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

Devon: Berry Head to Sharkham Point 11/8/1994**


 

 
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Goldilocks aster
 
 
Berry Head Lighthouse
 
Near the Berry Head hotel were patches of greater quaking-grass and large yellow stonecrop.  We spent most of the day exploring Berry Head, as this is a famous botanical spot and seabird nesting-site.  It is a limestone headland across Tor Bay from the similar outcrop of Wall’s Hill north of Torquay, but much less affected by development.  The list of cliff plants is long and included saw-wort, autumn squill, rock sea-lavender, rock stonecrop, carline thistle, lesser meadow-rue, pyramidal orchid, viper’s bugloss and white rock-rose.  Unfortunately, many were only in seed, apart from the ubiquitous autumn squill, which included the occasional white specimen.  We found the leaves of honewort just south of the Head, surrounded by seeds dropped in July, and a few young plants of goldilocks aster just forming buds.  There were old spikes of the broomrape Orobanche maritima that grows on wild carrot.  Nesting seabirds of course had mostly left, but kittiwakes flew by the south side of the Head, chased at one point by a peregrine falcon.  Kestrels, too, hunted over the cliffs.  The weather was too overcast for most insects but Silver Y moths were out in their hundreds and bloody-nosed beetles common.  We saw a white-line dart moth and the uncommon hoverfly Chrysotoxum elegans.  At the Head is a very small lighthouse distinguished as being the highest in Britain.  The Head has been fortified at various times since the Napoleonic Wars (and before that in the Iron Age) and many cannons and walls remain. 
     To the south we rounded further steep headlands, including Durl Point (honewort and goldilocks aster again) and Sharkham Point, an SSSI on sandstone with largely bracken and acidophilic plants.  Between was the broad cove of St Mary’s Bay – rocks and sand with infrequent shells apart from mussels and many herring gulls.  It is reached by long tracks from the nearest car-park, but was still popular with sunbathers.  After walking back we ate local Brixham fish in Saxby’s restaurant near the harbour – Torquay dab and ling fillets.  Tony finished with a knickerbocker glory in memory of his favourite dish when on holiday in Paignton 45 years before.  After dinner we watched fireworks across the bay at Paignton, part of their annual regatta celebrations, that had been postponed for two days because of the recent storms.
 
 
 
St Mary’s Bay
 
 
 
Mussels at StMary’s Bay
 
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