Coastal Erosion, Seaton, Devon - Part One

 

Having taken photos of erosion at other nearby coastal areas - the dramatic landslips of the Undercliff walk between Axmouth and Lyme Regis, plus landslips at Charmouth - I decided to see how my own town cliffs were faring. So I went for a walk during May 2012 to have a look and take some photos.

This particular western stretch of the mile long beach at Seaton is between the Chine and Seaton Hole; the first photo at the top of the page was taken from the Chine at the end of the promenade known as West Walk. The cliff formation jutting out from Seaton Hole at the furthest end is called White Cliff, beyond which is the village of Beer. The cliff to the west of Beer (to the left and out of the photo) is called Beer Head, consisting of chalk cliffs, and is at the western end of Lyme Bay.

This wonderful piece of cliff near the Chine has become almost an island through erosion, standing proud of the mainland. I've always called it 'the pyramid' because of its elongated pyramidal shape, but it's become less so over the years and is now almost a vertical wall, albeit still vaguely triangular.

I had a walk up the steps as far as I could to take closer photos of it but the sun was full on my camera so I couldn't get any details of the other side.

The largest part of Seaton, from west of the Marshes Nature Reserve up to Seaton Hole at the western end of the beach, is situated upon Triassic Mercia Mudstone - hence the red clay consistency of the cliffs along this stretch - and is part of the World Heritage Jurassic Coast. There is a major fault at Seaton Hole, the other side of which is chiefly Upper Greensand and chalk. Interestingly, the Middle Chalk found specifically in Beer head is now geologically referred to as Seaton Chalk.

Because this section of coastline is geologically important due to the subjection of complex and unpredictable landslides, and the landscape value is an integral part of the Jurassic Coast, the local policy towards natural evolution is one of No Active Intervention. However, where habitation or historical landmarks are at risk, some management is used to minimise danger and loss.

During my research I came across a photo on another website showing a vastly different view to the ones I took above.  The cliff was more vertical with lower outcrops covered in plant life, and the top was covered with trees for almost the whole length along. Pretty much how it's been for many years; the photo was taken only a year before my photos, which highlights the extent of the erosion since then.

Some intervention has been made along this stretch, due to housing and the Old Beer Road situated above. The revetment placed at the base of the cliffs is known as Rock Armour. The large boulders absorb and dissipate the energy of the waves at high tide, the gaps between them slowing the flow of water, thereby lessening erosion at the base.

From the western end of the beach up to Seaton Hole and Old Beer Road next.

Access between the beach and the top of the cliff at Seaton Hole is made by a series of steps connecting to a wide steep pathway halfway up.

The path once continued down to the beach but a landslide cut the lower half off some years ago.  A local builder Gordon Wellington, together with a team of volunteers, built the new steps to regain access. In honour of his achievment, it has been named 'Gordon's Way'.

This was the first time I'd been this way since the steps were built, and I was delighted to see how similar it is to parts of the Undercliff between Axmouth and Lyme Regis. Seeing glimpses of White Cliff through the trees and undergrowth, and the mystery of hidden chasms, is totally magical.

The two photos below were taken from near the top of Seaton Hole, where that part of the path is still intact.

There's a picnic area and kiosk just behind where I stood to take the photo. When my son was little (some 40 plus years ago) we used to come here often, our flat only a few yards away and I couldn't help thinking about how some aspects seem exactly the same but how others are so totally different. Something I reflected upon whilst enjoying a well-deserved ice cream from the kiosk. ;)

Part Two coming up very shortly, in about two minutes, actually! :)

 

 

Regeneration Site, Seaton, Devon

Following the demolition of Blue Waters (in the previous post), I took photos of the next stage of regeneration as it took place. A huge area, to include housing and a supermarket, it was situated upon a flood plain, which necessitated building up the foundation height to above sea level.

As this involved bringing in a vast amount of material, it was shipped in by sea rather than transported by road with all its inherent problems. A huge pipeline was laid from the site, across the edge of the harbour and into the sea from the beach. Accessed by ship out in the bay, the material was pumped through the pipe to the site.

The photo below shows the pipe above Harbour Road. The initial material of coarse grit was brought in from the Isle of Wight. Apparently, the noise was a cause for complaint by nearby residents, especially as operations were often carried out during the night. However, as the photo above shows, lagging was added to mitigate the problem and a short while later the material only consisted of sand and finer grit from Wales.

The pipe continued from the old Racal Electronics site (below) across to the construction site...

...where it was unloaded ready for distribution by the giant earthmovers.

Rant? Well, maybe a bit of one. If you're going to regenerate a seaside town to entice tourists and give the town a boost, would you demolish a thriving holiday village which had been showcased on TV holiday programmes as a fab place to stay, and replace it with a Tesco supermarket and a few houses? What on earth were they thinking! 

Anyway, I was pleased that I thought to document it for posterity, and watching the process was very interesting too.

The built up area was eventually contained beneath tarpaulins in the massive oblong shape seen below.

The chap working close to where I took the photos kept looking suspiciously at me and another bloke with a clipboard strolled up to see what I was doing. It's that camera thing again! Some people can't help but think you're up to no good if you have what looks like a professional camera. ;)

And that's about it. Coming up next - at last! - I've just about finished the Coastal Erosion article, as promised earlier on in the year. Actually, I've split it into two articles. They just need tidying up then I'll get them posted. I hope I haven't jinxed it by promising again, mind! :)

 

 

Blue Waters Holiday Camp, Seaton, Devon: demolition photos

This is one of the articles from my now defunct website. I didn't think to post this up when I added the main article to the blog. That one encompasses explores of the derelict Blue Waters site before it was demolished, along with the history of both that and Warners Camp next door, which you can see here. This one's a bit late but better late than never, eh!

Demolition began during June 2008 and I photographed the process, returning every other day to capture it. The photos above show the remaining chalets with a large industrial skip nearby. Below is how it looked once it had been cleared.

The first photo heading the article and those below were taken from the front entrance on Harbour Road. I did ask if I could go on site to record the process, but was ordered off and even threatened by the Site Manager not to take photos, even though I was standing on a public path outside the gate. I continued taking photos as I wasn't trespassing - there is no law against trespassing anyway as it's a civil offence in England not a legal one - and photographers have the Right of Panorama whilst in public places.

 

Some of the photos were taken through the gate, until...  

...one of the lorries entered leaving the gates open, and I noticed that the workmen were on a break, so...   

...I took the opportunity to go onto the site and take some close-ups, quickly returning to my position outside of the gate before being discovered. Who dares wins, lol. ;)

And back to my watching post over the next couple of days or so.

At this point I had a bit of a rant on the original website article, but I'm going to leave that for now as I will probably rant away on a later post documenting the Seaton Regeneration scheme. However, I will say that closing and demolishing the still viable and fully booked Lyme Bay Holiday Village (originally Warners) next door was a huge loss of tourism for Seaton.

It was particularly sad to see the swimming pool go as finding that on my explore of the derelict site was a really exciting moment for me. You can see that on the first article about Blue Waters via the link at the top of the page for those photos and the history of both sites. 

Not a lot else to say, really. However, I don't want to end on such a sad note of desolation, so here's a close-up photo of that lovely twirly wrought iron gate instead. I had thought of saying something silly, sarcastic and/or sentimental about metal hearts, etc, but managed to restrain myself in time! ;)