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: North Shields to Newcastle Centre 31/8/2005


 

North Shields near ferry terminal
 
Start of Hadrian's Wall walk
 
Remains of original wall, Segendum
 
Having reached the northern limit of the English west coast we had two choices for crossing the country – the current border with Scotland, where there was no clear trail and army training land, or an older border marked by Hadrian’s Wall, where there is a well-documented trail.  The latter seemed the best equivalent to Offa’s Dyke between England and Wales, although it ended on the east side at Newcastle, a long way south of the northern end of the English east coast.  We started in North Shields because that was where we would arrive in 2006 on the walk south from Berwick along the Northumbria coast.
      We began at North Shields, walking down the streets from the station to the terminal for the ferry across the Tyne to South Shields and picked up the cycle trail following the north bank of the river westwards.  We only had rare glimpses of the Tyne, as remains of old docks and industrial development intervened until we reached the new Marina with its gentrified waterfront housing and common terns fishing.  We skirted the Royal Quays, passed the Tyne Pub snuggled underneath a railway viaduct, and the Swan Hunter shipbuilding yards where the 12.30pm siren blew and men streamed out for a lunch break. 
      We were then at Wallsend, the start of Hadrian’s Way with the remains of Segendum Fort and a shiny new museum.  We took a break, eating muffins in the recreated Roman herb garden on marble seats, careful not to get crumbs on our togae. A full-scale replica bathhouse gave an idea of Roman buildings with three dimensions. This was useful as otherwise only lines of wall foundations remain of the original buildings.  It had a Mediterranean look, a large entrance hall, communal loo, and hot and cold baths.  Remains of a grain store showed buttresses to prevent the walls being forced over by the weight of corn.  We also had our first glimpse of a small section of the wall, unfortunately reduced to ground level, with a recreation of how it may have looked beside it.  Nearby were remains of an old colliery pit, part of the industrial age that obliterated most of the Roman remains here. 
      After lunch we followed a disused railway providing an easy path between planted shrubs, with banks of rubble, some of it old ships’ ballast dumped here, providing calcareous soil for plants like marjoram, yellowwort, eyebright and bladder campion.  There was enough sun for some butterflies, including, appropriately, the Wall!  This was a pleasant route to Walker Riverside Park where we descended right to the banks of the Tyne for the first time since the ferry, spotting our only marine plant of the day, sea aster on a slender piece of saltmarsh in front of the stone embankment.  We walked into central Newcastle via another gentrified marina at St Peter’s and soon had views of the new white Gateshead Millennium Bridge, which is a wide parabolic arc designed to tip up when shipping needs to pass beneath.  We passed sculptures including the Blacksmith’s Needle and other art.  This was followed by a series of road and railway bridges at various heights.  We had to climb exhausting steps up the steep bank of the Tyne to the old Castle Keep and beyond that to St Nicholas’s cathedral.

 

Wall butterfly
 
 
Yellowwort
 
 
 
 
 
Blacksmith's Needle
 
Millennium Bridge
 
Fish sculpture
 
Remains of securely chained bicycle
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