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: Hightown to Freshfield 10/6/2004*


 

 
Round-leaved winbtergreen
 
 
Northern dune tiger beetle
We took the train from Moorfields Station and arrived in Hightown before ten, walking a narrow path between the railway and a Territorial Army Training Camp, where soldiers were shooting noisily and continuously.  The path had some dune-land plants, however, and, being sheltered on a warm sunny day, attracted many butterflies. Eventually we turned to the west and walked between the TA camp and arable fields, passing a couple of toads, and into Raven Meols NNR.  This was a delight and we enjoyed finding marsh orchids, marsh helleborine on the point of flowering, round-leaved wintergreen, twayblade and grass of Parnassus just coming into bud.  We spent the morning meandering through the dunes, and then we headed to the beach to find sand-dwelling molluscs and the shoreline plants (mostly saltwort, with hound’s-tongue abundant on the fore-dunes).  We entered a blown out bowl of soft sand, the floor carpeted with brooklime, seaside centaury and a large bee orchid.  Dune tiger beetles ran over the hot sand.  Swallows entertained us with an aerial display against a background of mixed cloud formations.  We walked further inland through pinewoods and more of the somewhat degraded Formby dunes, where there was much bugloss.  After walking around the main car park, avoiding the golf course, we bought an iced lolly and reached the Squirrel Walk, where we saw our first red squirrel.  We caught a train back from Freshfield, the crowds for the Curtis Cup practice rounds at the Formby golf course having by then dispersed.
FORMBY DUNES
 
Swallows on wire

 
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