I forgot to turn the lights off for Earth Hour yesterday, so to make up for it, I’m blogging about another environmental issue that’s been in the news: plastic rubbish in the sea and on the beach.

I went to Monmouth Beach in Lyme Regis this evening (taking advantage of the extra hour’s light) to see what was washed up on the strandline. I met two other beachcombers collecting driftwood, but my sights were set on much more destructive rubbish: plastic waste.

The vast majority on the local beaches is plastic drink, water, household cleaner and cosmetics bottles, including a horrible rash of “Blonde Expressions” shampoo bottles (I counted over 50 in one place) – I hope Pantene’s ears are burning as I write this.

Dumb blondes sunbathing

But there is also lots of fishing waste (local fishermen’s ears are similarly flaming?), bits of kids’ toys, disposable lighters, industrial containers, odd shoes, and waste left directly by holiday makers: throwaway barbeques, crisp packets, pristine drinks bottles etc. Shame on them too.

Whilst disfiguring our local coast is bad enough, plastic has far worse consequences than that. Fishing line can trap and kill birds, small pieces can end up collecting heavy metals then be eaten by all sorts of marine life, and farther afield, albatrosses unknowingly feed it to their chicks, who die when their intestines become blocked.

So, if you are ever tempted to dump some plastic near the sea, please think again!

While I am in a blossom mood, the cold snap we often get while the blackthorn (sloe) is blooming is called the "blackthorn winter".

It has certainly been very cold this year - but the show of flowers has been disappointing as the rain and wind have spoilt the blossom. So, here instead is the magnificent show we had last year: I deliberately took some long exposures on a windy day to get a sense of movement. What do you think?

"Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough"
- a favourite poem by A.E. Housman. It actually talks about wild white cherry (gean), but that won't be in flower for a while yet - so here is some Japanese cherry blossom in the garden, which has survived the cold wet weather remarkably well!

You can read the whole poem here amongst many others.

Well - not while we were there, but the much-publicised wind and high tides combined to make quite spectacular waves at Lyme Regis this morning - another Carpe Diem moment, to see the high tide before the rain came, then home for breakfast.

Huge waves breaking over the Cobb - higher than the buildings!

Lots of other people getting salt spray all over their cameras, including one poser with a huge telephoto lens that would have been quite useless in the circumstances...

This obliging fellow posed unknowingly for me watching the breakers sploshing over the Cobb wall:

And this one, who was snapping the waves on his phone, was not so obliging, and wouldn't move away from the signpost:

In Uplyme, it's long been a tradition for a group of Church ladies to pick and bunch primroses in the week before Mothering Sunday and send them to a church in Bermondsey (south east London).

This year, the flowers were out early, fortunate since Mothering Sunday was so early too (the fourth Sunday in Lent). This has nothing to do with Mother's Day - probably an invention of the greetings card industry - but the day when people used to journey to their "Mother Church" in the 16th Century, and often the only day when hard-working poor families got to spend any time together. Later on, it was traditional to give domestic servants this day off to visit their families.

I show some primroses in the hedgerow, and also a wild violet, another traditional posy for Mum. With love for my own Mum!