These pilings are well weathered though I don’t know their age. They are the remnants of a wharf long abandoned to the sea. This old wharf is one of the reasons my husband and I love St. Peter’s Harbour.
From a distance, the pilings don’t look like much.
However, up close, the weathering of the posts make them unlike anything we’ve ever seen.
These look nothing like firewood or trees rotting in the forest. The sea makes a huge difference to this wood.
Individual pilings remain solid in the sand.
The bleached wood shows the remnants of the limbs which once spread out from the trunk, holding leaves which kept the tree alive. Now the trunk is like a sculpture in the sand.
These are not nails from recent history. They go back decades. The salt clinging to the rusty metal indicates the sea spray or water which has covered this nail, though not today at low tide.
The wood which is high and dry today is covered in salt as well.
The texture of the wood is visible and the knots break up the linear nature of the piece. The light gray and rusty brown colouration are curious too.
Even at low tide, the sea is relentless in its crafting of the pilings.
One can imagine what it’s like on a stormy day at high tide or when the ice has settled in for the coldest months of the year, encasing the wood in its cold blanket. The fact this wharf has lasted so long is a wonder of nature.
36 comments:
A wonder of nature, indeed, Marie. You can't get a much better photo-op than that!
as you said, from a distance, the wood looks ordinary...but there is nothing ordinary about it. the wood is gorgeous up close...i like it with the water splashing on it!!!
Being in a city where the oldest structures are just not that old, I find the nostalgia of your photos so endearing and beautiful.
SO beautiful. VERY wabi-sabi.
What a wonderful photographic opportunity.
Very interesting shapes and textures. Colorful too.
Do you know who used that wharf?
They have taken on the quality of feeling like sculptures. Beautiful shots!
Nature is the ultimate artist.
Wonderful photos! I love the second one, the angle and the shadows...yes!!
I love how nature sculpts the wood, day after day, until it becomes a piece of art. Your photos show nature's beautiful work. Thank you, Marie.
What a truly unique place, Marie. That salt looks like powdered sugar! :-)
Great photos of these piling which are so sculptural.
Wonderful series of images of nature at its most creative Marie ✨
Water always wins!
Beautifully weathered wood. Amazing that these stumps of the wharf have lasted so long. They must have been well anchored into the surface of the beach to be still hanging on, through all the winter storms.
It is a favourite location of ours, Ginnie.
I’d love to capture photos during a storm, Debbie.
Thank you, Linda. The California landscape and skyline is foreeign to me but beautiful in its own way.
Yes it is indeed, Debra.
It is a great place for photographers, Tabor.
The colours surprised me the first time I saw the old wharf.
Local fisherman used the wharf. They stopped using it in 1951, Joanne.
They are beach sculpture for sure, William.
She sure is, Celia.
You would take beautiful photos of these old pilings, Jenn.
Nature is a patient artist, Bill.
The salt was a unique sculptural addition, Jan.
Thank you Barb. All the best to you and your husband!
Thank you, Grace.
It sure does, Elaine!
The wharf was abandoned in 1951 so it is amazing any pilings have survived this long, Shammi.
The way that the sea breaks things down is why there is always something to photograph on the beach I think! Nice shots.
Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne Airport (!)
It's a wonder of nature - including man's ability to construct something that will withstand the pounding of the sea!
It's amazing what the ocean does to things. I love pictures of things like that. Thanks for sharing them.
The remains of the wharf have turned into fantastic wooden sculptures. The nail looks similar to the old shipbuilding nails that are occasionally found here and were used to build boats some of which went out to Newfoundland! Sarah x
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