Not Much Longer Now

Work nears completion to secure Rock Walk
From THE HERALD EXPRESS
Monday, March 30, 2009, 09:22


WORK on the new look for Torquay's Rock Walk should be completed next month.

While contractors are busy clearing and securing the rock face, work is underway on the next phase of the project to turn it into a horticultural attraction.

But the bulk of that stage of the work will not get underway until the autumn.

A spokesman for Torbay Council said: "The design for the restoration works is progressing and will be complete for mid-April.

"Work is now progressing on the design of the path and viewing platform and it is anticipated the tender for final design and construction will be advertised during April for further design over the summer and implementation during next autumn and winter.

"We are hoping to carry out advance works over the summer concentrating on the upper path and railings and drystone walling. This is to keep any noise and disruption to a minimum during the busy summer season.

"Site investigation works will be done during April to establish the ground conditions for the new bridge and path works.

"Planting designs will be worked on over the next few months."

The stabilisation and clearing work is due to be finished in June.

The overall project should be completed by April 2010.

End of story.

Meanwhile a couple more photos of the work.
Looks like a gun emplacement but I suspect this is the bit that is going to need a little bit of concrete to keep the cliff face up.
This section is in the middle of the cliff face and looks the most dramatic. A couple of workmen drill into the rock, much of which does not appear to be completely stable. I hope there will an absence of netting in this rock face or it will look extremely tame.

Progress is being made.

Here workpersons are hacking out any loose rocks and fixing bolts to any too big to remove.

Not as exciting as cutting 20 tonne trees down I'm sorry to say. A picture of the cliff face from high up on one of the buildings overlooking the Harbour.

A Wall Not Far From Rock Walk.

This is part of the sea wall over looking Livermead Beach. If you look carefully you will notice that the two large lumps of rock are coming loose. You can also notice there is plant life growing out of the gap between these two large lumps of rock forcing the rocks to move ever so slightly.

The rest of the wall for hundreds of metres in both directions does not have plant life growing in the gaps and the rest of the wall doesn't have lumps of rock coming loose. Plant roots might not look all that strong but the do have the effect you can see above. Imagine what effect tree roots would have on this wall. Imagine what effect the tree roots were having on Rock Walk.

Which basically was why the trees had to go.

Netting, nothing but netting?

From The Palm Court Hotel in the south to the Pavilion in the north A great plastic curtain is decending across the face of Torquay.


It doesn't seem to make much difference if the cliff face is covered with vegetation or bare rock, soon it will, by the looks of what has happened so far covered with plastic netting.
I hoped the idea was to knock the loose bits down, bolt the big slabs to the bedrock with great long steel pegs and cover any suspicious bits, i.e. might fall down in the next hundred years with net, not just put net curtains over the lot like some front room parlor. But the two photos show curtain at one end and curtain at the other all together looking like some one is just about to draw them across the cliff. What a mess. Why not leave the safety barrier where it is and we can admire from a distance. Building walkways and steps is a crazy idea, no one ever uses them. Just open the top path for the view and let the cliff slowly crumble, It's what cliffs do the world over and have done so for the last 4.5 billion years. Who are Torbay Council to stand in the way of such an ancient tradition?

So we just let the cliff fall down, gradually. The Big Blue Wall can stay where it is, for ever protecting passers by till it too erodes away. At least from a distance it won't look too bad, not if you don't concentrate; and paint it a better colour.

Lots of Changes at Rock walk

I have been away for 7 weeks in what used to be the world's biggest prision. Now known as Australia. Personally if my house used to be a prison I would prefer to forget it but there you go. Anyway back to Rock Walk.



When I left the cliff face at the Pavilion end looked like this. Here was where the most rock fall occurred while the trees were being removed. Some of those rock slabs look very big.
Now it looks like this, quiet a change and I missed it all happening, sorry about that. The rest of the work will be fairly tame stuff like below workmen are fixing netting to the cliff at the Mojo end. Tame? Not when there is a 100 foot drop behind you.

The netting looks fairly ugly at the moment but once the vegetation starts to grow through it should improve the look of the place.

Work is due to be completed by June and according to a newspaper report it is on schedule.