Major landslip near Ventnor, Isle of Wight, over night on 10th-11th December 2023

Drone clip copyright Island Echo, viewable here: https://youtu.be/v_32yV7xvlI?si=_m-TCWQb2iEjE9Fc The lovely Smuggler's Haven tea room (sold recently) has lost its car park and toilet block overnight during a major landslip that's also caused the evacuation of twenty homes. Thankfully no-one appears to have been harmed and although gardens have been lost the properties appear intact for now. So sad for people living here: we hope the situation stabilises in this notoriously unstable area directly above what is aptly name The Landslip. Leeson Road, the major route out of the Undercliff to Shanklin, has been closed, and is likely to remain so for a while. The edge of this dramatically expanded landslip is now just a few metres from the carriageway. To top it off, Southern Water has caused the closure of another of the major routes out of Ventnor this afternoon (11th), so there's now only one way in and out of the Undercliff, via Whitwell. In other news, my poor van sits only about 800m from the edge of this landslip. My current plan is to keep it taxes, insured and parked on the road where I'll live in it over winter. I'll save for a new van and get one next spring... Follow me on my website: www.stevecjones.uk/ Being at the start of my author and video-making journey - more of a gruelling hike really - I'm in need of frequent caffeine hits. Please consider buying me a coffee to satisfy my need for caffeine here: www.buymeacoffee.com/stevejwildwriter Sign up to my email list here for (ir)regular updates: steve-jones-wild-writer.ck.page/055fa825b6 I use the wonderful Draft2Digital to format my ebooks and printed books and to distribute them widely. Go explore how you can publish with Draft2Digital at my affiliate programme page here: www.draft2digital.com/stevejonesd2dfriends Look at my new book on Amazon: amzn.to/3L9qn3P And my other books at my Amazon author page: amzn.to/3EmQ79k I am in the process of getting my books published on a wider variety of bookshop online stores, and getting them available in libraries. Check out my non-Amazon book page here: books2read.com/stevejones View more Ventnor videos here: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXsfprjfB6v38q136mWyTVe… The gear I use (all Amazon affiliate links from which I can earn a small commission): - My binoculars:amzn.to/3sMcums and amzn.to/47mtE9i - I use the iPhone Mini 13 to shoot all my videos (Amazon link): amzn.to/3q8dYpz - I use the dji microphone set to record audio: amzn.to/44ZjOZp - I edit my videos on an iPad Mini: amzn.to/3NWby5e My books (Amazon affiliate links from which I can earn a small commission): - Read more about bird watching on Ventnor Downs in my booklet, Bird Watching around Ventnor, Isle of Wight, here (Amazon affiliate link): amzn.to/3QjRbSy - My book about wildlife watching around Ventnor: amzn.to/3EeAKjf - My book about nature writing (Amazon link): amzn.to/455q6Xo - Creating species-rich grassy-shrublands: amzn.to/3qeDUQB - Writing and publishing books on your smartphone: amzn.to/3DIxrAA - Creating a location-independent lifestyle during 2023: amzn.to/3KpTr6Z My van life-related reading list: My favourite, from Romana Startfield: amzn.to/3RLCBDS Hudson's vanlife book: amzn.to/3LMMw8y Odom's minimalist van lifer book: amzn.to/3Q7cBlu Kristine's vanlife book collection: amzn.to/3PZSzcl Some of my favourite books on the craft of book self-publishing: How to make a living from your writing: amzn.to/47oHdo8 How to market a book: amzn.to/478aW4T Let’s get digital: amzn.to/478anrT Strangers to superfans: amzn.to/3MEBZga Wide for the win: amzn.to/3SAJ5WJ From zero to four figures: amzn.to/3QQxly6 Disclosure: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product through such links I may receive a small commission, helping me to continue creating videos. There's no additional charge to you. Thank you for supporting my channel.

My wife and I have never been to the Isle of Wight, so I decided to book a week in May at Ventnor. After I had booked I thought I would look at some videos on Youtube and I found this video. OMG. I hadn't heard about this landslide and at first I thought I had made a big mistake as we are staying quite local to the landslide. My heart goes out to those who have lost their business and those whose houses are in peril. We are still coming to Ventnor in May and hopefully the area concerned will stabilize and get back to some sort of normality. Thanks for the video. Quite brave walking so close to the area of the landslide.

looks so peaceful there, i love the IoW

Excellent video. Thankyou for posting

Sad to see,hope the homeowners are OK.Was in Ventnor in early July for the round the island race and scouting locations for my artwork.

Born and bred in Ventnor, so really enjoyed the walk. A very informative video of a tragic event for the folks in that area.

I love Bonchurch so pretty I lived in Ventnor and st Lawrence such a beautiful island . Moved to Sussex now going to move to Devon. I loved the spy glass inn such a brilliant pub use to go with friends there watched a few storms from the pub love it. ❤

This is utterly heartbreaking 😢

Oh my! The landslip has been one of my favourite places to walk through since the late 70's when I first visited as a child. Managed to get back through there August last year and April this year after a 20 year hiatus - glad I made it through one more time before this collapse. I assume that means the Devils Chimney is gone (it sure looks like it). I hope those homes and the Old St Boniface Church are safe! Future looks bleak for Smugglers Haven, though :(

Came for the landslide information, subscribed for the vanlife and Ventnor content! From an Island-born geologist

Thanks

So sad.lovely this place and visiting isle of wight

I used to spend weekends and school holidays staying at the other end of Madeira Road when I was growing up 40+ years ago and remember my grandfather showing me, with the use of a soup bowl how coastal erosion works. So sad to see it all falling away. I remember at Blackgang Chine they said the blue slipper was in a band from Blackgang and headed north east inland. I didn't know it was over that side too. The opening aerial shots on your follow-up video (linked via the thumbnail at the end of this one) show just how much land has slipped.

Thanks for posting. Very nice video, but terrible to see the devastation caused by the landslip. I don't live on the island but it's like a 2nd home, having spent so many holidays there. A few years ago we stayed in Bonchurch and walked the coastal path to Shanklin. The weather was hot and sunny (it was July) and I took lots of photos. It's difficult to imagine a more beautiful place with the sea one side, lush vegetation and cliffs the other side. Such a pity.

Really nice video.

Brilliant little video of the Bonchurch Undercliff ! That's a massive landslide, made even worse by the fact that this bit of coast has been relatively stable since Victorian times. I reckon Leeson Road is likely to remain closed for a very long time, possibly never to reopen ! The landslip has ventured very close to the road, so another landslip in that area is probable in future. I have travelled often on a double decker bus along that road from Shanklin to Ventnor and it doesn't bear thinking about for a bus to crash off the road during a landslip ! Also look at the gap between the landslip and Boniface Down / Nansen Hill behind. There is scarcely any room to rebuild the road further back in a safe position without encroaching on the downland, and the National Trust would not be very happy about that ! Even then, would it still be safe ? It would cost a fortune to shore up the road and it would desecrate the surrounding countryside in the process ! Years ago I used to walk and cycle all through the undercliff and down to Luccombe Chine, and Devil's Chimney and it is an amazing area, but like a lot of coastline on the South Coast, the cliffs are very unstable and can fall at any time, especially during very wet weather and wintertime.

11:20 You'll often sight a seal that lives along there.

Walked past that van a few times I think, often wondered about its story!

Time to re-open the railway!

I been there dun that