Hot shingle.

According to a report in the Times Branscombe beach in Devon has lost a lot of shingle this winter. So much has gone (been washed away by winter storms) that the level of the beach has dropped by 4 ft, exposing bits and pieces from WW2 as well as the wreck of the Napoli which foundered in a storm in 2007.

Some locals think the new groynes at Sidmouth might have something to do with this, because they change the direction of water movement.

A lady who lives in the area might have the true answer though, because tucked away in her comment is this gem :-

maybe it’s global warming,

I wonder how many people they had to ask before they got the right words to quote?

It's going to be a long time before either "climate change" or "global warming" are unfashionable excuses for nature's idiosyncrasies.