Its February now. Autumn feels like a long time ago. The water is SO cold now. I spent 5 weeks in Indonesia, and then went straight to Texas for Christmas for two weeks. In effect, I managed to miss all the snow chaos here in the UK and plonked myself on a nice warm beach instead. January has been pretty mild, and there has been so little swell of any significance that Ive all but given-up surfing. Almost.

Instead we have been making a couple of trips to Glenshee to slide around on the ice, and doing long cycle rides and hikes. The weather has been truly balmy by standards. Only a few days under zero, and Ive seen a few days in double figures..  in January… better get ready for Easter… ;)

And a quick video from the top of Hedgehope;

Untitled from swinhoe on Vimeo.

Im going to try and make more effort here and post more fragments and quick snapshots from the villages and area, and in that vein find below some snaps from the 4 hours hike at the weekend – Langleeford car park – up Hedgehope – around to Cheviot – top of Cheviot and back to the car park. 10 miles and a 850m vertical climb. Lots of snow and ice. Such a good day. :)

Note; All the photos and the video were taken with my iPhone – and im so impressed with its quality ! More frequent posting via the iPhone to follow.. :)

The weeks of snow, ice and cold weather were only a mild distraction from short days and dark nights.

But its now mid-march, and the weather is breaking. The snow drops are pushing through the grass, the caravan sites are re-opening and the village has some people in it once again.

I’ll have some more Spring-like shots later this week to put up, but just quickly, a look back at the winter gone.

Crew

VT

The village has slipped into dormancy, happily, after a busy summer. The weather is cold, the days are dark and short. There is snow on the ground as I write this post.

The surf has been pretty average for autumn, a few clean swells but mostly junky cross-shore, small period mediocrity. Ive still been getting in, but more out of desperation than desire.

December was a massive month for surf news, with Hawaii firing with epic huge swells. The ASP tour was won by Mick Fanning after Parko stumbled in the Pipe event which was eventually won by Taj, for the first time, with Kelly coming second. Parko, although pipped at the post for the world title, took the Triple Crown Title for a second year, after Sunset and Haleiwa both produced quality entertainment.

And finally, the Eddie ran. 5 years in the waiting, with 30ft+ swell, it went off, massively, with Greg Long winning in the last heat to steal 1st place form Slater. Epic.
I watched all 8 hours straight on the web, one of the best live streams ive ever seen.

I was doing some tidying-up the other day and found these shots from the end of summer, and so thought I should share them.

Hope you like the flash-back to a warmer, sunnier Beadnell.

So, back to reality. at least the winter solstice has now passed, and its officially getting warmer and lighter everyday.

The New Year will bring new swell.

See you out there. :)

b

Not much in the way of notable swell, but still getting in every few days.

Below, find a photo set taken recently whilst watching the water.

We hope more decent swell rolls in before Christmas, but the snow is falling in the alps, and before long the winter will bring adventures sliding sideways of another kind.

We’ll look forward to it all.

Grey Abyss

Autumn is usually a decent period for swells, and although its not been flat, we’ve not had it epic yet either.
A few decent glassy afternoon’s at Bamburgh have been rewarding, but we want more.

With the dark and cold becoming ever-more ominous, the villages have shut-down for winter the last few tourists will be here for the schools half-term, and then at the end of October the caravan sites will close for winter, and that’s it for another year.

The shortboards and thrusters are being cleaned-off for the big winter swells, the fat fish, eggs and mals are put away.

I had better find those gloves…

In the meantime with the surf and water locally providing little inspiration, there are a few distractions to look forward to. The end of October means Halloween, and the village of Beadnell takes this very seriously, with competition, prizes and a grand night to be had. Some locals have been making their costumes for a month already… no names mentioned.

Halloween Lantern

Check out the Craster Arms on the 31st for all the fun.

To help pass the time, there has also been the European leg of the ASP Tour, France and Spain just finished, the boys are in Portugal awaiting the event to start.

With only two events left, there are ten potentials aiming for the title. Parko has slipped in the last two events and Mick Fanning has had two wins, with the Mundaka event being won by Adriano. Bede, Taj, CJ and Bobby are all in the running.

Slater is in 5th, and you know he’s still a threat, with Pipe to come. Check the rating here.

Some highlights from the last events below. Not exactly perfect conditions at either location… but worth a look.

See you in the water.