We had noticed several projects being undertaken with regards to re-inforcement and or protection of the coast from water erosion. Again, simply talking about the same one night ewith locals in the Crinnan Hotle, we were given some information. This is a useful bit of detail with regards to the same at Cullipool.
Coastal Protection for Cullipool Village
Every year, winter storms have eroded back the edge of the platform of loose slate waste on which much of Cullipool village and the land to the north sits. The ‘once-in-a-hundred-years’ storm has occurred several times in the last 10 years, and as the ocean warms as a result of climate change, such storms will remain a more common occurrence.
When The Community Trust bought the remnant estate of land and mineral rights of the former quarry owners in 2006, it acquired a vast pile of loose slate, varying in size from fine sand to large blocks. One of the purposes of this, and one for which the grant to purchase was awarded, was to use this slate for coastal protection work. But carrying out that work would be a costly exercise itself, and at that time there was no further money. However in 2008, negotiations with Argyll and Bute Council led to a grant being awarded from the Council’s limited budget for flood protection. With private funding making additional work possible, the work began in the autumn of 2008.
Now at the start of 2009, the work has been done. A considerable amount of the Trust’s reserve of loose slate has enabled a much more extensive bank to stretch around the edge of the bay, protected by an array of large rocks buried beneath smaller slate, which should provide protection for many years to come. Below this, the beach will still be accessible, though the bank may take a while to settle into a new profile.
It isn’t possible to provide permanent erosion and flood protection, even if the millions required were available. The aim has been to provide a defence that can be renewed from time to time as needed, using further slate from the waste slate pile. In the longer term, there are more unknowns relating to the prediction of rising sea-levels.
We have recently been advised that the present rate of sea-level rise in the Oban area (about 1.5 mm per year) is roughly compensated by continuing post-Ice Age rise of the land surface. It might be 50 years before sea-level rise in this area outpaces the rise of the land surface sufficiently to demand more drastic and expensive remedies. For the time being Cullipool folk can sleep safer in their beds on wild winter nights.
Damage from a previous severe storm; loose slate from the beach covers the road.
Work begins in October 2008; one of the two diggers at work on the beach.
The other digger excavates the pile of waste slate to be used on the bank.
This photograph shows how the bank was built up by creating a core wall of large blocks which are then covered with waste slate.
Close up of the core wall shows how carefully the blocks have been placed to create a strong core.
The covering of the core wall progresses from south to north.
One weekend, a storm tested the defences so far completed – and the defences withstood the assault well!
Towards the end, the smaller of the two waste slate piles has disappeared completely, revealing the solid rock that had been long buried beneath the pile.
A view along the top of the completed bank. The steep slope to the beach will slowly be washed down to a gentler profile by wave action.
General view of the completed work. Access to the beach is now down the concrete strip to the left of the picture.
It's amazing just how much work is undertaken that the average visitor doesn't really appreciate or notice.
They are of course very fortunate in having so much rock and slate to hand.
Brilliant link here:-
The Slate Islands and the Sea - Seil, Luing & Easdale
The Isle of Seil, Easdale Island, the Isle of Luing and Belnahua are the Slate Islands, once known as the Islands That Roofed The World. ...
seil.oban.ws/islands.html - 13k - Cached - Similar pages
Many years ago, I think about 1983 we had a weeks holiday in these parts of Scotland.
We rented a small bungalow at Oban. Myself Flobo and our two girls, The Elder was 17 years old at the time and had recently returned from a period of working in The USA.
The younger was 12 years old.
Amazing now when the elder daughter is 43 years old this year and the younger will be 38 in a few weeks.
How time passes.
I've spent a bit of time with the elder son of the younger daughter today, he has been doing some road running (I paced him on the push bike) and a little bag work.
He's going to be seventeen this year.
I'm feeling old
No I'm not I'm young.
The bugalows, are no longer holiday homes, they are now private residences.
We had stayed in the first one on the right.
They are at the rear of The Soroba House Hotel.
Nice place it was as well.
We didn't call in, simply drove around and took a few photographs to show the girls.
They were glad we had done so.
Flobo reckons we have some old photographs from that holiday and she is going to find them.
Nice roads.
Attic here we come..
Nice stone Cross here as well.
Religion has certainly played an extremely important and very beneficial part in our development as a brilliantly civilised nation.