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: South Walney Island 11/6/2005**


 

Sea kale
 
 
Lesser black-backed gull
We parked at the west side of Vickerstown in the centre of Walney and resumed our walk down that side.  There was an abundance of sea kale on top of the shingle beach with some sea holly and yellow horned-poppy and, later on, sea rocket and saltwort.  At the south end was an immense colony of lesser black-backed gulls, with some herring and greater black-backed gulls and oystercatchers nesting among them.  They made a great racket as we passed below them on the mix of sandy and shingly beach, so we could not attempt to climb up the grassy dunes until we reached the far SE point and a bird-hide there belonging to South Walney nature reserve.  This provided a convenient shelter for lunch and a view over the lagoons created by old salt diggings, while out to sea a grey seal bobbed up occasionally to the surface.  There were plenty of eiders and shelduck here, and we saw viper’s bugloss flowering.  We walked along the top and around the lighthouse to reach the other side of the lagoons and marshes, passing more plants like small bugloss, hound’s-tongue and common centaury.  There were again views of Piel Castle.  Visitors to the reserve coming from the official entrance were carrying canes, some with cloth flags, to ward off angry gulls, but some by swiping at them only roused them to more frequent and aggressive attacks.  Several swooped very close above our heads, which they had not done on the other side where we were alone.  Large groups of mewing eiders were in the sea and on the shore here.  We met the warden briefly near the information board and continued along the uninteresting saltmarsh side of the island, round the caravan park at South End (where we at least had the diversion of finding fodder burnet) and by paved road back to Vickerstown.
 
Tip of South Walney
 
Small bugloss
 
Piel Castle from South Walney

 
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