Goodness Grays!

I'm not a sunrise sort of girl, but the Baddow Camera Club had arranged a sunrise outing to Tollesbury Marina (Essex), and I had to go! It was a 40 minute drive east, in the dark, from my home in Great Baddow, and I was rewarded with a beautiful colourful sunrise. This area is marshy bogland at the mouth of the River Blackwater, and the focal point today was the red lightship. There were shallow creeks running through the marshes, and many were still covered in ice.

Yes, there really is a purple sky before sunrise!

The tide was out, so the muddy ground helped reflect the golden sun.

The lightship at the break of day. This lightship (Lightvessel 15) was retired in 1988 from its work on the south coast of Wales and is now moored amount the marshes at Woodrolfe Creek. Today it is known as the Trinity Lightship and is owned by The Fellowship Afloat Charitable Trust.