The A379 between Dartmouth and Kingsbridge in south Devon took a big hit at Slapton Sands during the winter storms. We’d wondered why the road was closed, and thought it was because a lot of sand and gravel had been thrown on to it. It was only as we walked past the barriers and continued along the road that we saw why.
The road was gone.
Slapton Sands has a large, attractive beach. It is backed, across the road from the shore, by Slapton Ley, an area of inland lakes with a nature reserve. The sands themselves have got some history, as the beach was used as a training ground for the D-Day invasion of France in 1944. Locals were relocated as the top secret preparations for D-Day were made and trial manoeuvres were carried out.
It was quite a shock to see the road so damaged. Will it be repaired? In the current climate of local council cutbacks, that’s not clear. A diversion has been in place since the damage was done, and no-one we spoke to about it knew of imminent repairs.
It kind of puts the UK’s ubiquitous potholes into perspective…..although I have noticed the beginnings of what could be a sink hole in a main road on our local town…..
Reblogged this on I can't believe it! and commented:
Quite a shock to see an A road just disappeared. Climate change = more extreme weather = more threats to our taken-for-granted infrastructure, like this.
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Keen observations along with necessary links made to local council cut backs Joyce. So many of us don’t make such necessary links which go back to national government cuts, forcing our local councils to make cuts somewhere.
What a mess!!
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