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The Geography Department
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Happisburgh 24 July 2008
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I plotted the cliff-top with my GPS, reading to within 17-20 feet. The plots have flags, and the clay outliers on the beach are shown by dragon's teeth.
Although by no means survey-accurate, this gives a startling indication of coastal change at Happisburgh. |
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Arrival at Happisburgh is met by a car park no longer charged-for, and then on to the wrecked lifeboat ramp and the views north and south. There seems to be little change, but there always is ... |
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The tide is just over an hour from the full, as is clearly only going to be of modest height. The cliffs show signs of some respite, with even some growth of vegetation in places. |
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To the north the beach shows a good stretch of sand inshore of the relatively complete revetments, with groynes well-filled in a north-south drift. |
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Taken from the track alongside the large terraced houses, the beach is dominated by the low clay platform kept wet from land drainage .. and the oncoming tide giving the last revetment scraps a pounding! |
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Views from the track, both landward and over the cliff that is eating into the houses' gardens. |
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Beyond the houses southwards, the cliff is green! Erosion from the seaward has abated here, despite the new stretch of beach behind the rip rap and steel pipes. |
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The defences of rip rap around the kink in the coast are still largely intact, so it is sub-aerial processes, centre, that have been more active in the recent months. |
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Cliffs of sand are often subverted from below and develop vertical lines of slumping, right, as well as the rotational slumps, left. |
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The bay to the south of Happisburgh has wide sands available for holidaymakers, but no access, save the long walk from Cart Gap. |
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A marker for erosion is the loss of current crops over the cliff. Rows that suddenly end in a precipice, right, and crops actually on the cliff edge, left. |
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A wartime pillbox, at 38793/30559 according to my GPS, in a field of wheat. |
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The beach has developed a berm structure, with the rising tide pushing through crevasses, right, to fill this backwater. Excellent for paddling! |
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Looking towards the south, left, and the extensive clay platforms become visible. Looking northwards the bay displays its characteristic embayment structure. |
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More of the northern part of the bay, with its clay pediments, overhanging cliff top vegetation, and embayments. |
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The southern end of the bay is much more regular in shape, almost straight, and also has a wide beach with crevasse features .. and, right, the remains of a revetment defence. |
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The hard defences at the Cart Gap end of the bay continue to be outflanked, and will soon be eating into the sea wall from the landward if maintenance is not forthcoming. The cliff top now enjoys the destructive attention of rabbits, centre. |
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Hard defences at Cart Gap; sheet-piling in front of a concrete apron and then concrete steps topped by a recurved sea wall - all with heavy double groynes down the beach! |
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The woodwork at Cart Gap is not all well-maintained, but these heavy groynes are, as can be seen on the right, actually low in the water and almost overtopped by accumulated sand! |
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In places the beach has been lowered by erosion and comes up against the sheet piling. |
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The view north, with the recurved sea wall leading to the wide beach of 'Happisburgh Bay' ... and a beach sculpture of an old iron rod and a collection of plastic articles! |
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The tide was at its fullest when these pictures were taken, surging over the beach berm to splay into the recesses behind. |
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The clay outliers for a promontory that will limit transits of the beach with higher tides. |
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The small shingle seen here was characteristic of the central part of the bay, where the clay promontories met the sea. |
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An inter-tidal pool system has built up, that would be attractive to holidaymakers. In the centre is a short of the layered clay and above it the vertical fissure where sand has tumbled down as a possible result of rainwater. |
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The shingle seems to have been arrested at this point, as it reverts back to sand to the north of the feature. |
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More clay features, shingle berms and then the wide golden sands to the north. |
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Erosion here has left a hollow behind the cliff face, with sand trickling out of the vertical channels, centre. The flanking photos show the clay platform and the fine sands above. |
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The interface between sand and clay is marked by a darkening due to dampness, and collapse of the sand immediately above the join. In the centre the water has etched a series of pools on its journey to the beach. |
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The corner of the new bay and the occupied cliff top has changed fundamentally, in now there is a wide stretch of new sand between the rip-rap/metal poles and the clay promontory. |
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The makeshift defences are still doing a job, however, and the steel poles set the standard! Cliff House and its neighbours are only a little closer to the edge than six months previously. |
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Sand has been pushed up the beach, and the erosion has been only modest over the last months, but the rip rap has certainly been progressively submerged and will provide a poor defence to a eqinoxal tide/gale/surge. |
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The destructiveness index rises towards the old lifeboat ramp, with the high tide pounding on the revetments, and now the rip rap .. whilst the last of Beach Road hangs on for a little longer. |
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On the damp clay pavement a discarded tree root is iconic, although it was discarded there, not undermined1 |
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Rocks, revetments and the old ramp stand before the new beach access steps. |
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Destruction of past defences, and undermining of the new .. a sorry commentary on policy! |
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A glimpse through the broken concrete of the Coastguard launch ramp ... of the Happisburgh of holidaymakers enjoying the sun and the sand. |
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Norfolk Happisburgh Beach Road Cart Gap coast erosion defences neglect revetments rip rap groynes beaches lighthouse sea walls lifeboat station access leisure
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North Norfolk and Happisburgh Index
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