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: Mayland to Bradwell Waterside 5/7/2009


 

 
 
Salsify
 
 
Common heath moth
Today was one long string of caravan parks and marinas.  Picking up the path where we left off yesterday at the end of Mayland Creek, we walked north by the right bank to the mouth of the creek at the caravan park of Canney House, where most people appeared to be into water sports or angling.  Around settlements the paths were often well-used and easier (apart from the litter and dog-mess), further away they were more difficult, pushing through long grass and overhanging sea-beet.  Salsify plants were in flower, and we realised that our failure to see many flowers before was that, like its close relative goat’s-beard, salsify only opens in the morning and “goes to bed at noon”.  The purple flowers are small compared with the bracts, and the heads only grow in seed.  We saw a common heath moth.  We kept to the embankment around Steeple Creek as far as the main Blackwater channel and another caravan community at Stansgate Abbey Farm.  Further east was a large boating community at Ramsey “Island”, where we stopped for our lunch beside the Stone Inn and bought some drinks.  Here the boating ramps and car-park totally blocked the public right of way.  We found a way through various “private” areas and down to the narrow shingle beach to get along past further fences to regain the coast path.  No way round the obstruction was signed at all.  Back on the embankment we passed Beacon Hill “Leisure Park” (more caravans) before getting into countryside again, and thick grass as far as yet another caravan settlement, where we had to leave the embankment because of a couple of sea-breaches that had destroyed the way.  The path led beside two huge fields of lucerne and then along a mown way that was obviously maintained for wildfowlers.  We regained the embankment only just before the Marina at Bradwell Waterside, which forced us back inland again across a churned up construction site full of silent machines, it being Sunday.  At the far end a path across a stream led to the main road and the Green Man Inn, where we ended the day, bought beer brewed locally on the Dengie Peninsula, and called A2B Taxis.  Plants along the way included lots of shrubby seablite and golden samphire at the head of the saltmarsh, and sea barley and sea clover on the embankments, with a single patch of strawberry clover.  Several avocets and little egrets were seen, but the saltmarsh and its pools were dominated by black-headed gulls.  As usual, several damselflies and dragonflies flew across the path or nearby water, including the brilliantly blue emperor dragonfly.
 
 
 
River Blackwater at Canney House
 
 
 
Golden samphire with shrubby seablite, sea purslane and sea couch


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