Living on the edge

P always jokes that we're "living on the edge", perched as we are on a rather steep slope. (That's our house there!)

Unfortunately, today the edge got rather closer as we experienced a land-slip. The scar is about 15 metres long, and the earth has slipped by about 2-3 metres, and more in places. It has taken trees, bushes and shrubs with it, as well as all the top-soil, leaving only clay exposed.

Exposed clay is very vulnerable to the weather, as it dries to powder in the sun, gets washed away in the rain, and shears off with the frost. It's all hands onto the slope to shore it up quickly before the next major weather event.

Still, I recently learned that we're in good company, as the exact same thing is currently happening to the town fortifications in Ludlow, in Shropshire. On the other hand, they have stood for 800 years, whereas our cottage has only been here for about 120 years. Hmmmm, will it survive another 120?