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 10 January 2014

Cornwall: Polkerris to Par 10/8/1998


 

Polkerris
 
Par China Clay Factory
 
Saltwort
It was two years before we were able to resume our walk.  Arriving in the morning, we parked at Parmear and walked to Polkerris to eat lunch overlooking the fishing village and its (still!) busy beach.  The small patch of sand was divided by windbreaks into family territories.  A steep path led up from Polkerris between hedges with many hedge- and meadow-brown butterflies and a lizard basking on one of the stiles.  We walked above an unnamed bay and climbed down at its western end, coarse sand with algae-covered rocks, a mix of common shells, and a few sunbathers.  Scrub and reeds on the cliff behind were populated by whitethroats and rock pipits.  Re-ascending, the path kept us away from Par Sands until we reached the car park and caravan site (although there was a prior narrow low passage down through thick blackthorn scrub that looked uninviting).  We crossed dunes to the shore, which is dominated by the china clay factory at the far end.  Chemical effluents made it smelly but discharges helped maintain a lagoon with an insect-buzzing wild end that had gypsywort and common skullcap.  The dunes were largely “wasteland” dominated by ragwort and wild parsnip, but there was a scattering of sea holly.  The top of the beach had lots of saltwort and the form of knotgrass that grows succulent under the influence of the sea air and mimics the very rare sea knotgrass.  The beach is popular because it is very flat and stretches a long way at low tide, but just as the tide rapidly began coming in a sea-fog accompanied it and anxious parents called out for their children at the sea-edge who had suddenly been rendered invisible.  The factory prevented further progress along the shore and the path followed a river, crossed a camping site and threaded through runnels between houses to reach the main road which provided the only means of continuing.
Common lizard
 
 
Marine form of common knotgrass
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