A shingle beach , also known as either a cobble beach or gravel beach , is a commonly narrow beach that is composed of coarse, loose, well-rounded, and waterworn gravel , called shingle . The gravel (shingle) typically consists of smooth, spheroidal to flattened, pebbles , cobbles , and sometimes small boulders , generally in the 20 to 200 millimetres (0.8 to 7.9 in) size range. Shingle beaches typically have a steep slope on both their landward and seaward sides. Shingle beaches form in wave-dominated locations where resistant bedrock cliffs provide gravel-sized rock debris. They are also found in high latitudes and temperate shores where the erosion of Quaternary glacial deposits provide gravel-size rock fragments. This term is most widely used in Great Britain .
8-592: Orchard Bay is a sandy bay and shingle beach on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight , England . It lies to the south-west of the Ventnor Botanic Garden and just along the coast west from Steephill Cove. It faces south towards the English Channel , its shoreline is 220 yards (200 m) in length - 65 yards (60 m) of which is beach. The bay can be accessed by a small footpath at
16-602: The Isle of Wight after the smugglers' landing was hampered by storms at the end of a 3,000-mile voyage across the Atlantic from the Caribbean . They had planned to unload 879 lb of cocaine on a private beach at Orchard Bay house near Ventnor, but the weather and the failure of their outboard motor forced them to deposit their cargo on another beach at Woody Bay, about a mile away. They were trapped and arrested after members of
24-507: The arrests of Michael Tyrrell, Julie Paterson and Frederick Fillingham and others by officers from HM Customs & Excise . Most of the arrests were made by officers based at HM Customs Shoreham Office, the combined prison sentence of the eight involved is 141 years of prison. On 8 March, a drug smuggler was jailed for 26 years for leading an operation to bring a record £90 million consignment of cocaine into Britain by yacht . He and five of his accomplices were caught by 150 Customs officers on
32-456: The coarse, porous surface of the beach, decreasing the effect of backwash erosion and increasing the formation of sediment into a steeply sloping beach. Shingle beaches are rare, made up of thousands of smooth rocks with varying geological qualities. The ocean naturally smooths the various rocks over time with crashing waves. Shingle beaches are popular for the varying rock types that can be found. This article about geography terminology
40-526: The gang had spent hours carrying large bales of cocaine along a treacherous cliff-top path to their destination. Officials knew about the smuggling because the men had been kept under surveillance by excisemen from the Cowes Customs house, among others. I understand that the smuggler had paid £657,000 for the Orchard Bay property. Customs officers on the island had been tipped off that something big
48-523: The shingle fans of braided rivers . Though created at shorelines, post-glacial rebound can raise shingle beaches as high as 200 metres (660 ft) above sea level, as on the High Coast in Sweden. The ecosystems formed by this association of rock and sand allow colonization by a variety of rare and endangered species . Shingle beaches are typically steep, because the waves easily flow through
56-401: The western end of the bay. The beach is dominated by a large seawall and Orchard House just above the high water mark. Orchard bay House was originally built in 1828 as three coastguard cottages in order to prevent smuggling but was in 1840 acquired for use in smuggling . It is currently let as holiday accommodation. In 2002, Operation Eyeful resulted in a large seizure of cocaine and
64-620: Was about to happen, and Operation Eyeful, which was a joint investigation with the National Crime Squad , began. It resulted in the successful apprehension of five smugglers. Shingle beach While this type of beach is most commonly found in Europe , examples are also found in Bahrain , North America , and a number of other world regions, such as the west coast of New Zealand 's South Island , where they are associated with
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