It's hardly your typical seaside location. Part of the Merseyside coastline of north Liverpool, Crosby Beach is notorious for its sinking sand and dangerous high tides. You might get a few sunbathers here on hot summer days, but it's not the sort of place you go for a paddle. So what is it that draws people to Crosby Beach? Well, it's the art. Since 2007, the beach has hosted the so-called Iron Men, a series of human sculptures by the British sculptor Antony Gormley. Modelled on the artist's own body, some of them are sunk to their knees in the sand, while others stand tall above the beach. As the tides come out and in, the figures are revealed and submerged by the sea. Seawater corrodes the cast iron. Barnacles cling to the legs of statues, and grow.
Gormley said he chose Crosby because the beach was 'the opposite of pretty'. But this design shows just how beautiful Crosby Beach can be. It's sunset, the tides are coming in, and the pinky-orange evening light splays across the sand. The statues stare out across the sea, and on the horizon turbines turn in the wind - the perfect scene to enjoy as you dry the dishes.
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Gormley figures on beach at Crosby
Beautiful!