Sea Holly ... please come back.
Sea Holly Delete Raise Position Lower Position Edit
Eastern Green/Ponsandane/Long Rock beaches have changed dramatically over the last few years; from childhood, the beach was a grass upper walk, a wide shelf of heavy shingle, a slope of small shingle mixed with hard sand, and then an edge of stones and a wide shelf of small shingle over which most youngsters had problems walking, as it was also filled with sharp dry seaweed. Then after braving all, we were confronted with the fine killas sand of the Bay. There was a small drop on the edge, where the shingle changed to sand. The shore now consists of the formal cycle path, a mish mash of a form of sea wall of rough rocks, then cellular link blocks, which fades into a grass pathway. The latter is eroding away at a rate of knots. Witness the concrete steps which were high in the air, resulting in even more erosion as people wishing to gain access walked along the edges of the grass. If the people who had constucted this new greenway had noted what was there before, and to have noticed the key factor in keeping this greenway intact were a few simple but tenacious plants, perticularly that they have been noted in historical accounts (dating back 200 years) of being of a vital nature to the integrity of this front, it would not be disappearing in the way in which it is now. Thankfully, a few of these have taken root in one section, and I hope that they will be encouraged to take root elsewhere, if not actually planted or transplanted. The foreshore now stretches down from the upper section of shingle, streaked through a mix of sand and small shingle, and one sweep down to
the killas sand. The beach is losing its shingle. This humble Sea Holly (and other plants like this) could be the saviour of the shoreline, for if nothing serious and sensitive is done soon, it will either be a monster of a sea wall or it will all be washed away and the rail line suffer as a consequence, together with the road and property around. The breakwaters may well break up waves, but this means the sea sweeps back harder and scours out the small material (sand); this means deeper water on shore, which means more powerful waves ... The whole beach area is at risk.
