: The Perils of the Sea

Jaz posted her Thankful Thursday post today.  It's always good to see a post from Jaz who, as most of you will know by now, was the inspiration behind Thankful Thursday.  Today someone (commenting on her post I think) made the point that one should be thankful all the time because there is so much about which to be thankful.  Of course the person is correct.  After all Virginia has titled her blog So Very Very Thankful.  Most of us who have had some seriously life threatening experience or have battled cancer are very thankful people.  We are thankful for the fact that we wake up in the morning.

I must digress for a paragraph.  The lady at the supermarket checkout remarked a few days ago on what a lovely day it was.  I said that every day when I woke up I decided that it was a Good Day because I'd woken up and that was better than the alternative.  Big mistake.  Huge mistake.  [Again].  "No" she said [I was going to say 'opined' but Frances would tell me off] "It would be better if we didn't and then we would be blessed with eternal salvation.  I used to be an atheist.  But now I know better.".  Now I don't know about you but so far as I'm aware the majority of Christians seem to want to stay alive.  I assume that it's being so cheerful as what keeps her going.

Anyway, as I was saying, most of us can  find something to be thankful about without trying too hard. Today, however I've decided on a big thankful.  A thank that any of us who live on an Island or near the sea should give every day.  A thank for the men and women of the Coastguard and Lifeboat services who risk their lives constantly for those in peril on the sea.  Thinking about it I don't hear the word peril much nowadays but there's a lot of it around.

From my windows I can often see the Coastguard search and rescue helicopter and crew practicing.  

Some years ago I was on a ferry in mighty seas with the S & R Helicopter overhead doing that in earnest.  So today I am exceptionally thankful for the Lifeboatmen and women and the Coastguard crews and the many other people who brave the storms to save the lives of others.

At New Brighton

When I was a wee totey thing there was, far far away from where I lived in Liverpool a seaside resort called New Brighton. It was near enough to go for a day out but even that involved a bus or tram to Pier Head in Liverpool and a ferry across the Mersey (you'll know that, of course from the song by Gerry and The Pacemakers) to New Brighton. One day I'll find my old photos of the ferry and post them.

Today CJ and Jo live on the same side of the Mersey as New Brighton and today we decided to go and explore. We found a few things were still there but the rest of the town at its centre had been virtually rebuilt in recent years: new seaside blocks of desirable apartments.

Our carriage for our recent outings has been the trusty Nighthawk Tourer (also known by one of my neighbours as The Hearse). Today she was honoured with a wash whilst we were in a garden centre.

The Burbo Bank Offshore Wind Farm is a wind farm located on the Burbo Flats in Liverpool Bay at the entrance to the River Mersey.

The Perch Rock battery was completed in 1829. It mounted 18 guns, mostly 32 pounders, with 3 6" guns installed in 1899. Originally cut off at high tide, coastal reclamation has since made it fully accessible. It was built to protect the Port of Liverpool and as a fortified lighthouse to replace the old Perch Rock Light. It was originally built on an area known as Black Rock and was cut off at high tide, but now coastal reclamation has made it fully accessible. It is currently open as a museum.

New Brighton Lighthouse was originally known as Perch Rock Lighthouse and construction began in 1827. Since 1 October 1973 it has not been in use as a lighthouse, having been superseded by modern navigational technology. In the background on the other side of the River Mersey is the Crosby Coastguard Station.

Training Exercise

It was happening a few miles out in The Minch so was at the limit of my camera’s capabilities but it still looked pretty spectacular with the Coastguard helicopter coming up to the back of the fast moving lifeboat to lift a ‘casualty’ from its afterdeck.  I was sure that I’d done a post on the Lifeboat when she was hauling her tender on board in the Bay last year but it’s not coming up in the index.  Odd.  It would have given you an idea of how big she is.

 

The Coastguard Helicopter

Just outside the view from my house is Bayble Island.  It can, however, be seen from Pat and Dave’s house on the other side of the Valley.  When I was there a few days ago the Coastguard helicopter was practising its rescue functions using the Island as it often does.  It’s particularly good for the purpose because the wind (and it was windy that day) means that there is a lot of air turbulence testing the pilot’s skill to the limits.

Coastguard Helicopter

The Coastguard Helicopter wanders around the area by the house quite a lot on training runs. This was a rather odd flypast though because the chopper appeared to be so low over the water as to be below the level of the house.