Belhaven, January

I’m rewinding back to January with these photos, although the light might suggest a month later in the year. I should also say, this one has been sitting as a draft, waiting on me finding some words to accompany the images, and while it feels a little strange to be sharing a January walk now, after half of 2026 is already behind us, these are some of my favourite photos from the start of the year.

Looking back over winter, we really missed the crisp and frosty days. We had a few frosty mornings in the garden, and a few mornings where I was out with a hammer trying to chip the ice out the bird baths, but we didn't have frosty walks. Rather, we had rain, and we had wind-blasted walks in the most beautiful light. January had some gorgeous light moments, and a lot of them happened as we were walking along the dunes at Belhaven.

These photos are from January 2nd, when we were looking ahead into 2026 with hopefulness and plans (plans that have still to come to fruition as it’s been a strange first half of the year), and from January 4th and 17th. The first photo above and the last seven below are all from Saturday 17th and a walk that held the most incredible glowing light. We wound our way along the dune paths as the setting sun glowed across the grasses and shimmered on the distant River Tyne. It felt incredible to have light like this during the first frozen month of the year, a month where evening walks were still a distant dream and we were counting down the minutes of additional daylight every day, willing sunset to get past 5pm – although we’d have to wait until early in February for that milestone.

It’s too easy to forget about the light in June or July. Your body adjusts to the rhythm of evening walks and late sunsets – today’s sunset time at Fidra is 10.03pm. Your body adjusts to getting back to the car after a walk when it’s nudging 10pm, and getting home after 10.30, when it’s too late for dinner so dinner regularly becomes a bowl of granola . Your mind adjusts to the lighter mood that daylight brings. And by the early days of July, maybe a small part of you is taking this for granted. It becomes easier to say: I’m too tired to get in the car and drive down the coast for a walk. Let’s just have that dinner and watch something on Netflix.

These photos remind me of why it’s always important to get outside and make the most of these evenings, because in the abbreviated days of January, you’d give anything for the chance of an evening walk. Because in January, you stand in the dunes, gazing at the sun that’s setting in the middle of the afternoon, and feel so profoundly grateful for any light after so much gloom and rain.

So yes, a post from January, as a gentle reminder to make the most of these longer days.