18/08/2026
On Saturday 15th I took a quick trip to nearby Skippool Creek as there was a very big high tide, a spring tide as they're known. I was after water under the old boats that you normally don't get to see except now and again during the few spring tides that happen along here. Anyway, I noticed this bloke down next to the waters edge and thought "What has he seen that I haven't" over the years so I approached him when he walked back up to the footpath only to discover it was the well known blind photographer Gary Williamson aka Swirly_Magnolia, an anagram of his name. Notice I mentioned "What has he seen that I haven't." Gary is registered blind and can see very little so for him to wander down to the waters edge over the marshy ground and trying to avoid the muddy gulleys was some feat. He puts a 20x magnifying eye monocle or loupe to his eye whilst viewing the intending area through his mobile phone on 5x zoom to try to understand what's in front of him.
Going near to the waters edge isn't something I tend to do but I'll give his dues, he found a small upside down tender dinghy and took some great shots. Anyway, nearly 2 hours later and a load of chatting between ourselves walking back and forth looking at other things, I ended up giving him a lift to Poulton Le Fylde train station but as luck would have it, there are many pubs in Poulton and we caught a couple of scoops at the Old Town Hall before going our own way. Awesome bloke who travels all over the place and takes some phenomenal monochrome images. Check him out on Instagram >>
20K Followers, 5,599 Following, 815 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Gary Williamson ()
