A brave gran living in a beautiful seaside village could lose her home to coastal erosion, years after her first property became uninhabitable when it toppled onto the beach below.
Bryony Nierop-Reading was dubbed “Granny Canute'” when she failed to save her clifftop bungalow 10 years ago, which resulted in her moving into a caravan. The 78-year-old left her three-bedroom home in December 2013 after a third of it went crashing down onto the beach below in the pretty area of Happisburgh, Norfolk.
She then moved into a semi-detached home known at The Old Coastguard slightly further inland but now, just five years on, she fears she has just months left in her new house as it is being threatened by the cliffs which are just 80 feet (25m) away.
A series of aerial photographs taken over the last 25 years show the dramatic rate of erosion near Bryony’s home on Beach Road, Happisburgh. She said: “I’m absolutely terrified now.”
She added: “I look out of my bathroom window every morning and see the cliff edge closing in. It’s not that I didn’t expect it to happen one day, but I didn’t expect it to happen this quickly.
“This makes me feel very, very angry about our government who will not protect our coastline.”
Bryony also owns half a field of land near Happisburgh Community Car Park – which are both at risk of also falling into the sea.
She said: “I’ve left it in my will to my grandchildren. At the rate it’s disappearing, there won’t be anything left for them unless I die quickly. It’s time to fight back. We need to protect our coastline.”
Bryony was nicknamed ‘Granny Canute’ as she fought to save her first house from going into the sea. She bought the 1930s property for £25,000 in 2009 and at the time, it was around 20ft (six metres) from the cliff edge.
But just four years later, it was hanging over the edge of the cliff in Happisburgh, Norfolk, and parts of it had to be destroyed. Instead of moving away from the coast, Bryony chose to live in her new property knowing the same thing could potentially happen again.
This is because she was afraid that if she moved inland, then she would ‘stop campaigning to save the coast line.’cShe is also campaigning to save numerous old buildings in the village, which are also at risk of falling into the sea.
Bryony said: “I’ve noticed that the further inland people live, the less concerned they are about coastal erosion. I would afraid that if I moved inland, then I would stop campaigning to save our coast line.
“I bought the house even though it’s right on the edge and it’s now in danger again but it does concentrate my mind when I see the cliff getting closer and closer. People’s houses can be moved but historical artefacts cannot be moved.
“If we don’t do something about the coastline, then we will lose the lighthouse, church and the pub.”
