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: Walton-on-the-Naze to Clacton 29/6/2009*


 

Walton from path to The Naze
 
Painted lady
 
We parked at the centre of the seafront in Walton and walked to the harbour extending from Hamford Water, along the bordering embankment.  Toothed medick grew in the path.  Passing a caravan park, we noticed a large plume of smoke from across Hamford Water, apparently where the Exchem factory stands, along with a series of explosions and flashes, which went on for several minutes.  As we left the caravan park we entered The Naze Nature Reserve.  The top of the embankment was difficult to walk because of long grass and tall plants, so we walked the inner path, where there were a few patches of sea clover.  Occasional views from the top of the embankment showed that we were missing few birds on the wider saltmarsh, where there were mainly a few black-headed gulls, oystercatchers and lapwings.  There were few butterflies or bees, as there were very few flowers, but we still occasionally saw painted ladies that we had consistently been seeing since Suffolk.  We rounded the NW corner, with a view north across the islands where seals and nesting birds safely inhabit the sea-facing beaches, although nothing could be seen from the embankment.  At the NE corner we entered the sandy sea-shore, where there were few special dune plants – mainly sea spurge and the odd yellow-horned poppy.  The path on the other side of the embankment had sea barley, sea pearlwort and glasswort together.  Walking south, there were a number of shells and fossils from the low cliffs that were of London Clay below Red Crag (Eocene) and glacial till.  There were also masses of pyritised fossil pieces of wood.  We met a young chap collecting sharks’ teeth for sale, so it was no surprise that we were unable to find any specimens, walking the way he had come!  As we walked back into the town we moved up above the beach that was crossed by high groynes to a promenade bordered by short grass, where there was a patch of dune fescue and bird’s-foot clover (fenugreek).  When we reached the centre of the town we looked for a café for lunch, but they were closed, presumably because it was Monday.  We were left with fast food joints, but we got a decent ice-cream.  The promenade south from here was sandwiched between beach-huts and mist-covered sea, a situation that persisted for 3km, right through Frinton-on-Sea, the housing directly abutting Walton.  The only break came at the end of Frinton, where the concrete embankment bordered a golf course.  Below there was some sea barley, and we watched three mistle thrushes feeding on the golf course.  It was not long, however, before we got to Holland-on-Sea and 4km of beach-huts virtually to the centre of Clacton, into which the village merged.  So we took the path to the top of the cliff, which was at least preferable for the view, even if bordering the seafront road.  The only interest along here was provided by introduced plants established on the cliff below, such as tamarisk, fennel, salsify and florist’s sea-lavender.  In the centre of Clacton it was too long to wait for a bus, so we found a taxi back to Walton.
 
Birdsfoot clover
 
Fennel on Clacton cliff-edge


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