The Unseen Star of The Sun Goes Round The Moon
I never thought I would use three astronomical references like that in one headline! The timing of the video shoot for The Sun Goes Round The Moon was deliberately set to coincide with two interlinked natural events: the tide being mainly out on Bispham beach, and the sunrise. When I checked tide times at the turn of the year I realised there was a window of opportunity to do the filming within a few days, so I collected Ali at 6am on 5th January and aimed to be walking on the beach as night transformed into day.
I had decided to take Ozzy along, for three reasons: first, it meant he wouldn’t be on his own for the best part of a day; second, he loves rolling in the sand; and third, rolling in the sand and immersing himself in salty puddles seems to condition his coat and stop him from smelling like a dog!
We sat in the car at the end of Montpelier Avenue waiting for the right time to walk out on the beach. The official -2C degrees felt more like -10C in the slight but bitter breeze so we didn’t intend to be out there too long, and we probably only waited ten minutes until the sky began to show signs of lightening. It was perfect timing for what we had set out to achieve.
Queen’s Promenade was still waking up at 7:15am so we crossed both that and the tram tracks to the cliff tops and descended the dog leg slope, across the upper and lower promenades, arriving on the sand just as the lower part of the sky was beginning to change from pink to rust. So while there are some filtering effects on the video, most of its colouration is absolutely natural.
I set off walking towards to shore lights of Cleveleys with Ali following a few paces behind with his steadicam, and Ozzy circling me constantly because he knew I had biscuits in my coat pocket. I think we probably saw just one other dog walker in the 40 minutes we were out there. The tide was almost fully out having receded way past both Carling (sometimes Carlin) Stone and Penny Stone rocks, so this was a very low tide. It was bleak. It was atmospheric. It was perfect.
Penny Stone Rock is about half a mile out and tradition says it marks the spot where The Penny Stone Inn once stood, where a tankard of ale sold for a penny. It is reported that the rock had an iron ring attached where travellers would tether their horses while they had a beer or two. The two rocks were apparently part of a stone circle called Carlin and the Colts that in the 16th Century lay within the boundary of the village of Singleton Thorpe, protected from the sea by a bank of dunes. The story goes that the village was inundated by a tidal wave in 1588 and abandoned.
So after half a mile of so walking towards Cleveleys, this two men and a dog film crew turned back towards the south and as the leader of this freezing motley crew I headed straight towards the two rocks, with Carling Stone distantly visible at the end the video of The Sun Goes Round The Moon. It was incredibly atmospheric, not least because of the sheen from the sand from the low angle of the rising sun.
And as if to shatter that calm and mystical imagery, Ozzy, continuing to circle for his rightful biscuit and getting nowhere with his persistent badgering, decided to take extreme action and lift his leg for a piss right in camera shot and directly in my line of walking! There is only ever one star when Ozzy is about the place.
The Sun Goes Round The Moon is the fourth song on my Dry The Life EP, available as a download from all the usual online stores, or if you want a physical copy just whizz me an email to info@waldeaux.com and that can be arranged. And here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuKuP-Z8UAg