The school students losing land to rapid coastal erosion
Sarah Harris-Smith and three of her students at Withernsea High School describe the impacts of the rapidly changing coastline on their future.
Listen to Sarah, Charles, Trystan and Harvey’s Stories:
In this story we speak with Sarah Harris-Smith - a geography teacher at Withernsea High School - and three of her students: Harvey Taylor, Trystan Young and Charles Graham. Sarah has been teaching at Withernsea High School for 25 years. As a geography teacher it is a particularly interesting place to work because it sits on the Holderness coast in Yorkshire, which is the fastest-eroding coastline in Europe. On average, it loses 2 metres a year, a rate which is only increasing with climate change. Many of Sarah’s students are young farmers directly affected by the loss of land due to coastal erosion, so we decided to go and speak to some of them about its impact on them.
Music in this story: Alustrat by Blue Dot Sessions; Eleven Count by Blue Dot Sessions (www.sessions.blue).
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“The challenges produced by coastal erosion are very sad, and our students are living with them every day. There are students who farm on the Holderness coast who are losing large chunks of land. But I think there is just an acceptance. It is what it is. What is their land now will be in the sea.” - Sarah Harris-Smith
“If my family farm gets eroded, because we’re mainly on cliff tops, there might not be much left when I’m in line to run the farm. It’s upsetting that land that you used to see there, that you’ve made memories on, is gone and you can’t bring it back.” - Charles Graham
“I wanted to live in my grandad’s house but it’s not really an option for me, because it’s too dangerous and by the time I’m moving out it will be gone anyway.” - Harvey Taylor
“There was a pillbox. I used to take some of my mates up there and sit on the top of it. I could see it out of my bedroom window and because the ground was so weak because of the erosion and the flooding, you could hear it going over the cliff.” - Trystan Young
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Stories From Round Our Way. Everyday conversations with people impacted by climate change.