NO LONGER TO BE A CLIFFHANGER

Although the Suffolk coast is only a short distance away we do also enjoy trips a little further afield to the Essex coastline. In less than an hour we can be at Harwich, Walton, Frinton, Clacton or Brightlingsea. An interesting feature at Walton is "The Naze". In fact the full name of the town is Walton On The Naze. The Naze extends northwards from the town into the North Sea and provides lovely panoramas towards Harwich, the Walton backwaters and across to the container port of Felixstowe. The ground slowly tapers away from high cliffs at the southern end to sea-level at the north. The cliffs are clay and are being gradually eroded by the sea.














The most noticeable feature on the Naze is man-made. The Naze Tower was built in 1720 as a lighthouse. It was used during WW2 for early radar experiments. It fell into disuse but was then bought and restored by a very enterprising young lady and is now a tourist attraction, art gallery, tearoom and viewpoint. The only problem was that the cliff erosion was bringing the North Sea ever closer. The cliff-edge, that in days gone by was a considerable distance from the tower, is now getting ominously close. Here it is:














It would seem only a matter of time - a few years - before the tower would be lost forever. However a fund raising programme was put together and granite boulders, forming a walkway and viewing platform, have now been placed at the foot of the cliff to prevent further erosion.














and














The granite boulders, each weighing about 4 tonnes, were shipped by barge from Norway and dropped into the sea at high tide. At the moment it looks quite messy between the cliffs and the walkway but the cliffs will gradually collapse just a little further from the vertical at the top to provide a more gentle slope which will grass over and look more attractive.

A lot has been happening since my last post back in May. My father and I had a very enjoyable week in Lanzarote in June with excellent weather - hot, sunny and clear blue skys throughout. We had a fascinating trip out on a submarine - one of only 15 commercial submarines in the world. Highly recommended.















We took Troy Junior to Silverstone to see the Silverstone Classics which included a parade celebrating the 50th birthday of the jaguar E-type (XKE)














That is just a snapshot. They were hoping to get close to 1,000 E-types into the parade to set a new world record. I haven't heard the final results yet.

Sorry I've been such a poor blogger recently. Today is the first day in ages (wet and cloudy) when I've had time to post. Hopefully it won't be as long a gap until the next time.