Medmerry. It's a bit different...
It is now nearly 2 and a half years since the breach of the old seawall was carried out, and its maintenance as a coastal flood defence ceased.
As expected, the frontage is changing. Back in 2013, the old seawall was a high, steep-sided, flat-topped shingle bank. Since then, the sea has been busy, flattening and pushing back most of it into a much more natural, broad, low bank. What used to look like a crash barrier is now more like a shock absorber.
Walking south-east from the Stilt Pools, you can see the natural coastal processes in action, and the closer to the breach you get, the more dramatic the change. Much of this section is washed over by high tides. It really is being re-shaped on a daily basis. Sometimes it is just small sculpture, at others it is veritably bull-dozer like. But never the same.
The Channel Coastal Observatory (CCO) are monitoring and mapping the changes to the breach so that the Environment Agency can learn from Medmerry - as the largest managed realignment of its kind in the UK, it is important we gather as much information as possible on this dynamic stretch of coast.
Two pairs of photos, taken from (more or less!) the same spots illustrate best the astonishing changes that have occurred in just the last few months. The final pic is of Martians landing the CCO team surveying the breach (in very cold conditions!) this month.
Medmerry beach 28.10.15
Medmerry beach 16.1.16
Medmerry beach, 29.9.15
Medmerry beach, 11.1.16
Channel Coastal Observatory survey 15.1.16