Having written this piece for our local newsletter, Peninsula Papers, I thought I would share it – with some minor edits.
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that one cannot step into the same river twice: it’s never the same river, and you won’t be the same person. Similarly one cannot visit the same beach twice, because each tide changes things. The late May sand levels at Musselwick (Marloes) have been very high because of offshore winds; furthermore swimmers are finding it shingly underfoot, even rocky in places.
Lumpy Beach Syndrome has been reported here before: from a friend’s archives comes a Western Mail front page article of June 11th 1984 headed Riddle of vanishing holiday sands baffles the experts. The photo shows Steve Marsden, then proprietor of Marloes Post Office (which was in The Square) surrounded by stones, his backdrop that unmistakeable black cliff. The Mail had consulted Prof D Q Bowen (Aberystwyth University) about the situation – which was however different 41 years ago, for then the general Musselwick beach level was very low and there were reports of “lost sand” from locations all across Wales and England.
Normality will probably return with a weather change; but, it’s well to be reminded that Nature is good at surprises. While summer visitors struggle to picture No Beach Syndrome, we year-round shore explorers have witnessed on different occasions Musselwick, Albion, Marloes, and West Dale completely scoured to the bedrock – and then, sometimes only a day later, everything back as before!
