Any Devonians??

CariadAgain

Thinking I had a lucky miss there then re the train. I remember a friend of mine at the time tried to tempt me into buying one of the flats in a converted house near that railway line!!! I wasnt buying it - in any sense of the word...thankfully. The sea view would have been nice - but.....nope....one sorta thinks "Because people have built here, then other people have bought here = it must be okay then". Thankfully I've learnt to be more cynical than that these days....

I am from East Anglia originally and quite a bit of the east coast is literally falling into the sea because of coastal erosion. Happisburgh (pronounced Hazeborough) has been suffering from this for years and now Hemsby, both in Norfolk. Slightly further down the coast in Suffolk, Thorpeness is suffering a similar fate. Many people have lost their homes to the sea or are in imminent danger of doing so. There has been no help for them and the Department for the Environment has been remarkably quiet. Had the problem been at one of the more fashionable resorts, I think there would have been a myriad of government support.

Some parts of the country are indeed very prone to this. Within Devon fortunately I knew about the Sidmouth cliffs and that they are gradually falling apart so to say at some spots and had walked up the top and seen where missing "bits" were. I did sympathise with those people - as I could see that some of it was rather nice houses in rather nice roads and thought "They must have regarded these as meaning they'd got to the 'top of the ladder' housing wise and been pleased they'd got somewhere so nice - and now it's breaking apart on them".

I felt wary of even walking on the part of the beach near that - just in case. Shame - as Sidmouth per se is one of the places I like and feel I could live in - but that part of it certainly put me off.

Yes, l think people have sometimes been duped into thinking they were getting a lovely house with a beautiful sea view at a great price without considering why these houses were such a bargain. When interviewed on the local news, almost none of these people have local accents - many seem to have come from London originally. They are almost all older, too. They had dreams of a peaceful retirement by the sea. It still doesn't mitigate these poor people losing their homes and dreams. Tragic.

Ashcombe

This morning a wave broke a window on board a train in Dawlish!

I remember when I was a child visiting relatives in Cornwall and I used to go out in the corridor at the first sign of the sea at Dawlish.

www.facebook.com/reel/1189494256727897

Torquay seafront last night.

Happisburgh (pronounced Hazeborough)
I never knew that! I've only seen it written down and pronounced it exactly as it looks. 🙂

Yes, DH's dream especially was to return to Devon and buy a house and be able to watch the sea in all its moods. Alas, we haven't managed that but we would have been aware of coastal erosion, I think.

Ashcombe

www.facebook.com/reel/1189494256727897

Torquay seafront last night.

😲

I have a friend who lives just near there!

10 am here.
This is not snow!

Anyone for a foam party?
We can all dress up!

😲 again!

Quiet here so far, very wet though. I'm waiting for you to send us the onslaught.

Musicgirl

Yes, l think people have sometimes been duped into thinking they were getting a lovely house with a beautiful sea view at a great price without considering why these houses were such a bargain. When interviewed on the local news, almost none of these people have local accents - many seem to have come from London originally. They are almost all older, too. They had dreams of a peaceful retirement by the sea. It still doesn't mitigate these poor people losing their homes and dreams. Tragic.

I think that sort of thing does happen.

Though I've seen a friend (no idea whether he was local or no) land up with a substantial chunk of his garden vanishing to a fall years back now. I presume he'd been living in Devon for decades as the first house I knew him in was one there he inherited from his mother. He had to move because half his house equity got stolen off him by his ex-wife in the course of a divorce (he'd inherited all that house just for him mortgage-free and then the wife he married had an affair with someone else and she broke up that marriage - but demanded half his house off him). Cue for an interim cheaper house and then a house came up in a road he'd long had his eye on and he swopped. That house duly had something happen and half the garden broke off and it was pretty city central - so I don't really know why that happened (as it wasn't what I was regarding as "cliff edge" - though it was top of a hill). Last I knew he was still living in that house - but minus part of his garden. I could see the neighbours also appeared to be still living in their houses too. It was a desirable road per se - pretty conveniently located, very close to the University (he was a university lecturer - so I could well understand that), very convenient for what was the lecturers/solicitors local pub of choice, a decent sort of road.

