19 comments
Bodhipaksa
@terrygrundy @Ash_Crow That's quite a long way from Brittany. I'd imagine this house would have been much further inland when it was built, and was abandoned because of coastal erosion. I wonder how many other houses have vanished?
Terry Grundy, FRSA
@bodhipaksa @Ash_Crow Yes, thanks, Bodhipaksa. I was asleep at the keys. When I was there, I didn’t see any signs of other houses in peril—though this one certainly seems to be!
Terry Grundy, FRSA
@lydiaschoch I have exactly the same questions, Lydia. @bodhipaksa adds another good one: How many *other* structures along that stretch of Normandy’s coast might have tumbled over the cliff because of coastal erosion?
Terry Grundy, FRSA
@cthululemon My apology. It’s in Normandy, near Saint-Pierre-en-Port in the Seine-Maritime department.
cthululemon
@terrygrundy Ah, that makes sense! With that chalky cliff I was thinking it had to be near the border with Normandy, as I couldn’t remember seeing anything like it elsewhere in Brittany. A really beautiful and eery scene. Seems like there’s a pithy social or philosophical statement in there somewhere but I can’t quite put it into words.
Terry Grundy, FRSA
“Man is in love and loves what vanishes, / What more is there to say?” ~ William Butler Yeats
Bodhipaksa
@terrygrundy I just took a dive into a paper about coastal erosion in that area, and discovered that on average the cliffs retreat by 0.2 m to 0.3 m (one foot) per year. But some places remain relatively stable for years, while there are sudden collapses that measure one to tens of meters/yards. A house like this could disappear in one fell swoop, without warning. I'm not surprised it's been abandoned! Oh, and great photo, by the way!
Terry Grundy, FRSA
@bodhipaksa Thanks for the research, my friend. Shall we open a betting pool as to when this sad little house will tumble into the English Channel? 🫣 |
@terrygrundy Not a good home for a sleepwalker.