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BBC POLITICS SHOW

England's oldest golf course is being reclaimed by the sea on the North Devon coast. The government agency, Natural England, says it is not sensible to fight the waves, but now local people are offering to take on the storms themselves.

A low-lying bank splash of green sward at the mouth of the rivers Taw and Torridge, Northam Burrows has been a cherished piece of common land for hundreds of years.

With the centuries it has accumulated a rich social and environmental heritage.

Home to England's oldest links golf course, it's also a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Living on the edge

But it is engaged in a constant battle for survival with the surrounding sea.

A battle many locals fear it is losing.

The waves tore a huge chunk out of the exposed tip of the Burrows during last winter's storms.

Breaking through the pebble ridge, the salt water poured deep into the heart of the Burrows. The resulting lagoon has now shrunk to a solitary puddle. Until the next time.

Potwalloping

According to local councillor, Andrew Eastman, the traditional response to this kind of onslaught would be swift and straightforward.

The men of Northam would rebuild the damaged section of the ridge themselves.

Making a virtue out of necessity, they even turned it into a sort of fun day out, known as potwalloping.

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Northam Burrows England's oldest golf course is disappearing into the sea by up to 90ft a year after members were banned from protecting it by “potwalloping” - for the first time in more than a century.

Officials at the 18-hole Royal Devon Golf Club, at Northam Burrows, near Westward Ho!, say large chunks of the links course are being reclaimed by the sea.

The course was established in 1864 and takes a regular battering from the Bristol Channel. Every year Torridge District Council has protected its seaward ridges by using machinery to pile up pebbles to limit the damage of the sea. But Natural England has told it that it is no longer allowed to interfere with nature because the course lies on a site of special scientific interest.

Members have also been banned from resurrecting the custom of “potwalloping”, where local people would pile the stones by hand.
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David Lloyd, 60, a club member and former chairman, said that unless the ridge was protected, the course would lose the 7th and 8th holes as early as next year.

“I remember potwalloping as a child to protect the golfing green,” he said. “Twice a year, thousands of people would get together and potwallop on the beach.”