Granitechops

4 hours ago, 101 said:

At Powderham there's a boatyard/yacht club with yachts parked up on a narrow strip of land between the estuary and the railway, it's the only place where I was ever cautioned by a signalman "as there may be a boat in the four foot !" 

And I remember, about mid 1980s after a storm a small boat ended up in the middle of the tracks right in the centre of Starcross Station, having being flung over the station railings by the storm. but I do not have a photo of it.

Had a reply from Brunel Holiday park, Quote  "

Just to clarify for the 'Stationmaster', we have applied for a continuation of use, and have to prove use for the last 10 years. Have managed to get sworn affidavits from some wonderful past guests, but the council say we need more evidence re 2014. Hence the Facebook plea, which seems to have come good . It's all so nonsensical to use, we just want to save the trains and bring them back to life - might have been easier to apply for a lap dancing club and a block of flats Thanks for your help, Abby and all at Brunel

 

 

Chat conversation end

The camping coaches at Dawlish Warren have been renovated, upgraded etc. but  the owners are having problems proving that the site has been in operation for years. they are appealing for anyone who stayed there especially in 2014  to contact them with proof of holiday there, see their page      https://www.facebook.com/brunelholidaypark/?hc_ref=ARSXYMTAkPGpIupFBPuQPIsVNXY4qz9J-LYWUM3BY6L9kGEYqh-mepTaJefdQ3fbjWg                 remember a member of this forum staying there as I visited him there while he was on Holiday, but I cant remember when,  It was while I was contributing photos of the seawall washout on this thread

It is most odd that there should even be talk of a more seaward route than currently exists.  What's beneath the surface?  Unless there's a lot of rock, dumping tons upon tons of spoil will hardly deter an angry sea that all too frequently shows up in the area.  Also what about the locals of the future; whey may get a more extensive beach but will be faced with an embankment just off shore which may not please everybody.

 

  While an Okehampton resurgence may do 'sod all' for Torbay, it would do a lot for Plymouth, Cornwall and the rest of Devon (which has a greater population than Torquay, Paignton and Brixham), who suffered the most financially during the shut down.

 

But none of this will do anything for the immediate or even near future; in fact do nothing may even be an option unless another such storm appears and then where will they be; 

Cap'n Kernow has retired!

 

Brian.

Brian asked "What's beneath the surface?"

Fact.

from personal observation of the sea bed from Boat cove to the old Life Boat station, when storms scour the beach at spring tides there is a bedrock about 25 to 30 foot below rail height. that of course appears to be similar rock to the cliffs. NWR, or its contractors,  should already have some data on this as extensive rock sampling was carried out before the outer seawall path was raised. What is beneath the sand between the Old Boat house and Red Rock, cant be seen as sand drifts that way, & rarely gets lowered. Access to view the beaches from Coryton Cove to Teignmouth is limited for those in wheelchairs  

Conjecture

possibly any solid wall structure, not bridge, would in time get a build up of beach against it by longshore drift.

which might help Exmouth's problem of too much sand!

or not

Alan, just found this topic, talk about trip down memory lane, I think, in my case,  caused by the scenery, you have caught the essence of the South Hams evocatively.

I used to be a lorry driver in Kingsbridge in the1960s,  The mate/cutter on  with me one Sid, was working at Kingsbridge Station after it closed, cutting up the Station railings. He recounted tails of being a conductor on the GWR buses that connected Kingsbridge to Salcombe. In summer there could be 3 buses in convoy & his job was to check tickets on route. changing bus in turn, sometimes hanging on the outside.

From your map the railway would have come down Bowcombe creek, & may have necessitated a steep climb up over into town, so, yes suitable engine power  needed

Good one!! 

Damage to stonework

this is the small stone enclosure where the brook runs under the viaduct at Dawlish Station

from other side

Damage to Station roof, gutter & down pipe & edge of roofing structure 

A couple of weeks ago the broken railings were REMOVED,

then a wave surge damaged the station roof ripping some of the new guttering put up last year

in the last few days the corner of the  small stone enclosure around the outfall of Dawlish Brook has been undermined

affecting about 20 ft of stonework, as its highish tide cant see how far its undermined

will put up photos later

That is more dangerous than not having the chicane. It forces you near the edge without protecting you. It needs fixing soon before someone goes over. But is that storm damage? I rather doubt it as the supports for the rail are still there.

