Landslips at Blackgang are pictured above.
The problem with some areas of The Isle of Wight is sometimes a rapid loss of land is due to a Landslip, which happens in The South/South West of The Island including Blackgang Chine Amusement Park. This is caused by layers of Gault Clay in certain areas of The Island. This clay is sometimes formed between layers of rock, and when there is sufficient rainfall with drainage into certain areas the land above the blue slipper will fall and slip away toward the sea, hence the term landslip. This clay is locally known as 'blue slipper'. Landslips at Blackgang are pictured above: Taken from the very edge of Blackgang Chine Amusement Park some 300ft high overlooking areas of Gault Clay and Landslips. The Amusement Park has lost a considerable amount of land over the decades and has had to relocate further up the hill on several occasions. There used to be another house nearer the edge - but had to be vacated and demolished when the cliff edge became too near. Erosion also affects The island.
Blackgang Chine a year or two after the 1989 picture taken from the same spot where the model village used to be! Models removed and a fresh barrier put up to stop access - not shown.
Closer view of the top image many years ago. The red mark shows the buildings that were later demolished because they were too near the edge, one band of 'Blue Slipper' can clearly be seen.
Blackgang Chine has also suffered over the decades from landslips being 300ft high. Cowboy Town had to be moved further up the hill and the model village moved from the cliff edge that came too close, 1989.
A recent cliff fall at Alum Bay is shown by the white mound along the coastline, this was not from a fault line of gault clay or 'blue slipper' as the cliffs are a chaulky type rock.
THE biggest landslip to happen to The Island for over a hundred years, a large amount of land slipped overnight - luckily no casualties. The area beyond the fence in the picture at Smugglers Haven Tea rooms has all been lost.
Luccombe beach and ever the changing steps down. This was a very tranquil place but sadly due to frequent slips the steps are no more and the beach is no longer accessible for a few years now.
Landslips although on a smaller scale have been occurring here for many years, the foreground used to be another row for cars to park. This is a combination of landslip and erosion.
The Coastal path used to go past some isolated properties at Luccombe very close to their front garden. However a relatively small area has slipped some 6ft downwards and there is no easy route around so a reasonably large diversion is in place for walkers.
A3055 slips away, taken in 2002 imagine driving into this one morning! The camera was level when the picture was taken. A new bypass road was built some distance to the right of this view, in fact the other side of a detached house which sadly had to be demolished.
Closer view of previous picture taken from a pleasure boat trip to The Needles. The fall was some several hundred tons the guide informed us.
