Mother Nature Is Rearranging The Norfolk Coastline Again

As we once again enter the season of storm tossed seas and high autumnal tides, spare a thought for the poor old Norfolk coastline, a part of England that so often bears the brunt of nature’s anger.
 

Beach defences at Snettisham, Scalp and Hunstanton have been in the news over the last couple of days for the wrong reasons. Coastal erosion that in some places is running to as much as ten feet (three metres) has been reported in the general area, with a shingle ridge being eroded by stormy seas between Snettisham Scalp and Hunstanton and beach material having been lost from the bottom of concrete coastal defences along Hunstanton's south promenade.
 

Coastline under pressure

These two areas are important parts of the beach defences and the Environment Agency is having to make essential repairs.
 

Greg Murphy, from the Environment Agency, said: "Although the damage is not unusual, we would normally expect the shingle ridge to be in this condition by February.  We have lost a significant amount of material from the shingle ridge in places along the beach and we run the risk of losing more if we have another strong storm. This material plays an important part in reducing flood risk to coastal communities, and if this is left to wash away we could see further deterioration of the shingle ridge."
 

Mr Murphy said that there was a public safety factor in play as the edge of the ridge had become unstable in some areas. The repairs should protect against normal high tides and reduce the risk to public safety, he said.
 

Meanwhile, further around the coast, just north of Great Yarmouth at Hemsby, the village has invested in new concrete sea defences along the beach in the hope of saving their homes from pounding seas whipped up by the strong easterly gales.
 

These gales together with the stormy seas have had a serious effect on  the cliffs and sand dunes along the beach at The Marrams in Hemsby. One property has been condemned and a house owned by Steve and Jackie Conley is in imminent danger from the sea.
 

Villagers have banded together and have now installed huge concrete blocks to prevent further erosion along the base of the cliffs. Easterly gales in March resulted in millions of tonnes of sand washed away and the bottoms of the cliffs eroded.
 

Mrs Conley said she stood to lose everything if the sea came any closer. "We're doing our best but we're not fully confident the house will remain on Hemsby's dunes for much longer because of the continued erosion and the effects of further storms," she said.