Rustaholics anonymous

The East Beach at Lyme Regis has been a real treasure trove of rusty goodness over the past couple of years. A municipal tip, sited atop the cliffs, was in use from Victorian times till the middle of the last century, but with the inevitable coastal erosion, it’s now gradually falling into the sea. Every so often, a large tangle of steel plummets onto the beach – the chassis of an old car with huge leaf springs, an engine block, boilers and tanks, scaffold poles and all sorts of other household detritus, like flatirons and cylinder mower blades. I’ve been recording this for a while now, so was somewhat dismayed a couple of days ago to find all my old favourites gathered into a big pile by an itinerant beachcomber who announced his intentions to sell it for scrap in aid of the RNLI. Whether this happens we’ll have to wait and see, but in the meantime, all my best subjects are inaccessible. So, this record may be all that’s left!

Do you notice a bit of a circular theme here?