British beach is washed away overnight... then reappears

© SWNS.com



The sand on Porthleven beach was washed away by a freaked tide then "brought back" a few hours later.

A British beach which was stripped of all its sand overnight by a freak high tide for the first time in living memory, has miraculously been restored.

Porthleven is a favourite holiday spot for tourists visiting Cornwall and is famed for its pristine golden sands nestled below the quaint seaside town.

But during the recent bad weather so much sand vanished that the once yellow shoreline is now dotted with jagged rocks covered in seaweed and algae.

Overnight on Wednesday a severe high tide removed all the sand - leaving it a rocky not sandy beach.

Photos from the scene show promenade steps that used run down into the lush sand now leading to a sharp drop onto rocks.

An oceanographer from Porthleven, Alan Jorgensen, said that he has never seen the level of sand so low in all his years in the village.

He said: "I am sure it will come back in time but I've never seen it like this before. It was a bit of a surprise to be honest."

Karen Wall, 42, from Porthleven, said: "I've seen it fluctuate, but just going by my mother's wisdom - she's been past that beach every day for 74 years - she's never seen it as bare."

Councillor Andrew Wallis said: "The beach has never had this little sand in living memory.

"This area is quite prone to long shire drift and sometimes it is more extreme than others. This time was definitely on the more extreme side."

However, as locals were scratching their heads as to what had happened the sand was deposited back onto the beach.

Mr Wallis, who lives around the corner from the beach, said that the beach returned "completely naturally" confirming that "Mother Nature" put the sand back, not the council.

Experts calculated that nearly a million tonnes of sand were lost off British beaches last year, with popular beaches in Newquay, Bude and Perranporth also left bare.

Chomsky: We Are All – Fill in the Blank.

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://bit.ly/1xcsdoI.