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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/the-northerner/2012/sep/24/coastal-erosion-yorkshire-north-sea-lost-towns
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| Yorkshire is disappearing up to three times as fast as last year | Yorkshire is disappearing up to three times as fast as last year |
| (4 months later) | |
| A dry spring and soggy summer are being blamed for sharply increased coastal erosion along Yorkshire's eastern flank which borders the North Sea. | A dry spring and soggy summer are being blamed for sharply increased coastal erosion along Yorkshire's eastern flank which borders the North Sea. |
| Just in time before more rain fell, engineers from the East Riding of Yorkshire district council have been out along their stretch of collapsing cliffs south of Bridlington where the solid rock walls which culminate in Flamborough Head come to an end. | Just in time before more rain fell, engineers from the East Riding of Yorkshire district council have been out along their stretch of collapsing cliffs south of Bridlington where the solid rock walls which culminate in Flamborough Head come to an end. |
| Using a backpack satnav which plots their course, the team are surveying the current 'last of Yorkshire' and comparing it with where the county ended a year ago. The results vary but in places the county has lost a startling 7m (22ft) compared to annual average of 1.7m (5.5ft). | Using a backpack satnav which plots their course, the team are surveying the current 'last of Yorkshire' and comparing it with where the county ended a year ago. The results vary but in places the county has lost a startling 7m (22ft) compared to annual average of 1.7m (5.5ft). |
| As a result, more properties which now all but teeter above the beach below have been added to the list of homes no longer considered safe. Retired couples in Aldborough, 10km (6.2mls) south of Hornsea face almost certain evacuation before next summer. Ten houses were abandoned last year, their plots going the way of the three local hotels – the Spa, the Talbot and the Royal – whose remains are now under the sea. | As a result, more properties which now all but teeter above the beach below have been added to the list of homes no longer considered safe. Retired couples in Aldborough, 10km (6.2mls) south of Hornsea face almost certain evacuation before next summer. Ten houses were abandoned last year, their plots going the way of the three local hotels – the Spa, the Talbot and the Royal – whose remains are now under the sea. |
| In proportion to the loss of land, the East Riding has gained a mountain of information which is very approachably available online here. Last year, the range of surveys and monitoring was joined by the first accurate seabed mapping off Holderness, the southern stretch of the coast which ends in the delicate – and up to now indestructible – hook of Spurn point. | In proportion to the loss of land, the East Riding has gained a mountain of information which is very approachably available online here. Last year, the range of surveys and monitoring was joined by the first accurate seabed mapping off Holderness, the southern stretch of the coast which ends in the delicate – and up to now indestructible – hook of Spurn point. |
| What can be done is moot. Very heavy defences hold the line at major towns such as Hornsea and Withernsea and the North Sea gas terminal at Easington, near Spurn, but probably at the expense of increased erosion on neighbouring unprotected stretches. The rest is almost certainly doomed, at a slow but irresistible rate. To make the point, and for possible use in pub quizzes or for Simon Armitage or Carol Ann Duffy to use in a poem engraved on one of our wild fellsides, here is a list of the towns which have already gone. | What can be done is moot. Very heavy defences hold the line at major towns such as Hornsea and Withernsea and the North Sea gas terminal at Easington, near Spurn, but probably at the expense of increased erosion on neighbouring unprotected stretches. The rest is almost certainly doomed, at a slow but irresistible rate. To make the point, and for possible use in pub quizzes or for Simon Armitage or Carol Ann Duffy to use in a poem engraved on one of our wild fellsides, here is a list of the towns which have already gone. |
| Wilsthorpe, Auburn, Hartburn, Hyde, Withow, Cleton, Northorpe, Hornsea Burton, Hornsea Beck, Southorpe, Great Colden, Colden Parva, Old Aldborough, Ringborough, Monkwell, Monkwike, Sand-le-Mere, Waxhole, Owthorne by Sisterkirk, Newsome, Old Withernsea, Out Newton, Dimlington, Turmarr, Northorp, Hoton, Old Kilnsea, Ravenspurn, Ravenser Odd. | Wilsthorpe, Auburn, Hartburn, Hyde, Withow, Cleton, Northorpe, Hornsea Burton, Hornsea Beck, Southorpe, Great Colden, Colden Parva, Old Aldborough, Ringborough, Monkwell, Monkwike, Sand-le-Mere, Waxhole, Owthorne by Sisterkirk, Newsome, Old Withernsea, Out Newton, Dimlington, Turmarr, Northorp, Hoton, Old Kilnsea, Ravenspurn, Ravenser Odd. |
| That comes courtesy of The Lost Towns of the Yorkshire Coast by Thomas Sheppard which was published in 1912. His map shows the current Aldborough, whose streets are now toppling over the edge, very comfortably inland. | That comes courtesy of The Lost Towns of the Yorkshire Coast by Thomas Sheppard which was published in 1912. His map shows the current Aldborough, whose streets are now toppling over the edge, very comfortably inland. |
| Sheppard's other works include Geological Rambles in East Yorkshire and although he has fun with dramatic journalistic descriptions of houses falling into the sea "almost daily", he leaves the reader in no doubt that the nibbling away of England's largest county will continue. The eroding area is formed of boulder clay which is particularly vulnerable to sea and weather attrition if it dries and then very rapidly becomes wet – the conditions seen this year. | Sheppard's other works include Geological Rambles in East Yorkshire and although he has fun with dramatic journalistic descriptions of houses falling into the sea "almost daily", he leaves the reader in no doubt that the nibbling away of England's largest county will continue. The eroding area is formed of boulder clay which is particularly vulnerable to sea and weather attrition if it dries and then very rapidly becomes wet – the conditions seen this year. |
| The consolation, Sheppard points out, is that much of the debris from the coast is washed round Spurn Point and into the Humber, reinforcing the delicate-looking peninsular and creating new land from the estuary in the area of Sunk Island. Some farms in the fascinating bulge on the Yorkshire bank of the Humber still have crowns on their walls, reminders that land which returned from the sea used to be claimed by the monarch. | The consolation, Sheppard points out, is that much of the debris from the coast is washed round Spurn Point and into the Humber, reinforcing the delicate-looking peninsular and creating new land from the estuary in the area of Sunk Island. Some farms in the fascinating bulge on the Yorkshire bank of the Humber still have crowns on their walls, reminders that land which returned from the sea used to be claimed by the monarch. |
| Now it belongs to whoever owns the neighbouring stretch of shore. If you are driven out of Aldborough or neighbouring towns, Sunk Island might be a good place to go. | Now it belongs to whoever owns the neighbouring stretch of shore. If you are driven out of Aldborough or neighbouring towns, Sunk Island might be a good place to go. |
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