Friday 13th January 2023 - Unlucky, Spongy, Repairs and Deep History Coast Topper

It wasn’t until later this morning I realised what today is – Friday 13th – a date when for those who are superstitious, is unlucky. Its roots go back into Norse Mythology and the thirteen disciples in Christianity. Whether it is truly an unlucky day, I suppose depends on the individual but if you are superstitious, it may be of some consolation to know there are just two Friday 13th’s in 2023, with the next one not until October.

The dry summer of 2022 has been replaced with, what has been so far, a wet winter. Despite this, there have been few days when we have not been able to get out for at least one walk. Walking across the car park, before Christmas, there were areas where the ground felt spongy. I had to re-tread these areas to convince myself this was the case. No change since then, and in places you can see soft and waterlogged areas across to the cliff top which I am assuming shows the path of streams which will eventually make their way out through the cliffs and onto the beach. It may be some years yet but there will probably come a time when the car park will slump down the cliff, leaving us to ponder whether the pumping station and toilets will follow.

I was reminded, when looking through last year’s photos, that the steps onto the beach at the west end of the promenade have not been repaired since they were destroyed in a high tide at the end of January 2022. I was quite aware how easy it would be to trip and fall, when we last walked the beach, without a handrail and with lips on the steps. At the east end of the promenade, the steps were repaired but rather than use metal, the contractors used wood which was not strong enough and the handrails soon broke during a high tide, leaving jagged edges where the wood snapped. The old railings at the top of the west path leading down to the beach from Pauls Lane are still laying on a ledge. I informed our District Councillor last October about their precarious position to which she responded, ‘The team is still working and of course they will be cleared.’ but as of today, the railings and concrete posts still remain perched on the ledge. I am not having a moan; I’m creating a record of what needs to be fixed. However, it does leave me with the question as to why it takes so long for repairs to be effected, why suitable materials were not used, why a job cannot be completed and why the District Council do not monitor their contractors more closely?

On a lighter note, we have a new topper on the post box to brighten the dull days of January. With its dinosaurs, mammoth and cave men, it complements North Norfolk’s Deep History Coast; a stretch of the coastline between Weybourne and Cart Gap.