Of course the pontoon supporting the crane and equipment for rebuilding the sea wall at Dawlish (not far from our house) has legs – otherwise it would sit on the sand when the tide goes out. Next time I’ll use my better camera to take more detailed shots of it.

Shall I tell you something a bit ironic?

Well, some months ago, Chris and I attended a meeting set up by Network Rail to discuss the rebuilding of the wall with residents of the terraces; many of the attendees voiced their concern that if the footpath on the sea wall were to be rebuilt to the level of the railway line (for greater strength against the storms in future) people walking on the wall would be able to “rubber-neck” and impinge on the privacy they were formerly accustomed to before the storms, when the footpath ran along the bottom of that section of wall. Now, like Network Rail, some of us thought that the sea wall would be a whole lot more resistant to the storms if the the footpath were to be brought up to the height of the line, thus adding to the thickness of the wall and becoming a bigger buffer against the waves.

We didn’t stay for the entirety of the meeting. We don’t know how that problem was settled. We do know (as Chris pointed out to me with a chuckle) that the pontoon on legs stands directly opposite the houses on Riviera Terrace and Sea Lawn Terrace and the workforce on the pontoon will be able to look right in – no need for rubber necks, ordinary necks will do.