That was certainly an example of "Be careful what you wish for". I did sympathise with him though - hard that he lost half his original house to someone else in the first place and then to land up losing half his garden from a subsequent one.

Just took a look at that seafront!!! Whew! It's having a heck of a go there.

Given the freak weather of last few years = one does wonder.

At least we're not living somewhere like some parts of Russia right now (I've watched the videos of people sledding out of a window several stories up down the snow!) or one of the countries that never seems to get heavy rain but had a deluge. As for communities that had a mysterious fire somewhere a developer or two wants to be - Hawaii anyone....

Though I can see why outsiders landed up buying many of those houses - just remembering now that I'm in an area where estate agents avoid doing that part of their job of conducting viewings - and you're sent off to do them with the vendor themselves.

So I was suspicious when I came viewing here when they actually stirred themselves from their offices offering to show me two houses I hadn't requested to see. First one - literally only feet away from a dicey-looking river and with a hill going up only a few feet from the back of that tiny back garden. Second one - the edge of a hill not far from the end of the back garden. I took it that they'd both just insulted me - ie treated me as if I was stupid.

Part of Teignmouth pier has gone. Part of the new wall at Dawlish has gone. Trains suspended until 6pm but may not open then depending on rail line inspection.

😲

Crikey! That was all stuff that I had thought would just "stay there" no problem. Any photos?

CariadAgain

Crikey! That was all stuff that I had thought would just "stay there" no problem. Any photos?

I saw it on local news so I imagine they are about somewhere. I'll have a look at the local BBC pages.

Yes local BBC pages. www.bbc.co.uk/news/england

Thanks.

Crikey! It feels really odd to see part of a pier damaged like that. One always assumes piers will just stay put through the decades (how can ya' guess I'm quite fond of the idea of piers).

Have seen a photo elsewhere (though I wasnt sure whether it's recent or no) of some pavement in Dawlish that has the house with flat in my friend (errr make that "friend"....!!!) was trying to persuade me into buying years back !!!!

On another damage front - as in a few years back = I think they are - finally - going to rebuild that Exeter city centre hotel (the Clarence) after some (delete the word I'd use for him - but it ain't polite) caused it to burn down years back now. I remember just what a focal point it is for Exeter and I was glued to the Internet watching from Wales as the fire burnt and thinking "Yep...that's Exeter people for you....yay good for us" when it looked as if the firemen thought their work was done (or were saying their work was done) and they were basically not allowed to leave until everyone was quite sure their work was indeed done on the one hand - and people were there keeping them supplied with refreshments whilst they were fighting it on the other hand and was thinking "Yep...that's an Exeter attitude....both keeping them there on the one hand and no-one gets away with saying they're done when they're not done - but feeding them refreshments on the other hand. Go us". I'd have been belting over to the site myself complete with refreshments for the firemen too and a close eye as to when the job was finished completely. We lost a nice place and main focal point courtesy of Mr Idiot Workman.

Looks like trains have started to run tonight. I suppose they might be doing buses between Newton Abbot and Exeter but it looks like it is trains. Hopeful sign.

theworriedwell

Part of Teignmouth pier has gone. Part of the new wall at Dawlish has gone. Trains suspended until 6pm but may not open then depending on rail line inspection.

If I may correct you, it is not the new wall that has gone but a cosmetic wall that predates the recent wall by some decades.(DH worked for BR all his life and still has many connections in railway circles) The newly built wall has withstood the storm.

Good.

We were puzzled that a new wall, which should have been built to withstand storms, had collapsed.

theworriedwell

I'm in south Devon and hate it. If I could persuade DH to move I'd do it tomorrow. After 40 years of marriage I'm thinking of divorce to get out of here.

Interesting…as most retirees seem to head there.South Devon, that would be the Torquay area would it? What do you hate?

Just to add, there’s more to South Devon than Torquay of course, but I know that’s a popular area to settle in.

What do you hate?
Hills maybe?

I offered to swap but it's hilly hers. And wet, although we haven't had the latest storm.

I don't think theworriedwell is in Torquy as she said this on Wednesday, earlier in this thread:-

My town doesn't have a museum, the old theatre is used for amateur stuff, no concert halls, no posh restaurants.

Torquay boasts a museum, theatres (both amateur and professional) and many good restaurants, clubs and pubs, etc.