The worst of Storm Dennis had passed during the night but 50 kn winds had been forecast and the unusual step of cancelling the clay shoot at Nunnington Farm had been taken. Just as well as so many of the roads were flooded and the rain was still quite heavy.

To see what we’d missed I walked around East Head and was surprised by the number of people out experiencing the bad weather, especially families. Out to sea towards the Isle of Wight it was rough and pretty miserable, no boats of any sort in view.


Walking along the exposed side of the headland it was sad to see how the storm, combined with a high tide, had cut into the sand dunes. The whole stretch was showing clumps of grass that had been undermined by the sea and washed away.

The topography of the headland had fundamentally changed, especially at the northern tip, where a large area that had been there had disappeared. I hoped it was only a temporary change and not a fundamental diminution of a favourite landmark.

The beach showed signs of the ferocity of the wind. The surface had been blown away leaving strikes of sand sculpted behind any stone firm enough to stay put.

Very little bird life, they seemed to have hunkered down in a safe roost to ride out the gales. The only exception was several birds that I took to be Skylarks but wasn’t certain. They certainly looked
like them although possibly a little bigger; they also acted like them although didn’t make any song flights but stayed close to the ground.

A bracing walk that tested the waterproofing of my clothing!