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: Wallasea Ferry to Mucking Hall 7/7/2009


 

Rock stonecrop
 
 
Whole quahog
 
Wayside chicory
The ferry across the Crouch from Burnham lands at the west end of Wallasea Island.  The road then crosses the creek to the mainland again.  This part of the coast, rounding into the Thames Estuary, does not feel like coast at all, because there are large islands like Foulness, separated from one another and from the mainland only by narrow creeks.  The walk was easy but very dull.  By the saltmarsh where we left Wallasea Island there was a roadside “nature reserve” that looked like a tip, there was so much litter, but we did discover rock stonecrop here on a shingle bank, possibly native.  We took the footpath along the edge of the saltmarsh to the head of Paglesham Creek, whence it was embankments all the way round its junction with the River Roach and along the north bank of the river, via a little boatyard near Paglesham Eastend.  We overlooked a large pool by Stannets Creek where there were many gulls, coot, swans and pochard.  There was a large detour around Bartonhall Creek, which again was mainly inhabited by gulls, with shelduck, little egrets and an avocet.  There was much less shrubby seablite and golden samphire today, and, while sea barley was still abundant in places, there were fewer patches of sea clover.  Around Paglesham there were many fragmented quahog shells brought up by gulls on to the embankment to break open and eat.  These were once introduced experimentally from the USA to several locations along the Rivers Crouch and Roach, and some have survived.  After Bartonhall we sat on the side of the embankment for our lunch, but had to depart quickly when a storm began, walking the rest of the embankment to Rochford in thunder, lightning and drenching rain.  By cutting across the river on little bridges at Stambridge Mills we avoided having to go into town, cutting through an industrial estate (knotted hedge parsley in the roadside verge) and on to the road at Sutton Ford Bridge.  We crossed the busy road and took a parallel path through agricultural land, fields of wheat, peas and potatoes, as far as Slated Row, and past Butler’s Farm (now a horse livery like so many other farms around here), one field’s distance from the river embankment on the south side.  This led to Mucking Hall, where we completed our walk and went down the road to Gallows Field, just north of Stonebridge, from where we soon got a lift back to Wallasea.
Paglesham Creek
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