Sir,
With reference to last week's article concerning Tenby councillors' concern over the erosion of our beaches, we have to agree that dredging for aggregate in the Western Britol Channel could possibly have an effect on beach erosion, and certainly it would have an effect on marine habitat. At the moment, at least half of the South Beach, Tenby towards Giltar Point is now not the nice sandy beach that it used to be. We have pictures to prove the point. The second half of the beach is now covered with shingle and small stones and towards low water mark the terrain is such as to be very hazardous for bathers, in that the area is covered with small boulders festooned with slippery fine seaweed. Local people say that they have never seen this beach in such a state. Again, several of the dunes have been washed away.
It must be recalled that there were two concrete groynes near Giltar which had been damaged by the sea. Instead of repairing these groynes, the local authority were instrumental in removing them altogether. Our ancestors, in their wisdom, built these groynes in order to protect the South Beach when the winds blew strongly from the south-west, coupled with the strong current of Caldey Sound. Not only did these groynes protect the dunes, but they also stopped the sand being swept away towards Tenby and around to the North Beach and beyond. We remember that the level of sand on the Giltar side of the groynes was at least four-foot higher than the level on the Tenby side, thus proving their use and value.
In the circumstances, and as local councillors think that the beaches are the lifeblood of Tenby town, perhaps something could now be done for the making and siting of new defence groynes in the areas concerned.
Graham Hughes,
Squibbs' Studios, Warren Street, Tenby.