At the beginning of November 2023, Storm Babet wrecked havoc across the East of Scotland eroding many stretches of coastline. North Berwick did not miss the destruction with the coastline from the harbour in the town all the way down past Yellowcraigs losing metres off the coastal edge, leaving many areas vulnerable to more damage - the Harbour Wall in North Berwick was also damaged badly which show the strength of the waves.
A bench that was sat on top of the coastline in November 2023
Subsequently, there has been many high tide events that have followed and each one bringing another level of erosion and destruction of the coastline.
The West Links has 2 areas of Coastal Erosion protection with a stretch of Rock Armour at the 2nd hole and a dune that has been stabilised using Geo-textile sandbags at the back of the 11th green. These areas were at a critical stage of erosion and the clubs that play on the West Links made the correct decision to plan and build these protection zones to prevent long-term damage and loss of key parts of the course. These two areas have held up extremely well during the recent high tides with only some remedial work required at the 11th area.
However, we are now facing problems in other parts of the course. The right side of the 3rd tee has fallen onto the beach with the irrigation line being exposed and subsequently dropped onto the beach. The bank at the back of the 14th green has also been taken away with the bank to the left of the 13th green starting to recede considerably. As mentioned, the coastline from the the town all the way down to Yellowcraigs has eroded considerably with varying degrees of damage.
3rd Tee in November 2023
3rd Tee in November 2023
3rd Tee in April 2024
Rear of 14th Green in November 2023
Shortly after the initial storms, we liaised with Envirocentre, who were the team behind the two existing coastal erosion zones, to come and assess the situation and to see if any work could be done short-term to stop anymore coastline being lost. They advised us to pull material from the beach and reinstate the bank along the coastline to a 45 degree angle. This would help prevent the tides from undercutting the exposed coastline and pulling sand from the under the dunes leading to them to collapse. This angle would also help to break the energy of the waves slightly and not to create further damage. Upon receiving verbal consent from East Lothian Council, a local contractor came in and carried out this work along the 2nd, 3rd, 12th and 14th holes.
Remedial works carried out in November 2023
At the 11th protection zone, the mouth of the Eil Burn which comes onto the beach, is very dynamic and can move its direction of flow on a day to day basis. The flow of the burn was straightened to keep it away from the protection zone and not to compromise that area. Sand was also pulled back into the protection zone to build it back up and ensure the Geo-textile sand bags were suitably covered as they can degrade when exposed to UV light. The dune at the left of the 11th hole saw considerable erosion with the toe of the dune receding by a good few metres and sand that had built up over the years disappearing in one fell swoop.
The flow of the Eil Burn snaking to the left close to the protected erosion zone
Exposed Geo-Textile sandbags at the 11th
Remedial works carried out to bury the Geo-Textile sandbags
The dune at the 11th in early 2023
The same area at 11 in November 2023
It felt like every week we were dealing with another high tide, another storm or another extreme weather event that was causing further damage to our fragile coastline. We have been in constant dialogue with East Lothian Council and Envirocentre, even hosting a walk of the coastline with representatives from both of these organisations as well as Nature Scot, who we sought clarity and support from before further remedial work could get underway.
This week, we have a local contractor onsite again carrying out this remedial works and again building the bank of the coastline back to the 45 degree angle to help mitigate against further damage. We are hopeful that the worst of the high tides are behind us for the time being and hopefully this will give the work that has been done a chance to settle and stabilise over the rest of the Spring and Summer before the high tides return. We are working collaboratively with all stakeholders on a plan for protecting and future-proofing our special site against a very real and concerning threat.
Remedial works at the 2nd hole in April 2024