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: Millom to Silecroft 14/6/2005***


 

Fine-leaved sheep's fescue
 
Duddon Sands
Despite heavy rain still, we drove to Millom on the chance of improvement.  We parked at the Station pub (in mistake for the railway car park!) and the rain decreased to a drizzle and the wind subsided, so we decided to give it a go, despite a late start.  We walked down to the river and kept to the south bank to reach the estuary.  After rounding a point on the upper shore we saw Hodbarrow Point ahead and found ourselves by a huge lagoon with continual cries from nesting black-headed gulls and terns.  Beside the track flowered northern marsh and bee orchids.  A concrete RSPB hide afforded a splendid view of the colony, which included three terns – common, sandwich and little, the odd herring gull, several ducks (gadwall, merganser, teal, tufted, shelduck and mallard), great crested grebe, geese (Canada, greylag) and a redshank.  On the main estuary were cormorants and eider ducks: a very rewarding sight of so many species in one small area.  Immediately to the west we descended to Haverigg village and crossed the stream beside a pub.  As we were about to leave the village we found a small café to purchase warm drinks and snacks.  This helped reinforce us against the wind as we entered Haverigg Dunes which, with lighter rain, was easier to search than Sandscale yesterday.  There was much dyer’s greenweed, marsh cinquefoil and wild pansy as well as northern marsh orchids.  A few wetter slacks also had early marsh orchids, fen bedstraw, some striking large heath violets in bloom, and fine-leaved sheep’s fescue.  At the western end we found pyramidal orchids just beginning to open and mosaic puffballs.  We then came up against a wind-farm, its steel pillars and tall blades incongruously silver against the dark fells behind, where black clouds and mist still hung.  We therefore had to go down to the beach of sand and stones.  There were a good many shells because we were now facing open sea and had left the awkward estuaries of the Arne, Leven and Duddon behind at last.  With increasing pebbles and a rising tide we climbed to a narrow path along the edge of dunes, more eroded as we progressed, perhaps by the bad storms earlier this year.  The last hundred yards to the road down from Silecroft, where holiday homes dominated the front, had to be walked again on the tiresome pebbles, but we found a track across a lovely flowery meadow with the surprise of a lesser butterfly orchid in full flower.  There was little time to admire it as we had to go up the road to the station by 5pm when the train was due.  This was a request-stop where we had to signal the driver, but no-one came to sell us a ticket on the short 7-minute journey to Millom, so we rode free.
Mosaic puffball
 
Lesser butterfly orchid

 
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