THE STORY of how Bude’s Storm Tower (Pepper Pot) will be painstakingly moved to save its future is part of a new film about how climate change is affecting Cornwall.

‘Living on the Edge’ tells how our seaside communities are facing up to a future of sea level rise and coastal erosion.

The 30-minute documentary has been produced by charity Cornwall Climate Care (cornwallclimate.org).

The film follows passionate ultra-runner Emma Hazeldine around the Cornish coast as she discovers people and places that are already dealing with the impacts of climate change.

Some of the stories covered include:

The escalating cost of maintaining the Cornish coast path, which with 2.5million visitors a year, is so hugely important to Cornwall’s economy; the Bude community’s efforts to save a much-loved historic building by moving it brick by brick 100m away from a cliff edge; plans to protect the low-lying towns of Mounts Bay with 1.3 million tonnes of sand; and one town’s victory in efforts to stop developments from being built on the edge of its crumbling cliffs.

Producer Claire Wallerstein said: “Sea levels have only risen about 20cm over the past century, which might not seem like much – but the speed of the rise is accelerating.

“Meanwhile climate change is bringing greater storminess, and these two things combined will hit Cornwall’s coast more and more in the future.

“It’s hard for us to imagine Cornwall’s seaside towns and villages ever changing, but this film lifts the lid on the challenges that lie ahead – and the fact that we really need to start planning how we’re going to adapt to our changing coastline before events overtake us.”

Cornwall Climate Care’s films are non-political, and non-sensationalist, says Claire, and seek to reach unengaged audiences by showing that climate change isn’t just something affecting polar bears or people on the other side of the world. 

The films highlight the positive and creative things that are going on around Cornwall to tackle the climate emergency, and the filmmakers hope that this will help motivate more people and communities to understand the issues and get involved.