Rock Walk

If you drive or walk along the sea front between the Pavilion and Belgrave Road you would be hard pressed not to notice the Big Blue Wall. Probably by now you don't really notice it, I mean it's been there so long now you are beginning to think it has always been there. Well just to remind you why its there, and for any newcomers who probably think its some thing we do in Devon for no good reason; its there to stop rocks that might fall down the cliff hitting unsuspecting passersby. Well not for much longer. A company called Vertical Technology, at the request of Torbay Council are making the cliff face stable. A few bolts here and there, Frankenstein style, to hold a few big slabs in place, a bit of netting here and there and a small amount, a few square metres, of concrete in the worst sections. By the time it's all done in June and the safety barrier comes down you won't notice the nets, or the concrete or bolts, only one or two, well maybe a few more, OK, there could be a couple of thousand of them but I'm sure you won't notice them. And the nets, If vegetation grows through it will cover the nets. However there are nets going over bare rock, what's going to grow over that netting? Still you probably won't notice. Not if you keep your eyes shut any way. When I went down there yesterday a distorted line from a speech by Winston Churchill sprang to mind. "From the Pavilion in the East to the Palm Court Hotel in the West a Metal Curtain has come down across Torquay." And it will look awful.

All along the path at the top of the cliff are rolls of netting like this. Why not just knock the loose bits away and let the cliff crumble gracefully to bits. Since before the Dinosaurs got roasted it's what cliffs the world over have been doing , why should we stand in their way? Never mind walkways and such, no one every uses them anyway. Lets be able to stand back and think,"Oh look. A pretty cliff." Not, "Sorry not all that keen on Modern Art, don't you know?"