 

Jonathhan

 

PS Take care there please.

Very true Jonathan,  great care was exercised, extreme crawl, was the speed used.

definately storm damage

the base supports are rock anchored into the wall,

but the construction of the joints is hex, allen key grubs, which are prone to loosening with vibration 

Oh yes life is precious, no unneccessary risks are knowingly taken

new video on my youtube channel

Be aware that perspective can make thinks look dangerous,

the young lady standing on the break water photographing

is actually in  a safe place in the circumstances on that day,

tide, wind direction, shelter afforded by the old cafe block. etc.

Fleeting shot of NWR "stone blower" taken yesterday

and condition of  hand rail/ chicane at Dawlish viaduct

I havent been down there today, but it appears that overnight,

part of the chicane by the Dawish viaduct was ripped off the seawall by the waves

see If I can get a photo soon

Derelict house, where concrete pipes were run through the garden to deliver to seawall seen in august

and seen in December

somebody got moving, notice red pantiles replaced with new slate roof, glazing fixed,

garage built just above railway & new paint job, garden tidied, 

wonder if it will soon be on the market?

down at Coryton Cove  Replacement beach huts being painted ready for  placement

over new pavement of 50 mm slabs damaged in fire.

BEWARE new steps by washout are heavily coated with seaweed /algae especially on the outside where

there are NO handrails

Wed 23rd Dec Groyne 1 leaning over due to under scouring

so much so that the top one of these 2 boards, is normally just at sand level,

 the beach goer here has to just duck a bit to pass under

looks like pin failure in the support fitted in spring this year     EDIT, last year

photo March 2014

Photo Dec 2015

because the boards are now not stopping northward drift of sands,

 the beach level has dropped so that there is a drop of 15 ins at the end of the slipway 

but now today Friday 25th Dec the groyne has collapsed further

EDIT;-

so as to make life more interesting to disabled in wheel chairs, mobility scooters, mothers with buggys

& TWIN buggys,  there has recently appeared four chicanes, to supposedly deter cyclists,

which it doesnt as I witnessed one cycle through without stopping, mind you he also had ridden

along the wall from the direction of the Warren through wave spray 20ft high,

so maybe if he ignored the waves,  maybe he did not even see the chicanes either 

Hi Granitechops wonderful view of the waves.

Just wondering if you can get round the cycle barriers with your wheelchair? Great pity if you can't.

Hi, I have been through both barriers at the Viaduct in Dawlish,  not much room for error with the big scooter, so have to maneuver carefully & very slowly, should be able to also get through with the tandem behind. Hav'nt tried that yet, as my wife has not long got over spinal surgery, but will shortly be trying that out. Dont see any problem though, the tandem tracks very closely the scooter

Hope you didn't get too wet.  It looked like you made a strategic retreat at one point.

 

Jamie

Didnt get one drop on me actually. I was watching the waves for a least 30 mins before I took that Video,

to see how it was.  still made me jump though.

where I was sitting, there is a stone wall enclosure around the mouth of the Dawlish Brook

that empties out under the viaduct,  it breaks up the waves somewhat before they hit that bit of the walkway

you might be able to see what I mean from this photo taken from the opposite way to the video (taken last year)

what I did though was to spin round to catch the run off that had

run along the back wall & drained into the brook drain

strangely  there was no wind, just rough seas 

I do try to be out of reach of sea water as it would probably cut my electrics dead

the tide was only a 3.8m ,,

higher tides like 4.3m,  with an easterly behind them roar right up through under the Viaduct & across the main road

several people did get a good soaking because they did not appreciate

that every 5th or 6th or 7th wave can be much higher than the rest

Bit rough down at Dawlish this morning, no wind, no storm, just rough waves,

Video taken just after high tide at 10.45

https://youtu.be/PrmUgk5UB7M

Whatever the truth of the matter, it seems clear that the late gentleman had placed himself in great jeopardy even if he didn't deliberately go on the railway.

 

Unfortunately, too many people underestimate the power of the sea and/or find excitement in getting closer to it than is sensible in storm conditions. We have seen it demolish a railway (and the wall it was sitting on) so the survival of any individual swept up in such waves is purely down to luck.

