Crisp aerial photos have revealed how Britain’s coasts are crumbling and homes by the sea are at risk of crashing into the ocean.
Aerial photographer Mike Page, 83, from Norfolk, shared exclusive images with MailOnline showing how much Britain’s coast has eroded over the past half century.
In keeping with Mr Page’s photographs from 50 years ago, the before and after images showed the coastal communities of Norfolk and Suffolk being lost to the sea.
He told MailOnline: ‘It’s been happening since I was a kid.
“You lose at least a mile of coast a year. A lot of land has disappeared. It depends on the weather.
In 1998, Easton Bavents was at risk of erosion. The cliff road had already fallen victim to the sea and a row of four houses seemed to be next
In a photo taken on November 10, 2022, there was only one house left. The plot of the penultimate house was exposed. Homeowners must pay for their homes to be demolished instead of falling into the sea.
He said people living in houses by the sea risk losing “everything”.
He said, “The houses are worthless. You have to pay before it falls over the cliff. Then they should look elsewhere.’
Mr. Page flies above the shoreline in a two-seat Cessna 150 and captures the images with a handheld Cannon 1D3 and 1D4, observing the erosion from a unique vantage point.
Mike Page has created a unique aerial archive showing the alarming erosion of land along the Norfolk and Suffolk coast from the air.
The footage shows how the coastline has receded between 1985 and today, as pieces of land the size of football fields crumble into the water. In some cases, the cliffs have eroded more than half a mile.
Mr Page has spent the last 40 years documenting the region’s rapidly receding coastline – even capturing the moment when houses and cliffs fell into the sea.
Hemsby is largely built on sand, Mr Page told MailOnline, which offers little protection from the raging sea, as pictured here in January 2007
Sixteen years later, on March 1, 2023, the remaining grass was long gone and some houses had sand up to the front door
Mike Page, 83, has created a unique aerial archive showing the alarming erosion of land along the East Anglia coast from the air. Pictured is Benacre pumping station, Suffolk in 2019 and 2009
Another stretch of coastline in Happisburgh, Norfolk in 2009 in 20011 showing the astonishing extent of coastal erosion
A caravan park in Happisburgh, Norfolk in 2019 and 2012. Certain coastlines are eroding faster than others due to local rocks and the strength of the waves
In a decade, from 1999 to 2009, Winterton beach in Norfolk has made a rapid rise to the front row of houses
Mr. Page has taken 150,000 photos in his 50 years of flying, capturing moments in time that will never be seen again
The retired mechanic said: ‘It’s an ongoing problem and we’ll be seeing a lot more of it.
“I’ve been watching the erosion for a while so I knew it would look something like this, but it’s kind of unbelievable – it’s a lot and it’s getting worse. More land is lost.
“It’s only going to get worse — they’re losing areas they didn’t expect to lose. They didn’t think it would go so fast. They have lost about 35 homes in Happisburgh and about 20 homes in Hemsby.
Aligned with Mr Page’s photos from 50 years ago, the before and after photos showed Britain’s coastal communities being lost to the sea. Pictured: the coast of Benacre Ness in 1985
In the photo taken in September 2005, the coast of Benacre Ness was significantly reduced in size. The sea had moved much further in, toward a shoreline and a red house
Just seven years later, on April 16, 2012, the shoreline at Benacre Ness had eroded further. Pools of water had spread inland
In 2018, the person who lived in the red house had started building a barrier of rocks at Benacre Ness to protect their home
On March 1, 2023, Benacre Ness was so eroded that the village on the hill had almost no surrounding grass and was instead bordered by sand
“I grew up in the Beccles area and they’ve lost about half a mile of shore — that’s since I was about 11 or 12 years old. I used to come around that area a lot when I was young and now it’s all gone.’
He said: ‘People now use drones to get a view of the coast, but they still can’t get as high as we can.
“It’s a serious problem and landowners are spending their own money to protect their land.
“People have to spend money on demolishing their own homes.”
Happisburgh, Norfolk in 2006 and 1996. In most areas the shoreline is allowed to erode as part of a process called ‘natural realignment’
In 2012, the coast at Happisburgh had a wall of large rocks to protect it. It was an attempt to mitigate the coastal erosion that plagued the coast
People living in Happisburgh in 1998 were already preparing to fight coastal erosion using a barrier to block the sea
A quarter of a century later, on February 11, 2023, one of the houses closest to the sea is barely visible in the top right of the 1998 image. At least 19 houses have succumbed to the sea
Mr Page said a growing number of homeowners are now threatened by the rate of erosion.
He said: ‘In Hemsby they lost land in just two or three weeks after a big storm – the coast is made of sand and the erosion is very, very fast.
‘The only way to stop it is to place boulders at the bases of the coasts. They did this at some points and it stopped the erosion for a period of time.
“If the government spent the money or if communities could raise the money for the rock barriers, the erosion wouldn’t go that fast — but it’s hard for them to do that.”
This stretch of coast is allowed to erode under a government policy called “managed realignment,” which allows the shoreline to move naturally.
It means communities will have time to move with some seawalls, but eventually nature will be allowed to take its course.
On May 10, 2006, the red and white striped lighthouse at Orford Ness in Suffolk stood tall and proud beside the sea
Pictured of the Orford Ness Lighthouse in Suffolk in 2016 and 1998, showing the sea eating away the shingle spit
Less than 15 years later, on July 30, 2020, the lighthouse was demolished by a team of cranes and excavators, showing just how large the building was.
On January 19, 2023, only the tattered ruins of the ancient, majestic lighthouse remain and even they feel the ever-present lapping of the sea against their enduring masonry
The Norfolk and Suffolk coastline also has historical significance and archaeologists cherish its shores.
The sandy moorland of Easton Bavents, near Southwold in Suffolk, was once England’s most easterly point as it stretched a mile out to sea.
Happisburgh, near Norwich, in Norfolk, is the earliest known human settlement in Europe, but after a million years, people are now retreating to the land.
The Environment Agency estimates that 7,000 properties in Britain will be lost to the sea in the next century.
Mr. Page has taken 150,000 photos in his 50 years of flying, capturing moments in time that will never be seen again.