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

Cumbria: Bridge over the Arne to Grange 7/6/2005****


 

Hieracium grandidens on wall
 
Baltic tellins
 
Blue-eyed grass
We arrived at Grange railway station at 2.30pm and walk alongside the railway north as far as the bridge over the estuary, the other side of which we had ended our walk the year before.  This involved walking along the busy B5277 at first, rising gently out of Grange-over-Sands, but the limestone walls and cuttings were interesting for their plants, including two hawkweeds Hieracium vulgatum and the uncommon H. grandidens.  There was a bridge over the railway eventually, leading to the end of the promenade and a small rocky promontory above the saltmarsh, Blawith Point, from which we were able to walk along the sea-wall at the top of dry well-cropped saltmarsh sheep-pasture.  Plants were limited to the sloping sea-wall itself, where saltmarsh-grass and flattened meadow-grass were allowed to flower.  Baltic tellins were common, as usual, in the saltmarsh.  At Holme Island access along the marsh was closed, so we re-crossed the railway and descended to the road passing through a golf course.  We had joined the Cumbrian Coastal Way to our destination bridge over the River Winster.  Here we saw a limestone crag rising from the road with an accessible cliff face above Low Meathrop Marsh.  There we met another couple of amateur botanists enjoying the rock-roses, blue-eyed grass and bee orchids on display, along with other limestone specialities like limestone bedstraw, horseshoe vetch, rock whitebeam and the hawkweed Hieracium silvaticoides.  Jackdaws nested at the top and a heron flew over from the river below.  We are staying at 'Uplands', Cartmel.
 
 
Arnside Knott from saltmarsh above Grange
 
 
Limestone crag at Low Meathrop Marsh

 
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