Saturday 17 February 2018

Slippage


I've always liked the look of Scots Pines
These few (centre) just East of Sidestrand Church
always garner a second glance
  I went out for a walk on Thursday morning, intending only to go as far as the top of Tower Lane in Sidestrand and look out along the cliffs.  However, there looked to be rather less cliff top than when I was last up here, so I continued walking to see how much had slipped down onto the beach.  Before I knew it, I was in Trimingham.
  Needless to say, I took a load of photographs (many of them quite appalling due to the bright sunshine - Camera doesn't seem to do so well in direct sunlight), some of which almost match up to those I took back in July for the August Clifftop Calamities posts.  For your convenience, below, I have posted Thursday's photos with their corresponding July shots beneath them so you can contrast and compare.  Even if I hadn't pointed out which is which, you can easily tell because the July shots are the ones full of cloud, as is typical of a Great British Summer.

At the top of Tower Lane looking back towards Overstrand
Despite being the middle of Winter, it doesn't look bad
Almost the same shot from mid-Summer
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The End-of-the-Line
And a far more dismal Summer comparison photo
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The low Winter sun causing shadows overlooking the End-of-the-Line
Despite looking like a way down to the beach, this isn't one
Unless you want to break your neck or get stuck up to your eyeballs in clay
Even in Summer
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Jinkies!  Who took a bite out of the cliff?
The same bit of cliff in better days
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After tramping through a muddy field to get around, this is the view from the other side
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The shadow is somewhat obscuring recent cliff-falls
This Summer snap is pretty useless as a comparison photo as too much of the left is unseen

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The "Eye of Horus" peering out of the cliff
Not a lot has changed since Summer

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  That's the end of the comparison shots.  The following photos are just standalones:

A zoomed shot back to the End-of-the-Line

The "Eye of Horus" is looking a little droopy
Perhaps some botox would tighten things up a little?

Once, not too long ago, I would have been able to walk right across here
Now I have to walk around or fly over on Broom

Despite this appearing to be a path to the edge of nowhere, this is actually a Nightship stop

Here, I'd reached the little rectangular plantation on the edge of the cliff in Trimingham (from which one can carefully negotiate a way down to the beach - as long as it hasn't been raining much, otherwise one is likely to be sucked into the muddy clay cliff, never to be seen again).  This photo is looking back West towards Overstrand 

A zoomed shot showing the "bites" out of Sidestrand's cliffs, and Overstrand sticking out into the sea

Finally, I quite liked these old ivy stems reaching up this tree

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13 comments:

  1. Wow! The sort of thing that used to make a "Sunday Drive through the Manawatu Gorge" rather interesting/abandoned when I was a kid.
    Love the idea of Botox!
    Also, will cartographers be paid penal rates (no, Muriel!Not penile!) to re-draw the North Norfolk coastline?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're terrible Muriel!

      Delete
    2. Mapping the North-Norfolk coastline is a thankless and never-ending task, Dinahmow.

      "Mum! Make dad a cup of tea."
      "Mum!" Make dad a cup of tea!"

      Delete
  2. Are the cliffs compacted sand or some such? Please be careful getting close to the edge like that!

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    Replies
    1. They're mostly clay and mud, with some chalk and a bit of sand. Water is constantly seeping through them, and any time it rains, a little more is lost to the sea. Coastal areas south-east of here have much of our cliffs bolstering their beaches now...

      I only get close to the edge when I can see previous cliff-falls supporting it. Any sheer drops or overhangs are given a wide berth!

      Delete
  3. Norfolk being eaten bit-by-bit by monsters is probably a good premise for a novel. Jx

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    Replies
    1. I'll mention you in the acknowledgements if it ever comes to pass.

      Delete
  4. Pretty cool to see the comparisons. Is the cliffs getting more and more eroded or has it always looked liked that?

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    Replies
    1. If memory serves, an average of three metres a year is lost from the cliff edge. Luckily, the bit where I live is going a lot more slowly!

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  5. What fantastic and awesome compare and contrast shots! Spectacular!

    I also love the end series fotos of the cliffs and trees. Magnificent!

    I share the others' concern/curiosity. Is your part of the island crumbling into the sea? Or did Godzilla make a pit stop at your beaches before heading up north for afternoon tea with Nessie?

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    Replies
    1. I'm pretty safe in Chateau DeVice, but it may not be many decades before Overstrand is a peninsula!
      I like the idea of Godzilla and Nessie having a gossip over tea, cakes and finger sandwiches. Perhaps you shall also be mentioned in the novel's acknowledgements?

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  6. I do like the 'bites' photo!
    Perhaps I should do some compare and contrast pics regarding the potholes and puddles in the lane?
    Sx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I could lend you my Lilliput Cusp Portal then the photos you take will look like cliffs and canyons!

      Plus, your photos will be vital evidence to ensure the Council effects repairs to prevent someone (possibly with a small dog called Sid) coming a cropper. Again.

      Delete

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