Why you should never dig big holes at the beach after strict new warning
Yet, there is actually a reason why you should never do this popular
3
Beach holes can be very dangerous
Credit: Mablethorpe Coastguard
3
Especially when the sand dries out and the hole collapses
Credit: Mablethorpe Coastguard
According to coastguards, any hole that is dug and left on a beach is dangerous for beachgoers, including children and
pets
.
The warning follows an incident this week on Sandilands Beach in Lincolnshire, where the Mablethorpe Coastguard Rescue Team responded to an alert from HM Coastguard Humber regarding a six foot deep hole.
The coastguard filled the hole "for safety reasons", according to the
This doesn't mean you can't dig holes on the beach for kids to play in - but if you do dig a hole so deep you head can barely poke out, you could be putting your own or others' lives at risk.
Read more on travel tips
The deeper a hole is, the more unstable it becomes.
And sand that you dig out of the hole that is wet, will dry out and this makes it looser.
This increases the chance of the hole collapsing inwards, potentially trapping you.
According to GOV.CO.UK, the best way to rescue someone is to create a circle of people digging with their hands.
Most read in News Travel
And then another outer circle of people doing the same, while also remove the sand from the first circle.
Having multiple circles of people helps to create a larger, shallower hole which is less likely to collapse.
English seaside town to transform abandoned beach shelters into new attraction
Any holes you do dig, you should then fill in before you leave the beach.
In June 2023, a 14-year-old boy became trapped after a four foot hole he had dug, collapsed on him.
His parents called for help and after an hour the boy was eventually dug out, unharmed.
There are also
This is due to raised levels of
bacteria
in the water caused by animal waste coming from seabirds.
Bacteria levels are the highest through July and August and is believed to be due to the lack of rainfall and an increase in tourism.
Full list of locations hit by 'do not swim' warnings
Littlehaven Beach
Tynemouth Cullercoats
Derwent Water at Crow Park
Coniston Water, Boating Centre
Blackpool North
St Annes North
River Ribble at Edisford Bridge
Wharfe at Cromwheel, Ilkley
Wharfe at Wilderness Carpark
Nidd at the Lido, Knaresborough
Bridlington South Beach
Scarborough South Bay
Heacham
River Severn at Ironbridge
River Severn in Shrewsbury
River Teme in Ludlow
Sheep's Green, River Cam
Wolvercote Mill Stream
Wallingford Beach, River Thames
Clacton (Groyne 41)
Deal Castle
Littlestone
Dymchurch
Frensham Great Pond
Worthing Beach House
Bognor Regis (Aldwick)
Southsea East
River Avon at Fordingbridge
Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach
River Frome at Farleigh Hungerford
Burnham Jetty North
Weston-super-Mare Uphill Slipway
Weston Main
River Tone at French Weir Park
Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach
Blue Anchor West
Ilfracombe Wildersmouth
Instow
Steamer Quay, Dart Estuary
Porthluney
Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary
A famous UK seaside resort has also rolled out a
Plus,
3
In case someone you know does get trapped in a hole. there is a way of getting them out
Credit: Mablethorpe Coastguard
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The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Why you should never dig big holes at the beach after strict new warning
IT doesn't matter how old you get, the novelty of digging a hole in the sand or building a sandcastle will never wear off. Yet, there is actually a reason why you should never do this popular 3 Beach holes can be very dangerous Credit: Mablethorpe Coastguard 3 Especially when the sand dries out and the hole collapses Credit: Mablethorpe Coastguard According to coastguards, any hole that is dug and left on a beach is dangerous for beachgoers, including children and pets . The warning follows an incident this week on Sandilands Beach in Lincolnshire, where the Mablethorpe Coastguard Rescue Team responded to an alert from HM Coastguard Humber regarding a six foot deep hole. The coastguard filled the hole "for safety reasons", according to the This doesn't mean you can't dig holes on the beach for kids to play in - but if you do dig a hole so deep you head can barely poke out, you could be putting your own or others' lives at risk. Read more on travel tips The deeper a hole is, the more unstable it becomes. And sand that you dig out of the hole that is wet, will dry out and this makes it looser. This increases the chance of the hole collapsing inwards, potentially trapping you. According to the best way to rescue someone is to create a circle of people digging with their hands. Most read in News Travel And then another outer circle of people doing the same, while also remove the sand from the first circle. Having multiple circles of people helps to create a larger, shallower hole which is less likely to collapse. English seaside town to transform abandoned beach shelters into new attraction Any holes you do dig, you should then fill in before you leave the beach. In June 2023, a 14-year-old boy became trapped after a four foot hole he had dug, collapsed on him. His parents called for help and after an hour the boy was eventually dug out, unharmed. There are also This is due to raised levels of bacteria in the water caused by animal waste coming from seabirds. Bacteria levels are the highest through July and August and is believed to be due to the lack of rainfall and an increase in tourism. Full list of locations hit by 'do not swim' warnings Littlehaven Beach Tynemouth Cullercoats Derwent Water at Crow Park Coniston Water, Boating Centre Blackpool North St Annes North River Ribble at Edisford Bridge Wharfe at Cromwheel, Ilkley Wharfe at Wilderness Carpark Nidd at the Lido, Knaresborough Bridlington South Beach Scarborough South Bay Heacham River Severn at Ironbridge River Severn in Shrewsbury River Teme in Ludlow Sheep's Green, River Cam Wolvercote Mill Stream Wallingford Beach, River Thames Clacton (Groyne 41) Deal Castle Littlestone Dymchurch Frensham Great Pond Worthing Beach House Bognor Regis (Aldwick) Southsea East River Avon at Fordingbridge Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach River Frome at Farleigh Hungerford Burnham Jetty North Weston-super-Mare Uphill Slipway Weston Main River Tone at French Weir Park Lyme Regis Church Cliff Beach Blue Anchor West Ilfracombe Wildersmouth Instow Steamer Quay, Dart Estuary Porthluney Coastguards Beach, Erme Estuary A famous UK seaside resort has also rolled out a Plus, 3 In case someone you know does get trapped in a hole. there is a way of getting them out Credit: Mablethorpe Coastguard
