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

Hadrian's Way: Banks to Carlisle 6/9/2005


 

 
Barberry in fruit
 
 
Indian balsam
From Banks we walked the road down to Banks Burn and up again to Hare Hill, where there was a small section of Wall without the shaped outer stones, just the mortared inner rubble.  We entered a series of pastures with the north ditch on the other side of a hedge, sometimes with old oaks growing on the ramparts as they did on Offa’s Dyke.  Only a little original stone was seen occasionally.  It was a delight to see red squirrels in several fields, especially one between a dense fir wood and a line of hazels with ripening nuts, the sleek tawny-red animals flicking their black tails above their backs as they scampered across the grass.  From Low Wall to Walton it was all roads again, past an excavated section of Wall near Dovecote Bridge, covered in turf because of the danger of weathering of the softer sandstone blocks used here.  We met a Trail volunteer on the bridge over Cam Beck, looking for kingfishers that did not materialise, although we could see plenty of fish in the iron-reddened waters.  She regularly walks “her” section to ensure it is kept clear and free of litter, although the latter is only a problem on roadsides and near car-parks, not from walkers.  In the quiet little village of Newtown we walked beside the village green with pied wagtails.  We were still following remnants of the north ditch across fields when we entered an old drove road, a pleasant green lane hedged each side with barberry, harebells and foxgloves on the banks, leading to Old Wall.  The ditch continued past Bleatarn, a deep pool mainly filled with bulrushes and reed-grass.  We then walked the Wall itself, now just turf, followed by lanes to Wallhead.  Another green lane, Sandy Lane, took us south to Crosby-on-Eden, where we had a welcome drink and muffin at The Stag.  We were in time for the 2.11 bus back to Banks, so we used this chance to have a short rest and drove our car back to Crosby to resume the walk.  The trail was firstly beside the river with mute swans, a mallard and mergansers, the banks overgrown by Indian balsam and butterbur, but soon left along lanes to a roadway over the M6.  There was more tedious road-walking into Carlisle at Rickerby, where a tower folly stood looking foolish in the middle of an arable field.  Cutting through Rickerby Park, however, we reached the river Eden and followed this to the very centre of Carlisle, crossing it via the Memorial Bridge to those who died in the “Great War”.  After more dense stands of Indian balsam and a golf course we arrived at the sports centre, Sands, to get another stamp on our passports.  In the centre of town we had a celebratory coffee at Costa again with Scotch Street meeting English Street opposite.
Junction of Scotch & English Streets

 
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