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, 24 January 2014

Lancashire: Carnforth to Arnside 21/6/2004**


 

Jenny Brown's Point
 
Wood ants
 
View from Arnside to Grange
We parked at our B&B Cotestones Farm, at the west end of Warton.  The farm is presumably named from the isolated boulders and rocks scattered in some parts of the saltmarsh north of here.  The sea was well out at this time, so we could see sand all across Morecambe Bay, apart from a narrow river channel.  We walked the road north along the west side of Warton Crag on the edge of woodland, climbed up the latter a little way by footpath, and then continued north along a slightly higher road which comes out at the same place, Crag Foot.  From here we took a path back through the upper saltmarsh to the edge of the Silverdale hill, which we skirted on its southern flank past an old lime-kiln chimney and Jenny Brown’s Point.  We took the small road north up the hill beside the RSPB reserve of Leighton Moss, which we traversed.  Acid soil overlies the limestone rocks, giving heather and bell heather, heath bedstraw and tormentil, mixed with rock-rose and wild thyme.  Buzzards flew overhead.  At the end we returned to the road, which immediately entered the outskirts of Silverdale village, where there was a fine plant of Turk’s cap lily beside a field wall.  As we descended the hill we got a good view across the marshy plain again, where a shelduck and a lapwing simultaneously mobbed a buzzard flying over!  At Silverdale rain threatened and we decided to shelter in the local pub for a quick lunch and refreshment.  We were soon proceeding in sunshine again across the shore above the marsh, involving a stretch over rocks at the bottom of the cliff, as by then the tide was well in and completely covering the saltmarsh.  The limestone cliff had several shrubs of rock whitebeam, few-leaved hawkweed Hieracium murorum and clumps of maidenhair fern.  We reached a road end in a little cove and followed this up to Far Arnside, from which we took the footpath around the edge of the Arnside Park woods, mostly ash-wood, with patches of lily-of-the-valley and ramsons, and wood ants.  We emerged at a caravan site and descended again to the shore, which we followed all the way into Arnside, an unspoilt village where we could buy ice-creams.  We turned right where the railway viaduct came across from Grange and followed it to the station, from which we caught the train back to Carnforth.  The railway line in this stretch ran closer to the coast than one can get on foot.
Maidenhair fern, Arnside
Few-leaved hawkweed


 
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