Coastal Erosion - Kessingland

On a day when a national newspaper printed a story of a two week heat wave arriving, I visited Kessingland in grey skies and a biting northerly wind! After a couple of pints of Humpty Dumpty ale at the Sailors Home, I set off along the beach towards Benacre. The speed of coastal erosion was amazing, much faster than in any other year I've visited. It both revealed some glimpses of WW2 defences and at the same time is threatening others.

Above: Revetment consisting of 2" scaffolding poles and corrugated iron sheets, presumably form a trench dug in the dunes as part of the defences. Now temporarily exposed by coastal erosion, but will soon disappear as the sea continues its march inland.

Above: The beach immediately north of Benacre Broad - the first 'step' shows the original beach level and just how much has been lost

Above: Benacre Broad has been breached - will it seal naturally as the breach at Dunwich did following the recent surge tide?

Above: The cliffs between Benacre Broad and Kessingland - note the pillbox in the second image,now just a few meters from the edge and soon to be lost if the erosion keeps up at this rate.

Above: Just some of the many screw pickets and bits of angle iron exposed by erosion.

Above: Some Z1 anti-tank scaffolding exposed by coastal erosion.

Above: A steel underwater spike, or "Dragons Tooth" on the beach at Kessingland

Finally, another pillbox that is soon to disappear into the sea as a result of erosion which I'll just mention on this post is way to the south at Bawdsey, visited in February (on a much warmer day!). It's the unique combined Type 22 and 23, still possible to visualize, but if you've never seen it before and want to see it, visit soon!!

The unique combined Type 22 and 23, Bawdsey; the Type 22 is now completely separated from the rest of the box and will surely slide into the sea soon.

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Eastern Command Line - a lazy post

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WW1 and WW2 Defences - Suffolk and beyond

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