FEARS FOR CRUMBLING SEA DEFENCES IN TOWN

FOR 180 years fortress-like Neptune Hall has stood firm against winter storms that roll across Tywyn from the sea.

- By ANDREW FORGRAVE Countryside and Tourism Editor

Clockwise from below: The breakwater off Tywyn's prom, known locally as 'Treasure Island'; a staircase appearing to 'float' above the beach; a large crack in one of the promenade's concrete panels; Cyngor Gwynedd contractors filling cones cut through the promenade's deck to fill holes where material has been washed out; and chunks of concrete which have detached from the base of the seawall LEIGH TUNNADINE

(LEIGH TUNNADINE)

These days, when the winds pick up, it can feel a little less impregnable.The property, once an exclusive boarding house, lies just 18 metres from the resort's promenade. When recent storms hit the west Gwynedd coast, current owner Leigh Tunnadine watched on as large swells created towering walls of water when they crashed against the prom.

"The house was literally shuddering and shaking," she said. "When you stand on the promenade, you can feel it vibrating."

Leigh blames not the weather but the crumbling sea defences. Cracks have appeared and concrete deck slabs have subsided. Neptune Road slipway, which gives access to the beach for residents at four nearby caravan parks, is gated and off limits.

Along sections of the seawall, steel reinforcing is exposed as its concrete erodes, creating striking geometric rust patterns. Some steel is breaking loose.

"I was out on the beach today, collecting steel rods from the sand," said Leigh, who owns the adjacent Neptune Caravan Park.

"It's a health and safety risk - we don't want children or dogs getting impaled. The deterioration over the last four or five years has been shocking. It makes you wonder how long the seawall will hold."

In recent years she has been lobbying for improvements to a 1960s-built structure that is showing definite signs of age. She's making headway: Cyngor Gwynedd is looking to renovate the slipway and to build a new shield wall to prevent it being undermined again.