Coastal erosion

All around the UK our island is getting smaller, and the wee island of Graemsay is no different. Not shrinking in the rain, though sometimes it feels like that, but being battered by the wind and the waves.

Just around Christmas we had a gale with winds from a Northerly direction and high tides.  The beach at Sandside took quite a battering.  Over the years the local authority have used various methods to try and protect the "main road" that runs round the island.  It is very vulnerable at the beach at Sandside and has been undercut once or twice.  With this storm there was quite a bit of damage to the coastal defences as can be seen in these pictures.  They were taken by Graeme of Imperfect & Tense.  He and Mrs G were out visiting for the day and we took a bit of a walk.  But it was too windy for me to stand up, never mind take photos.  So he valiantly set forth to do them for me as the local council office needed the evidence.  He's kindly allowed me to share them here too.

Above were giant sandbags in a kind of hessian/plastic sack.  These have burst completely.

And here you can see that the metal cages have started to disintegrate and stone has spilled out onto the shore.

You can see it better here maybe....

And here too....

And again the sand bags further along the shore have also taken a battering.

The road was flooded from choked drains too.....

Nature certainly is a powerful force!