Where has our sand gone?

The short answer is in the above illustration. But it is a bit more complicated!

RED is Loss, BLUE is Gain.

First a big thank you to The Plymouth Coastal Observatory who have provided these images and recorded this data. We have been in touch with them many times about different Tidelines porjects, most recently about a Coastsnap facility (see below) for the town. You can find all their data, maps etc freely avaialble on their website.

Sand keeps moving! Sometimes drastically as a result of one storm. And there is sometimes considerable local discussion and concern. The most obvious current movement has exposed old pipes, drains and groines around the RNLI area of Exmouth seafront. The above map shows the changes in the placement of sand from 2007 to 2021 based on beach measurement. As such it portrays a 14 year tendency to gain in some places and lose in others. In short losses in the middle area (the Maer) and gains either side. Records of this accuracy seem to start in 2007.  Between 2007 and 2021 there are maps showing annual change for each individual year which, looked at together, show variations which don’t always follow the same progression as the 14 year overall direction. Here is the 2020 – 21 annual change: