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, 31 January 2014

Essex: Heybridge Basin to Maylandsea 3/7/2009**


 

 
 
 
Path from Heybridge Basin
 
 
Maldon across the river
 
 
Hairy vetchling
From a convenient free car park at the end of the road in Heybridge Basin, we crossed the canal at the locks and circled around large lakes with a few birds, including several little egrets together (they are usually rather solitary), a few avocets and a large flock of black-tailed godwits.  Maldon was visible close across the river channel.  The path then led through industrial parts of Heybridge, including a large recycling centre, and became rather grotty – we recorded two dead shrews and a dead rat on the way.  We followed the main road, through more industrial estates and past a Tesco superstore, into Maldon.  Immediately after the bridge over the River Blackwater, we left the main road again to pass through boatyards and housing alongside the river’s south bank until we left the town altogether through a well-kept children’s adventure park.  Now began the usual trek along embankments, which soon became difficult with long grass slowing progress, and few interesting plants or birds so far from the sea.  Butterflies were not numerous, but it was noticeable that the hedge browns were now emerging in force and rivalling the meadow browns, while the number of painted ladies was much reduced.  When lunch-time arrived we were far from any reasonable makeshift seat, other than climbing down the bank to the saltmarsh where blocks of concrete that had broken from the reinforcements provided possible, though hardly comfortable, seats, while our boots stirred an unpleasant smell from the rotting seaweed.  Things looked up, however, NE of Iltney Farm (TL895050), when we discovered the very rare hairy vetchling (small purple and white flowers in singles or pairs, hairy pods, and typical vetchling stems and leaves) beside the path, accompanied by sea clover.  (This was just after passing a row of hawthorns where we were surprised to see wood spurge, far from any woodland.)  The trek continued, much of the time along somewhat easier tracks at the side of fields below the embankment until we again found hairy vetchling near Brick House Farm TL900032, extending for some 50 metres along the inner embankment, again accompanied by sea clover, with sea barley on the path below.  Around a few more frustrating convoluted river basins we finally entered Maylandsea, a small boating and industrial village on Mundon Creek.  At the end of the main road was a bar, The Horny Toad, with a raucous crowd of boozers in working clothes, where we got some welcome drinks, sitting watching Andy Murray on the way to losing in the Wimbledon semi-final, before we phoned for a Maldon taxi from the same firm as yesterday. 
 
 
 
 
Sailing barges at Maldon
 
 
 
 
Hedge brown
 
 


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