Camber Sands tragedy

[Paul S]

Camber Sands tragedy

Over the last 20 years a lot of Coastguard stations have been closed down. The reason for their closure was quite simple: Modern technology has rendered them surplus to requirements. We no longer need lots of people looking out from their coastguard stations when everything is on satellite and easily traceable.

In 1994 two fisherman died in Cornwall within view of a coastguard station which had just been closed down. After this the National Coast Watch Institution was set up to be the eyes of the coast and is purely voluntarily. Since then they have logged thousands of incidents and vessel movements and alerted the emergency services to many incidents. We can't keep an eye on everyone, but there are people out there who genuinely give a damn and are watching out for these things, but we can't stop every tragedy.

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Purely as a personal note and I make this just as a casual observer. Many people from ethnic communities are really into their outdoor pursuits. But it surprises me how many of them can't swim. Growing up in Southend the local authority had a policy that every child should learn to swim by the age of ten and we all could. Black, White, Asian and Leyton Orient fans included, we all could swim. Maybe the policy needs to go nationwide. Just a thought.

[Kevin S]

Camber Sands tragedy

caja-dglh wrote:

NOT THE WAY A WALK WITH THE DOG SHOULD END

https://[video=youtube_share;3GRSbr0...?v=3GRSbr0EYYU[/video]

[Southport Zeb]

Camber Sands tragedy

More or less every year there will be a story in the Southport newspapers about somewhere between one to four lads, aged between about 13 to 20, having to be rescued from the sands off Southport. Invariably they will have come up from Liverpool for the day and tried walking over the beach to Blackpool, not realising that the Ribble estuary is in the way. Thankfully I can't remember anybody being killed doing this, but it does seem like it will happen one year.

[My Name Is Ian]

Camber Sands tragedy

I remember going to the beach at Southport a few years ago and being astonished by just how far the tide pulled the sea out. We walked a fair old distance, but I started to get a little bit anxious about it and we wandered back well before the tide came back in.

The Sun and the like have been absolutely gagging for illegal immigrants to start pitch up on the beaches on the south coast this summer. It seems to have been one of their recurring themes - in fact, I'd go so far as to say that it wouldn't surprise me if dog-whistling on this was being targeted with the specific hope of encouraging some to try, so that they can whip up even more hysteria should it happen.

I live about a five minute walk from the seafront, but haven't seen anything unusual here all summer, and I think the far right press are going to end up disappointed if they are hoping that it will happen. If I were to read anything about tabloid hacks on the beach, I'd be the first down the beach lobbing pebbles at them (and there are plenty of those on the beach here).

[steveeeeeeeee]

Camber Sands tragedy

Both Southport and Southend have incredibly shallow coasts, meaning it can be difficult to believe the sea exists when the tide is out. Southend and particularly Shoeburyness are great beaches for swimming when the tide is in, the sea is far cleaner than I expected it to be, given it is still essentially the River Thames.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Camber Sands tragedy

My Name Is Ian wrote: I remember going to the beach at Southport a few years ago and being astonished by just how far the tide pulled the sea out. We walked a fair old distance, but I started to get a little bit anxious about it and we wandered back well before the tide came back in.

The Sun and the like have been absolutely gagging for illegal immigrants to start pitch up on the beaches on the south coast this summer. It seems to have been one of their recurring themes - in fact, I'd go so far as to say that it wouldn't surprise me if dog-whistling on this was being targeted with the specific hope of encouraging some to try, so that they can whip up even more hysteria should it happen.

I live about a five minute walk from the seafront, but haven't seen anything unusual here all summer, and I think the far right press are going to end up disappointed if they are hoping that it will happen. If I were to read anything about tabloid hacks on the beach, I'd be the first down the beach lobbing pebbles at them (and there are plenty of those on the beach here).

Well, there was this story yesterday.

[Paul S]

Camber Sands tragedy

The Sun and the like have been absolutely gagging for illegal immigrants to start pitch up on the beaches on the south coast this summer.

It's been happening for years, particularly on the Essex coastline. As Steveeeee points out, Southend and Essex in general has a very shallow coast and is perfect for small boats, yachts and other craft to drop people off. In fact the place is probably the smuggling capital of the UK with all sorts of things being landed in the county.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Camber Sands tragedy

Latest reports suggest these lads were having a kickabout on a distant sandbank, not realising that it would rapidly turn to quicksand when the tide came rushing in. That's pretty much what happened to those cockle pickers in Morecambe Bay a few years ago, and I remember being told a similar warning story about swimming to the sandbank off Exmouth beach when I lived in Devon as a lad. Anyone who's ever experienced that moment when you suddenly sink up to your knees in wet sand can appreciate the terror of it.

[Jon]

Camber Sands tragedy

"Anyone who's ever experienced that moment when you suddenly sink up to your knees in wet sand can appreciate the terror of it."

Robert McFarlane writes about walking The Broomway in The Old Ways, which runs for 6 miles along the Maplin Sands. (Is that the walk Paul S is talking about, I wonder?) Anyway, just before walking it, his Alaskan friend advises him to bring along a hatchet - "That way, if you get stuck in the mud with the tide coming in, you can cut your legs off at the ankles and escape."

[Paul S]

Camber Sands tragedy

Jon wrote: [i]
Robert McFarlane writes about walking The Broomway in The Old Ways, which runs for 6 miles along the Maplin Sands. (Is that the walk Paul S is talking about, I wonder?) Anyway, just before walking it, his Alaskan friend advises him to bring along a hatchet - "That way, if you get stuck in the mud with the tide coming in, you can cut your legs off at the ankles and escape."

No that's not the walk I do but it's only 3-4 miles down the coast from here. Foulness Island is the fourth largest island in England and is accessible either by boat or by foot at low tide. However, the crossing onto Foulness - although very short - is thick, soft estuary mud which won't take the weight of a human, let along a horse and trap. The solution was to ride about 500 yards out onto Maplin Sands and then go parallel along the coastline on firm sand until you reached the island. The route was marked by upturned broomsticks, hence the name "The Broomway". The route was perfectly safe except for one problem: if you didn't go far enough out you would get stuck in the mud; to far out and the tide would catch you out; do it in the mist and you would get lost The mud here isn't sinking mud but just thick estuary mud which takes ages to wallow through.

As for what happened at Camber Sands, the father of two of the men who drowned has said that neither could swim.