The boys are really lucky that their Nanny (my mum) lives down in North Davon. We don't get down to visit as often as we'd like and nearly always end up with bad weather! So while we were down visiting last week the forecast wasn't amazing (but it turned out nice grrrr!) so rather than a day on the beach we decided to take the nets down to the rock pools at Westward Ho! I used to love going with my mum & nan as a child, we even used to cook the prawns we caught! I could never do that now! The nets we use live at my mums house with a collection of buckets etc that were mine as a kid.
I was worried about the boys falling on the rocks, so had them wear their trainers & trousers to cover their knees, even though both got soaked! Neither fell on the rocks, however Joseph (4.5) being the clumsy tall child that he is managed to fall over on the concrete slip way while I was getting their lunch out of the bag! He badly grazed all down the left side of his face, but it has healed well thank goodness.
The prawns & sea life that live in the rock pools are very quick & I don't think that the boys caught anything themselves but were more than happy 'fishing' and looking at what Mum & I had caught.
We managed about 10 prawns (varying sizes), lots of winkles (snails), a baby crab & a small fish (possibly a stickleback?). They lived in a seaweed & shell filled bucket whilst we had lunch then we returned them to a similar pool to which we had caught them.
We managed about 10 prawns (varying sizes), lots of winkles (snails), a baby crab & a small fish (possibly a stickleback?). They lived in a seaweed & shell filled bucket whilst we had lunch then we returned them to a similar pool to which we had caught them.
If you go rock pooling please make sure you check the tides & keep an eye on it, getting cut off can be very dangerous. Also please check all your shells no longer have their owners as we accidentally managed to bring home 2 live winkles amongst our shells which Mum took home the next day on the bus after we had gone home. Thanks Mum :-)
x Jo x
Devon is gorgeous and rockpooling has to be one of THE best activities ever!
ReplyDeleteThis was my favourite thing to do at the beach as a child too! Lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteRock Pooling is a lovely activity on the beach which has kept my children entertained in the past! How nice that three generations are enjoying it all together, thanks for linking up and sharing with Country Kids.
ReplyDeleteWe live miles from the sea, but my boys would love this! Thanks for sharing at the Outdoor Play Party. Off to pin
ReplyDeleteso lovely to see Westward Ho on someone elses blog! i actually owned a house in the village for a couple of years with my ex so we could be at the beach in about 5 minutes.
ReplyDeletewe love rock pooling and normally go to Appledore which also has some great pools of eater for finding all sorts of sea creatures. that slip way can be slippery - your poor boy because that must have hurt x
I practically grew up in Westward Ho! it was always my mums fave beach & my dad & gran used to work for one of the holiday parks there. Also during the summer we rarely went the other side of barnstaple as the traffic was hidious before the new bridge. Luckly Josephs face healed without any scars, it wasn't slippery that day just a bit steap for running down! Looking forwad to staying at mums again next summer, we might even take them fossil hunting down on the south coast, i love that when i was younger!
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