 

Some years ago I worked in Seaton and, one morning, arrived to discover that a 25' fishing boat had been removed from the beach and transported more-or-less intact (accompanied by several tons of pebbles) 150 yards up the road by an overnight storm, passing my workplace en route. Much other destruction was wrought that night and millions were spent on a protective wall and storm gates to prevent it happening again. Even so, you won't catch me within 50 yards of it when a big one is kicking off.

 

John 

 

Absolutely John, & yet recently someone was claiming to have been wave dodging with someone in a hand wheelchair!!!

Someone suggested to me today that maybe the person was on the actual seawall path,

 and maybe a wave threw them over the parapet onto the track

if they were unconscious........?

it was wild enough for that to happen

have actually seen a rowing boat picked up by the waves & deposited on the track at Starcross,

and that is on the estuary not even on the sea front

we may never know!

Sad fatality near new seawall walkway

http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co.uk/UPDATE-Person-dies-hit-train-near-Dawlish/story-28084623-detail/story.html

What a sad loss of life. so many people will be affected.

Did notice on the Dawlish Beach Cam video yesterday at 9.31 that the seas were tremendous,

and my tide table for yesterday states a fairly high tide of 4.3m at 9.15.

I wonder if it was avoiding the waves on the seawall in desperation.

Do Network Rail instruct drivers to slow down when waves are high & be vigilant for people escaping waves?

No criticism implied, just like to know as a regular user of the wall, so the unsuspecting can be warned

in desparation if caught out, I dont suppose the fine or the danger of being on the trackside would be upermost in ones mind?

A whole lot more factors are obviously involved.

BUT it is quite likely that in rough weather the choice of waves or train will have to be made by people caught out for WHATEVER reason

Referring to the last 4 photos,

 

Ok, Who nicked the cobbles out of the station yard?

These look like Granite sets, roughly the size of a normal house brick,

but more resilient to frost damage due to spalling and

more resilient to crush damage due to force of the waves

they look similar to those used to form the integral seats in the higher seawall along the front

from the Old Lifeboat House towards Dawlish Warren, before you get to the new raised section

Sad to report that the breakwater down by the tunnel at boat cove that was repaired & given

a protective layer of spraycrete, has started to "delaminate"

The next bit of damage could be down  on the walkway on the way to the tunnel,

where the pathway bulges out ( where the old subway used to be )

looks like cracks opening up due to very slight subsidence/movement

( the capn's last batch of photos show how much the foundations under that bit have been uncovered

at the end of Sept work was in progress repointing etc on the main breakwater

by Dawlish Station viaduct

Earlier on in Sept repair work finally got underway on the

small breakwater further down at Coryton Cove

The food bar/burger van at Coryton is now closed for the winter

 unlike (say) Cockwood where there's actually far less likelihood of people being alongside the track!

possibly,   but it was not unknown, previously to the fence,  for people to take a short cut along the railway instead of walking around the harbour

Oh sorry Chops. Hope you didn't mind the heads up. The Vulcan lives just up the road from me and I was lucky enough to see it come home last weekend. Lovely.

P

No probs ducky,   when the vulcan came over, same with the Tornado, traffic virtually came to a standstill, as people rubber necked

piccys to follow

Has anyone reminded Grainte Chops that the Vulcan will be visiting Dawlish this weekend (weather permitting) and I don't mean Mr Spock?

Phil

Who could miss that the air show is sheduled to be on!

The seawall will be nigh on impassible if its dry

Any one in Dawlish today should be prepared to be patient

Last year late afternoonish it took us 2 hours to get 1 mile home

UOSA at Buckfastleigh yesterday Tuesday

middle nearside driver removed for access to bearings I did hear someone comment

sorry for quality, angle of vision from viewing gallery was difficult

plenty of wheel sets on view

word on the platform was that she will be leaving Buckfast this Friday

so maybe she will be seen going north along Dawlish seawall !!!!

finally shot of rear of UOSA's  tender

NOT  a lonely member of the Orange army left on duty all night by him/her self

But a new lifesaving Buoyancy aid on a pole!!

Looks like a good start to the day for the holiday makers

sunrise over a flatish sea

From Dawlish beach cams contribution to

http://www.newsflare.com/video/51128/weather-nature/dawlish-sea-wall-footpath-reopens

orange army posing for Dawlish beach cam

slogan reads   'Job done part 2'

then the crowds streaming along the wall

First Mobility scooter along along new wall ( yours truly)

talking to enthusiast/photographer