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: Warton Bank to Blackpool 15/6/2004****


 

Windmill, Lytham
 
 
Fountain opposite Dalmeny Hotel
From Brook Bridge we continued the Lancashire Coastal Way along the embankment above the marsh, manoeuvring around a couple of creeks by twice returning to the road briefly as we entered Lytham, returning to the front as we approached the well-known windmill.  Loos here were well timed, but a whole class of schoolchildren beat us to them!  Just over the sea wall were several wild apple trees and one wild pear.  We continued along the head of the saltmarsh, finding some relict dunes just before Fairhaven Lake, where there were many Canada geese, plus greylags, mute swans, mallards and golden-eye.  A flock of swifts performed acrobatics over the water and surrounding bushes where swarms of flies danced.  The dunes that followed had some typical plants but were generally degraded and there was no evidence of the dune-slack vegetation that we had seen many years ago, only seeing seaside pansies, false Virginia-creeper and golden alison.  'Pleasure Island' followed and the end of the dunes, so we crossed the road to our hotel, the Dalmeny at Lytham, to escape the drizzle and get a little lunch in the Patio Café.  It was 3pm when we re-emerged to walk up the large beach northwards.  The sand here was very disturbed and the shells all broken, as we passed more bare dunes below the golf course and Blackpool Airport, followed by Pontin’s Holiday Camp.  Here bulldozers were digging a hole in the sand, while other machines dredged sand far away at the sea’s edge to bring back to fill in the hole, an excellent enterprise.  (Val thought they might be trying to protect what’s left of the dunes by creating a further line of dunes in front of them.)  As we passed in front of Blackpool the sand was less disturbed and better shell specimens, including wentletrap, Aclis minor, Eulima glabra and Polinices fuscus became available.  Other marine creatures we found were the hydroids Aglaophenia pluma and Sertularella polyzonias, the tube-worms Protula tubularia and Spirorbis spirillum, and the isopod Idotea linearis.  We got as far as the Pleasure Beach with its huge Big Dipper, and then climbed up the embankment to catch a tram to the end of the line at Starr Gate, near the Pontin’s holiday camp.  Then we continued by bus back to the Admiral Inn near our hotel.
 
Seaside pansy
 
 
Aglaophenia pluma
 
 
Spirorbis spirillum on Aglaophenia
 

 

Wentletrap
 
Aclis minor
 
Eulima glabra
 
Polinices fuscus
 

 
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