Introduction


When we started walking the coast of England we had no intention that this would become a major lifetime project. Having to make a last-minute arrangement for our summer holiday in 1987, we said "Let's go to the nearest piece of coast and see how far we can walk along it." It turned out well and we started adding further stretches of coast, initially once every two years, but soon annually, or even twice a year.

We had always enjoyed the coast - there is something refreshingly "edgy" about having the sea always at our side, and one of us was into marine molluscs. We also enjoyed long-distance walking and had long been involved in general natural history recording. This project enabled us to combine all three interests.

You soon discover when embarking on a project like this that you need a few rules, which evolve from the first experiences. Our main rule was that we should walk as close to the coast as possible, which meant beach-walking whenever we could (unlike the official coast paths that largely remain above shore, recognising that at high tides the beach may be inaccessible). The route should also be capable of being a continuous walk, so that when we came to an unfordable river we walked inland along its banks to the first place at which we could cross, whether a bridge or a ferry.

We only carried light packs, so that at the end of each day's walk we had the problem of getting back to our car where we started. Initially we walked back, but soon realised we would be walking the coast twice this way! We used public transport whenever this was available - buses or trains, sometimes adjusting our start and finish points to make this easier. Failing this - and it was often not possible - we would phone for a taxi (an increasingly costly option over the years). Having our car with us gave us more freedom as to where we could stay at night - and after a day walking and only light food we were usually ready for being spoiled by a good meal and a comfortable bed! Even so, we stayed on the coast itself whenever there was a decent option.

Each walk was made for enjoyment, it was not a route-march to see how quickly we could get it finished. We therefore took it gently at times when passing through pleasant scenery or where there were many plants or creatures to record.

In terms of biological recording, we systematically noted every bird, butterfly, creature or sea-shell that we came across, sometimes spending time searching for the shells. We could not record every plant in the same way - there are too many common ones - so we were more selective, noting all coastal plants and any others that were not run-of-the-mill.

In our daily posts, edited from our original diaries, we include a star-rating from no star to **** according to our subjective estimate as to how special that day was from the point of view of natural history. This score (and our daily records) will, however, have been affected by the weather - it is difficult to appreciate the environment fully, for instance, in torrential rain, and there are many more butterflies and other insects to be seen in warm sunshine!

A summary of all our natural history records on the walk can be found using this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1LLGD55lKRHYXd1SGU1QndrcUU/edit?usp=sharing





Friday, 24 January 2014

Cheshire: Burton to West Kirby 7/6/2004****


 

 
 
 
Hedgerow cranesbill, Ness
 
 
 
Parkgate (Nicholls shop bottom left)
We spent an hour at Ness Botanic Gardens (belonging to Liverpool University) before walking south to Burton, along a flowery roadside, with much hedgerow cranesbill of a striking variety with a white centre to the flower, possibly originating from the Botanic Garden.  At Burton we turned down to the coast to start the walk proper, at the point nearest to the English/Welsh border that is accessible.  The road went past Hampstons Well dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, large old oaks, and several plant nurseries that do well on the rich brown humus from the River Dee floodplain.  When we reached the estuary itself, there were a couple of fields of sheep on the drier salt marsh.  We followed the edge of the estuary to Little Neston, where the Harp Inn provided refreshment, Landlord Ale, but no food because it was Monday.  At Neston we passed Emma Hamilton’s house (mistress of Lord Nelson).  The front at Parkgate was more seaside-like, although the vista was of green saltmarsh, not sea, backed by Welsh hills.  Here we both had homemade ice creams from the Nicholls shop.  After this we entered the Wirral Country Park, but descended to walk at the top of the salt marsh once more, it being fairly dry.  A creek came close to shore and as it widened there were yachts and a boat club.  Shortly after this the saltmarsh petered out.  We had open sea by our side and a sandy-stony shore to walk on.  By Heswall there were clumps of alexanders, rare this far north.  The Wirral climate seems quite mild, so that southern plants can reach their northern limit here.  We walked under a golf course along a long beach with a low crumbly red-earth cliff all the way to West Kirby, where we caught the 5.05pm bus back to Neston. 
      Herons were frequent on the marshes; flowers included many garden escapes, including annual toadflax, trailing snapdragon and upright yellow-sorrel; there were rare natives - rough poppy and dark-leaved willow; we saw a skate washed up on the shore; and we ended up with long flora and bird lists.  Throughout the day we ate very little “because it was Monday”, so were very tired and hungry in the evening, and had to take the Mersey Tunnel, from Birkenhead into the centre of Liverpool, to dine at Simply Heathcotes.  When we arrived at the Wirral the previous evening everywhere had been closed “because it was Sunday”, so we had had to travel to Liverpool to eat then too, finding one of its famous Chinese dim-sum restaurants in a former warehouse.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Upper saltmarsh near Harp Inn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Wirral cliffs

 
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