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





Tuesday, 28 January 2014

Cumbria: Bowness-on-Solent to Burgh-by-Sands 25/6/2005**


 

 
 
 
 
Greyhound Inn, Burgh
 
 
 
Clay dobbins cottages, Burgh
We returned to the flat-sedge at Bowness to photograph it and then walked past “haaf nets” drying on the grass.  These are used for fishing in the Solway.  In the village we came across the ornate entrance to the new Hadrian’s Way, complete with Latin inscription, “Roman” bird mosaic, and garden borders of associated plants such as woad and attracting red admirals.  This was behind the houses on the main street, which the trail now joined.  Nothing remains of Hadrian's Wall west of Carlisle, scavenged for building-stone, as for the church at Burgh-by-Sands, for there are few rocks round here.  At Port Carlisle the remains of an old harbour wall stood out at sea.  We took a path through young woodland and reed-marsh close to the road but separated from the traffic.  There followed a long stretch along the road itself to Drumburgh (pronounced “Drumbruff”), after which a long straight road hardly deviated all the way to Burgh (“Bruff”).  The saltmarsh became increasingly wide and, as the tide was out, we saw few birds except curlews.  There was also little natural saltmarsh vegetation, as sheep and cows pastured right up to the road, although we did find frog rush here for the first time.  An embankment on the north side of the road gave some relief from fast traffic until a large creek halted our advance and we had to cross the road and use the embankment of a disused railway as far as Dykesfield.  We had lunch sitting on the old railway, on a parapet of a bridge over a stream.   After lunch we walked on roads again all the way to Burgh, where a pub did refreshments and a chance to rest at trestle tables outside while waiting for a bus back.  We had time to walk around the village and witness some examples of the old local buildings made of clay and boulder (“clay dobbins”) because of the scarcity of local building material.  Where the external rendering had broken away this structure looked very crumbly.
Red admiral
 
Clay dobbins showing where plaster broken
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