A HEARTBROKEN pensioner dubbed Granny Canute because she tried to move the tide has been forced to tear down her clifftop home.
Bryony Nierop-Reading, 71, choked back tears as she finally accepted defeat after being locked in a bitter battle to keep her stunning sea view.
The devastated pensioner had already watched as her dream three-bedroom bungalow was demolished in 2013 after coastal erosion tore into the 80ft cliff she was perched on.
But defiant Bryony moved into a caravan on the same site in Norfolk so she wouldn't have to give up her incredible views.
The feisty pensioner was told to leave the site by North Norfolk District Council by February 2015.
She appealed against the decision but lost and was finally forced to tear down her caravan yesterday.
Bryony – branded Granny Canute because she wanted to stop the tide – said: "We are smashing the caravan to pieces.
“The plastic is going in the skip, the timber on the bonfire and the metal will be recycled.
“It has been marvellous living here with the fantastic views of the sea on two sides and I’m going to miss it very much indeed.”
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Bryony bought the bungalow in 2008 for £25,000 when it was just 20ft from the edge of the cliff.
As her idyllic sea views became closer, the extension on the home was left hanging over the edge.
Her neighbours moved out one-by-one by defiant Bryony refused to leave – even when she was offered £53,000 under a Government compensation scheme.
Bryony is now planning to sell a house in Witton Heath, near North Walsham, that’s been lived in by her daughter and son-law for four years and use the cash to buy a new home.
She will also hit the road in another mobile home with her two cars Socrates and Mischa to visit other areas hit by coastal erosion.
King Canute, who ruled England between 995 and 1035, is said to have tried to turn back the tide – but failed as the waves began lapping around his feet.
But historians say this is just a myth and, in fact, the Saxon monarch was really trying to show to courtiers that despite his powers he wasn’t great enough to stop the sea.
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