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, 21 January 2014

Hampshire: Southampton Docks to Hamble Common 27/6/2001**


 

River Itchen from road bridge
 
Meeting Stone, Royal Victoria Country Park
 
D-Day Monument, Royal Victora Country Park
We started at Southampton docks where the ferry from Hythe arrives.  The waters were a forest of masts and the dock gates announced “Gateway to the world!”  Passing the remains of the old city walls, we walked along the sea front by bright flowerbeds and a marina complex of apartments, restaurants and shops known as Ocean Village.  Here the River Itchen flowed into the Solent.  The first bridge over it carried a busy main road, but gave good views up and down the river.  On the other side we walked behind Vosper Thorneycroft boatyards which lined the river, to a jetty at the corner of Southampton Water (Weston Point), where we were greeted by a malodorous sewage works.  From here we could walk by the shore, initially very stony mudflats.  Although the molluscan fauna was limited we saw many specimens of the introduced American clam Mercenaria mercenaria, and corpses of a Large Spotted Dogfish, an eel, and a pheasant!  Gradually banks of shingle began to dominate, sea beet being the most prevalent plant.  At Netley was a line of low sandstone cliffs topped with ram, followed by breezeblock and iron sea defences, before a small river joined the estuary.  We then had to leave the beach for a track at the top, because a rising tide was lapping against the sea wall, and entered Royal Victoria Country Park, much wooded as camouflage for defence structures during the war.   We recognised a monument here called Netley Chapel as a landmark we had seen yesterday from across the Solent.  Tamarisk had been planted at the top of the shore, with maritime pines and evergreen oaks further back.  A “meeting stone” donated by the Basque government in 1998 stands here, impressive, though strangely modern in this traditional British setting.  It is of grey marble with an “eye” of wood.  Beyond is the 1994 D-Day monument of a split slate “door” and white stones.  There were steps down to the shore beside an old pier head.  After Netley Sailing Club we came upon an interesting shingle bank with viper’s bugloss and sea campion, backed by reed marshes.  Just before the BP oil terminal there were plants of sea kale.  After a field of gorse where several stonechats were evident, we entered Hamble Common, which included saltmarshes along the west bank of the River Hamble with sea lavender, greater sea spurrey, glasswort, sea milkwort and thrift.  We emerged in the middle of Hamble village, close to where the ferry departs across the river.  After ice-creams we caught the bus back.
Mercenaria mercenaria
 
Sea kale
 
Sea milkwort
 
Hamble Ferry
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)