By the Sea

On our first full day with my cousin Kevin and his wife Sue, we went to a nearby seaside village called Barton-by-Sea.  It is located on a cliff more than 100 feet above the English Channel.  There are several paths that descend to the beach.

Along the shore there are little beach cabins.  These structures, not much bigger than a walk-in closet can cost between 30,000 and 150,000 British pounds (between 40,000 and 200,000 U.S. dollars!).

The cliffs are composed of very crumbly material and are prone to erosion.  In some places the cliffs are eroding at the rate of three feet per year.  In order to try to slow the rate of erosion, vegetation has been planted on the cliffs.

This is as far as we were allowed to go due to unstable cliffs.

You can see evidence of where houses built on the edge of the cliff, have fallen to the sea due to erosion.

From the beach you can see just off shore the Isle of Wight, an island in the English Channel.  The island became a popular seaside resort when Queen Victoria made it her winter residence.  (The island supposedly has the mildest winters in the England)  At the right, you can see rock formations known as the Needles.