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: Cawfields Quarry to Banks 5/9/2005***


 

Aesica Fort
 
Brittle bladder fern
 
Milecastle 48
From Cawfields Quarry we set off up the slope to Aesica Fort where there was one stone with a relief carving of a soldier with a shield and an altar where visitors, oddly, have placed coins on top.  Who collects these, we wondered?  There was also a well-preserved arch of a cellar, although most of the site is under grass and marked just by ridges where the walls used to run.  It is partly covered by a farm building and a horse-riding area.  Another stretch of Wall ends abruptly at a quarry face.  With a pool at the base, as at Cawfields, this now forms part of Walltown Quarry Country Park, which was currently invaded by a coach party.  There were little grebes in the pool, but little else except for brittle bladder-fern among the various rocks of the sill.  We continued down to Holmhead and the shattered remains of medieval Thirlwall Castle, of which we got a better view by going the wrong way!  We eventually retraced the Trail beside a stream down over the railway to the Greenhead road, via a grass track in front of 100-year-old redbrick colliery captains’ cottages.  We crossed the Pennine Way here and left the road at Longbyre Wall, where a small piece of Wall juts out into the roadside.  The subsequent path through the fields followed a good section of north ditch with more excavated earth mounds still in situ, and made its way to Gilsland and the Cumbria/Northumbria border, although we skirted the village to see the tall arch of a railway bridge over the river, where we saw wood cranesbill again, and the well-kept Milecastle 48.  The path descends by the Wall down to the River Irthing, ending in massive bridge abutments in the middle of a field, the river having moved substantially westwards.  This is now crossed by a new Millennium footbridge that has had several awards for its design.  A steep path up to Milecastle 49 was followed by another long section of high Wall, including a brick with a phallic design and another with a cross.  We then reached Birdoswald or Banna Fort and could get further stamps on our passports.  After brief ice-creams here, among various hedgerow birds and with a chance to spot the yellow-and-black striped caterpillar of an alder moth, we continued along a section of Wall that had been formed of turf, once surmounted by a wooden palisade.  Only the ditches and a few turrets now survive.  Some road-walking brought us to Banks, with its old Roman signal station, mostly destroyed by the road apart from one corner, and another turret.  Here was a bus stop for the Wall bus.
Phallic stone
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