A relic of Britain's Cold War past is teetering on the brink of destruction, with a former nuclear bunker in East Yorkshire now just days or even weeks away from collapsing into the North Sea.
Precarious Perch on a Disappearing Coast
The structure, known as the Tunstall Royal Observer Corps (ROC) Post, was constructed in 1959 as a lookout and monitoring station during the nuclear tensions of the last century. Decommissioned in the early 1990s, it now hangs precariously from the eroding cliffs of the Holderness coast near Tunstall.
Amateur historian Davey Robinson, who has been documenting the bunker's final days using a drone for his channel Timothy's Travels, told Sky News about its rapid decline. "We were first told about it back in 2025 - it was quite wedged into the cliff still at that point," he said.
"After that, we kept popping back. In November, we went and had a look. Four weeks later, we popped back and it had sunk down a foot and a half." Mr Robinson highlighted the dramatic scale of coastal loss, stating, "You can go back to 2003 on Google Earth - it's unbelievable how much land has gone."
One of Europe's Fastest Eroding Coastlines
The bunker's plight underscores a much larger environmental issue. The Environment Agency warns that East Yorkshire has some of the fastest-eroding coastline in the entire United Kingdom.
The Holderness coastline, where the bunker is located, is being worn away at an alarming average rate of about 6.5 feet (2 metres) every year. This relentless erosion has brought the concrete post to the very edge of the cliff.
In response to the immediate danger, East Riding of Yorkshire Council has urged the public to avoid the area. They have issued safety advice, telling residents and visitors to always "maintain a safe distance to the base of eroding cliffs due to the risks associated" with sudden cliff falls.
A Final Watch Before the Fall
Davey Robinson and Tracy Charlton, who run Timothy's Travels, have been capturing poignant drone footage of the isolated bunker before its inevitable demise. Their recordings show the stark structure suspended above the beach, a solitary monument to a bygone era of defence now threatened by a powerful natural force.
The loss of the Tunstall ROC Post serves as a tangible, dramatic symbol of the ongoing battle between land and sea along this vulnerable stretch of British coast. Its impending fall is a stark reminder of the powerful and continuous geological processes reshaping the nation's shoreline.
