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Departure

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Departure

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Newhaven is a small port in East Sussex, 13 miles west of Eastbourne. It's not a pretty town and stands out as a place where there is financial hardship. It's town centre has been trashed since the building of a ring road around it, leaving limited parking for visitors and trapping the town within a constant circle of commuter traffic.

 

It does, however, still function as a port with a twice daily passenger and freight ferry to Dieppe. A breakwater arm was built in 1890 and serves to control the sea's powerful longshore drift. Waves crash monstrously against it during stormy weather and this provides a popular place for photographers hoping to catch light and waves.

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It has, though, been quiet during this year of Covid-19, just the occassional dog-walker or couple on their daily walk. As the town has my nearest large supermarket, I've often chosen to take my allowed exercise there after shopping and have tried to be there when the ferry is departing in the evening. It's been such an other-worldly experience, watching the boat creep out of the port as usually passengers are lining the deck. For the past year, the decks have been empty and as the ferry has disappeared I've often wondered if anyone, including crew, is actually on the boat at all. Perhaps some phantom-crew are resident now, though I've never caught sight of any menacing spectral faces peering at me from a briefly moonlit window. I keep checking though...

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These photographs were taken throughout January 2021, during the UK's third national lockdown.

 

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