Hemsby erosion: ‘I knew it would happen, but not so fast’

There’s not much retired fisherman Kenny Chaney doesn’t know about the Norfolk village of Hemsby. Despite working on Hemsby Beach for 52 years, the rate of coastal erosion has surprised even him.

An avid photographer and postcard collector, Mr. Chaney has built a personal Hemsby pictorial archive.

His collection traces not only his own life in the town, which is currently home to some 3,200 people, but also its progressive absorption by the sea.

He is holding a photograph showing a long golden beach with thousands of tourists enjoying a sunny day there.

“When I started fishing in 1957, it was a very lively vacation spot: you couldn’t move on the beach,” says the 77-year-old. “It would be absolutely packed.

“I’d estimate there were 10,000 to 12,000 people on that beach on a busy day, easily.”

While it remains a popular tourist destination, Hemsby has become just as well known for its rapidly disappearing coastline.

The beach, north of Great Yarmouth and Caister, was closed earlier this year when high tides reclaimed yards of sand from the access point known as ‘the gap’.

“I’ve seen most of the things that have happened at Hemsby Beach over the years,” Chaney says. “I’ve lived here my whole life and I wouldn’t have thought it could possibly have eroded as fast and as far as it has.

“I’ve seen all the big tides and all that. The problem is getting bigger and bigger.”

He says the beach level needs to be raised and then properly protected with a whole stretch of granite rock defences.

“We should have some fishtail groynes here before the rocks were put in, to rebuild the height of the beach as it was. It’s 12 feet [3.6m] at 14 feet [4.2m] lower than in 2013”.

In March, a 80 m (262 ft) rock revetment was installed as a temporary solution, created from 2,000 tons of Norwegian granite.

“We already have some rocks on the beach,” says Chaney. “It’s like putting a loaded barrel where you want a truck.”

“And if you don’t do much, you leave a weak point and that [the sea] He’ll find it”.

Experts say the East of England has a soft coastline and it has been eroding for at least 5,000 years.

Describing the loss of homes for people in Hemsby, Chaney says: “It’s devastating for them. It really despairs you.

“At first there was no one living in The Marrams. I could see what was going to happen to this beach, but I didn’t think it was going to happen as quickly as it did.”

One who has benefited from Mr. Chaney’s knowledge is ex-soldier Lance Martin, whose home has twice moved away from the edge of the cliffs.

“He knows all about the tides, the swells and the wind,” says Mr. Martin.

Describes an encounter with Mr. Chaney a few years ago when he was trying to find old rock defenses on the beach to defend the ground under his house.

“I was looking for the blocks on the beach and he came up and said, ‘What are you looking for, boy?’ like they do in Norfolk,” he says.

“I said I’m looking for where the slabs are buried, the big blocks.

“He said ‘oh, they’re about 27 paces from the base of the dunes or they were.'”

Sure enough, the rocks were under the sand exactly where Mr. Chaney had said.

“He also told me that when I put the blocks around the base of my house to make sure I have the best protection on the northeast end, because that’s where the wind and tide come from.

“I did, and as you can see, I’ve got a lot of ground sticking out here where everyone else’s is flat.”

“Hemsby is full of characters from all walks of life,” says Martin, who retired in 2017. “I love it.”

He paid the asking price for his house in Hemsby six years ago and moved out.

“It was an idyllic country house and I couldn’t actually see the sea from my property. I actually had to stand on the roof because the dunes were so high.”

He did an environmental impact study for the property which said the rate of erosion was about 1 m (3 ft) per year.

“That would have seen my life out,” he says.

As for Chaney, he says he admires the “vision” and efforts of people like Martin.

“You can tell they were a bit naive,” Chaney says. “But I’ve lived here my whole life and I wouldn’t have thought that it could possibly have eroded as much and as fast as it has.”

The government says it has allocated £36m to coastal communities to help them adapt to a changing climate.

Plans for a permanent defense extending to 0.8 miles (1.3 km) have received a license from the Marine Management Organisation, but Great Yarmouth City Council need to find £15m to carry out the work .