Knipe Point (or Osgodby Point) is a rocky headland on the North Sea coast, between Cornelian Bay and Cayton Bay in North Yorkshire, England. From this point, and running south, is the steeply sloping clay-till cliff on top of which stood the NALGO holiday camp between 1933 and 1974; this is where Knipe Point Drive was later built. The Cayton Cliff is subject to continuing surface landslips, potentially major at times,[1] such as the one of 2008, known as the Knipe Point Landslide,[2] which received national media attention due to the loss of three homes.
Knipe Point | |
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Knipe Point viewed from the beach at Cayton Bay | |
Knipe Point Location within North Yorkshire | |
OS grid reference | TA0685 |
Civil parish |
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District |
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Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | SCARBOROUGH |
Postcode district | YO11 |
Dialling code | 01723 |
Police | North Yorkshire |
Fire | North Yorkshire |
Ambulance | Yorkshire |
UK Parliament |
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Originally the first Trade Union holiday camp in the North of England, owned by NALGO it opened its doors in 1933. It had 124 wooden bungalows, accommodating 252 visitors. A dining hall with waiter service, a rest room along with recreation rooms for playing cards, billiards, a theatre for indoor shows and dancing was also provided. The new centre also provided Tennis courts, Bowling greens along with a children's play area. The visitors could walk to the beach where there was a sun terrace and beach house which also had a small shop. Click here to see photos of the NALGO camp from the 1930s.
One of the earliest visitors were the family of poet Philip Larkin[3] and during the Second World War it became a home for evacuated children from Middlesbrough.[4] To see a black and white film of the NALGO holiday camp at Knipe Point please see the site of the Yorkshire Film Archive here.[5] The NALGO camp closed in 1974[6] and was later sold.[7]
The history of the holiday camp can be found in Colin Ward and Dennis Hardy's book "Goodnight Campers!" Spon Press (1986) ISBN 0-7201-1835-2, 0720118360. To preview the book click here [8]
The site became permanent residential homes in 1985 when a planning restriction limiting the site to holiday homes was overruled following an appeal by the owner of the site.[9]
A private housing estate consisting of bungalows with views onto the Cayton Bay Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) to view photos of the SSSI click here.[10]
The community is self-regulated by the Knipe Point Owners' Association which negotiated the purchase of the freehold of the land in 2002. This is held by another residents' company, Knipe Point Freeholders Limited,[11] which maintains equality through each member having 500 shares. The members lease their homes to themselves for a nominal ground rent of £1. About half are permanent residents.[12]
Three homes were demolished in 2008 after an ancient landslide[13] was re-activated due to a prolonged season of heavy rain. To see photos of the demolition click here.[14]
The landslipping behaviour was investigated through a ground investigation and a geomorphological assessment, which identified groundwater movements through the coastal slope as the critical control on triggering of events.[15] There is a great deal of speculation, including suggestions that the site has been affected by the building of a new bypass or that the construction of extensions to the bungalows triggered the failure.[16]
On 15 December 2009 Defra announced that it was awarding Pathfinder Status to Scarborough Borough Council to enable it to add to its programme of work a means of exploring new approaches to planning for, and managing, adaptation to coastal change in partnership with the Knipe Point Drive community. This will run until spring 2011.[17] Landslide report