Word of warning

[RobAdair]

Hi all. Haven't been on the site much in the last 2 years or so, but thought I would post this as it could save someones life.

I was at a presentation the other night about climate change and its effects on coastal erosion run by Maeve Lee (Project Officer for IMCORE/Durham County Council) and Dr Nick Cooper (Civil Engineer with Royal Haskoning) in conjunction with the National Trust.

Of special interest to most of the rock fishing lads on here was a piece about the closure of the Lizard Point carpark at Marsden. We were shown photos of the 2 massive rock falls that caused the carpark to be closed. When quizzed about the carpark re-opening I was told that the rock falls caused a massive overhang along the entire seaward side of the car park (basically Lizard Point to Jack Rock) which WILL COLLAPSE at some point in the near future and most probably take the front section of the carpark with it.

Now, remembering back to last winter and the tragic death of an angler at Newbiggin cliffs, I would seriously consider fishing in that area (or indeed any surrounding areas, as the blow hole just south of the Wherry is also causing them massive concern at the moment with the accelerated erosion of the sea level caves).

Sorry to sound like a kill-joy, but as the old adage goes, is your life worth a fish?

[KeithB]

Hello Rob, hope you are well.

Thanks very much for the information.

[codonly]

Aye Rob,thanks for that,ive been wondering why its been shut for such a long time

[boatangler33]

good bit of advice there

[jamiebrennan]

hi Rob thanks for the info, i fish and go to North row ends very often and noticed a few years back that there were fissures opening up just back from the cliff edge, they were big enough to swallow a man, they were mostly on the north facing side into the 4th bay, i have not seen any major signs of rock fall along to Jack rock and i fish the rocks below the cliffs that said i have not been down recently.
My concern is, if the cliff and the surrounding area is so unstable then why has the whole area not been closed off to the public, you can still walk around the paths and sit on the seats provided some of which are closer to the edge than the car park! It would have been an informative presentation to have been at, do you know if any more are planned? cheers.

[RobAdair]

hi Rob thanks for the info, i fish and go to North row ends very often and noticed a few years back that there were fissures opening up just back from the cliff edge, they were big enough to swallow a man, they were mostly on the north facing side into the 4th bay, i have not seen any major signs of rock fall along to Jack rock and i fish the rocks below the cliffs that said i have not been down recently.
My concern is, if the cliff and the surrounding area is so unstable then why has the whole area not been closed off to the public, you can still walk around the paths and sit on the seats provided some of which are closer to the edge than the car park! It would have been an informative presentation to have been at, do you know if any more are planned? cheers.

Hi Jamie mate, the point of the meeting was to discuss and agree on signage to be used in the car park area to inform people of the dangers. If the overhang (which is being monitored at great cost to the National Trust) becomes anymore unstable, the whole area will be cordoned off (as per the blowhole area at the Wherry). According to the presentation, this is just the start of accelerated cliff erosion due to climate change, as we have seen at Frenchmans Bay in the last year. Souter Point was also mentioned as an area where accelerated erosion is occuring and they expect the point to become a stack at some point in the coming years.

If you would like to keep track of any news or meetings regarding this or any other issues on the South Shields/Whitburn coastline, I would suggest that you sign up with the Coastal Conservation Group website (Home) or have a chat with Mick Simpson, the National Trust warden for the Leas, who is normally kicking about along the Leas in his pickup.

[jamiebrennan]

Thanks for that Rob, going to sign up tonight. I was talking to Mogthemackem last spring and he said that the whole area from Whitburn to Shields pier is under oberervation due to the disappearing cliffs, i myself witnessed cliffs falling just south of the gunpits and the mudhole that very day.
Regarding Souter point (directly behind the lighthouse), below the very point there has been regular rock fall but there is a hole/tunnel that passes beneath it that i have noticed is larger than it was a couple of years back, its not huge but will only get worse.
I think this year will see lots of falls due to the hard winter we had, stay safe everyone.

[codseeker]

thanks for the info i have fished along that stretch in the past and some marks do shake with a bit swell on