Tuesday 23 February 2010

Oddicombe Beach Closed By Rock fall

An item of news from the BBC. Oddicombe Beach which is below Babbacombe Downs was yesterday closed as 5000 tonnes of rock fell from the sandstone cliffs onto the beach. The place where the new rock fall took place has been closed since 2006 and is overlooked from the site of the the proposed cliff top fish restaurant that has been in the news recently. Actually the rock fall was about half a mile or more to the north but the cliffs in this area are mostly red Devonian Sandstone which is not noted for it's stability. I have sinking feeling about this.
The above photo was taken some time ago from the lookout point on top of the toilets on the Downs. The area where the rocks are falling is at the far end of the beach which as I memtioned has been closed for some years.

2 comments:

Pat said...

Seems it was part of the garden of Ridgemont House which was sold last week at auction for the bargain price of pounds sterling 150,000 . Clearly a case of caveat emptor (buyer beware).

David said...

Hi Pat, I think the buyer was aware as the normal cost of a house in that area is £600 000. It's been getting closer to the sea for years now. The house it's self is said to be damaged beyond repair.