East of Hull lies Holderness, a twohundred square mile portion of the former East Riding of Yorkshire, extending from Hornsea in the north to Spurn Head and flanked by the river Humber and the North Sea. It is a very fertile tract of rich agricultural countryside but it is particularly known for the instability of its coastline.

Spurn Point is a rocky outcrop - potentially an island - attached to the mainland by a shifting and extremely narrow isthmus. Severe storms accentuate the regular movement of...