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

Durham: Seahm to Blackhall Rocks 8/7/2006***


 

Fragrant and pyramidal orchids
 
Leiostyla anglica
 
Clausilia dubia
We set off from the seafront at Seaham down the A182 which runs along the front to a roundabout where an asphalt path led across the fields near the cliffs by Nose’s Point.  South from here were flowery meadows with yellow-wort, common spotted, fragrant and pyramidal orchids, sawwort, common centaury and the usual cliff-top birds – meadow pipit, linnet, stonechat and yellowhammer.  Several parts of the cliffs here belonged to the National Trust.  The beaches below were of no interest because they had been used for dumping mining and other spoil, the natural plants and marine animals totally eradicated.  Only now after dumping has been stopped has the sea slowly been able to start cleaning this area up, but the beaches are still sterile black platforms.  Every now and again we had to negotiate steep ravines where streams come to the coast – the “denes” of Durham.  The first was Hawthorn Dene and we stayed here a while to examine the flora at the back of the triangular beach, which was quite rich, and then look for land-snails on the cliffs and up the river valley, which was currently dry except for one puddle where we saw a grey wagtail.  The banks at the mouth were smothered by a tall growth of butterburs and Indian balsam.  We found two snails new to us here – a door snail Clausilia dubia (quite abundant) and the minute Leiostyla anglica.  The few other people on the beaches were either fishermen or beach bums gathering firewood and scavenging flotsam.  After passing Easington and Blackhall Collieries (now just the names of villages where there are collieries no longer) we arrived at Blackhall Rocks picnic site and went up to the main coast road A1086 by means of a side road that went under the railway. The tracks block access to the coast along here most of the way, traversing the wooded denes by means of towering viaducts.  It took the help again of friendly locals to find a bus back to Seaham.  This, however, went no further than the top end, leaving a 1½ mile walk down to the harbour.
National Trust cliffs
 
Beach polluted by mining refuse


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