Mundesley, The cliff fall threw tonnes of sand and soil onto the beach (15th September 2022, 2pm)

As my research into Trips 1&2 on the East Yorkshire coast had increased my interest in coastal erosion, I decided to pay a visit to Happisburgh and Mundesley on my way to Cromer. On the drive to Mundesley I passed Bacton Gas Terminal, which is actually a complex of six gas terminals. And way in the distance out to sea I could see wind farms. The East Coast certainly contributes to our energy needs.

I came across the following article prior to Trip 3 (Eastern Daily Press, February 28, 2022): £7m plan to protect hundreds of north Norfolk coastal homes to begin. A cliff fall threw tonnes of sand and soil onto the beach at Mundesley (7.3 miles south east of Cromer) in north Norfolk, but some plans to protect homes seem to have been realised:

"Plans include steel sheet walls and concrete foundations to a section of historic flint defences in Cromer, as well as rock protection and timber construction protections in Mundesley. The schemes should protect 758 homes in Cromer and 510 homes in Mundesley. This is the second phase of defence improvements for Cromer, with works first proposed in the 1990s. It was not until 2013 the first phase was finally completed."

On arrival in Mundesley I parked up and headed to the beautiful beach to find signs of this big land slip. The senior Scottish ladies in the featured picture above, which always makes me smile in a good way, was taken after the following encounter. They had a dog lead and wheel chair across the path to the beach, which blocked the way for a minute. The disabled woman had been walking down the hill supported by her chair and two friends, who were telling her not to let go of the chair too early. They reminded me of Mum, who has mobility issues and a similar wheel chair for outings. I offered to help, but mentioned that I didn't think I would be much use. Anyway, they said they were fine and were very cheerful.

When I got to the beach I could see houses that were very close to the cliffs. And when I got back home I compared one of my photos with a photo from the newspaper article (Eastern Daily Press, above). I think I may have identified the site of landslip (see below) but remain only 50% convinced. However, at the time I was uncertain, so I asked a guy with a big zoom lens watching birds on the sea front if he 'knew where the recent land slide had been?' He directed me to paths behind Coronation Hall and the Church, a bit further up the road. However, when I got up there I couldn't see any signs of landslip. But, whilst up there on the sea cliff path I met Stella, who was cleaning up her dog's mess, and she gave me direction to a landslip on a caravan park in Trimingham, 3 miles up the coast saying "properties have been falling onto the beach for years around here".