Irish Examiner
6 days ago
- Irish Examiner
Terry Prone: When it comes to woodlice, I'm Albert Pierrepoint — fast and efficient
If you found the weekend a bit hot, you get a sympathy vote. But I put it to you that you did not have to deal with indoor wildlife, a growling toilet, or an upchucking cat while facing the prospect of strangers walking through your bedroom. As I did. If you live in a Martello tower, you do not have air conditioning. You can't afford it, for starters, because old buildings are always trying to fall down or apart, and prevention is costly. But, even if you had the cash, how would you even begin to manage the air inside walls that are nine feet thick? The fact that a tower is circular, though, does provide advantages. The main one being in high summer, that you can open windows on all sides, thereby providing enough of a draught to prevent dwellers from keeling over. Opening the windows does complicate things, though. You get ghettoblaster hard rock from the beach at such volume it makes you wonder if you're going to get palpitations synchronous with the beat. You also get daddy long legs, which are the certified eejits of the insect kingdom. They don't do anything useful, but because they're so self-evidently harmless, you feel guilty about killing them. One of the lesser-known consequences of climate change is that I become a killer during the summer months. Always pretty ruthless about bluebottles and wasps, this year I've added in woodlice. I'd need to confirm it with Éanna Ní Lamhna, but I am convinced that we have an unprecedented outbreak of them currently. If my home were occupied only by me and the woodlice, co-living would be a happy option, but during the summer months, visitors come for the tour, and you don't want tourists trying to compete with woodlice for floor space. Early on in her career, Specs, my cat, used to hunt woodlice, giving them pokes with her front paws to make them go faster and be worth pursuing. Other wildlife, including big spiders, can put on an impressive turn of speed if cat-nudged, and that speed speaks to a primeval feline need. Woodlice don't seem to be capable of increased speed, and so Specs gave up on hunting them. Instead, I have to stamp on them and then vacuum up the corpses. You might interpret 'stamp' as vicious, on my part, but you would be wrong. If I have to kill wildlife, I am committed to being the Albert Pierrepoint of insect execution: it is going to be fast and flawless. Albert, you will remember, was an English hangman who did away with 600 criminals (a handful of whom may have been innocent, but let's not go there). He did nixers in this country. In fact, he did nixers here frequently enough to become, effectively, our locum executioner. He prided himself, did Albert, on the science he brought to his trade. He weighed and measured and timed to ensure that the condemned human fell through a trapdoor and had their neck simultaneously broken by the rope. This obviated the bad hangings, which amounted to slow strangulation, causing kindly relatives of the person being executed to drag on their legs to speed up the process. Bad hangings after the Nuremberg trials led to reflex leg movements that became known as the 'Spandau Ballet', and gave rise to the name of that band. When it comes to woodlice, I'm Pierrepoint: fast and efficient. Not quite as fast as my late husband used to be with earwigs, but his aversion to earwigs was total. He saw them as the embodiment of evil. But then, anything with more than two legs inside a house draws the family into disrepute. Wildlife can put on an impressive turn of speed if cat-nudged, and that speed speaks to a primeval feline need. Picture: iStockphoto I remember preparing a man for a major promotion interview in my kitchen, once. The job was so important and evoked such media interest that if he'd come to our offices, he might have been spotted, and two and two might have been added together. 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RTÉ News
7 days ago
- RTÉ News
Start of excavation work 'momentous', says Tuam relative
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"I always tell people the nuns lived in our home because the nuns were always present - all the trauma, all the damage, all the pain, all the stories. "I can recall now, the names of the sisters who abused my mother, so for her to keep that secret for 50 years, was a tremendous stigma and shame visited on those women." After leaving the home, Ms O'Connor moved to Belfast, where she met Ms McKay's father. "She had my older brother in Belfast, but (the father) deserted her... she wrote to her sister in Bury and her brother-in-law came to rescue Maggie and my older brother. "My father reappeared again, then there were two more children, and then he deserted her for good. "So, Bury is where she remained and always described living in our town as a sanctuary." Ms McKay said that her mother had always referred to English people as "very welcoming" and had helped her though "traumatic episodes". 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"I've had my DNA taken because I'm in the group described as old and vulnerable," she said. "Because I'm on the advisory board, I do have this bird's eye view of the discussions around DNA techniques, what's possible, what's not possible, the ages of the babies. "The way they've been lying in the water table, commingled remains; it is technically very, very difficult, but I have to have hope. "Even a thimble full of Mary Margaret, to place that baby with her mum, would mean everything."
