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, 31 January 2014

Lincolnshire: Mablethorpe to Chapel St Leonard's 26/6/2008


 

Starfish, Mablethorpe Sands
 


Sea rocket
 
Ammonite from Mablethorpe Beach
We parked just behind the seafront in Mablethorpe and walked straight to the bottom of the beach, not so far this time as it was about high tide.  This was advantageous, as the sea was throwing up plenty of fresh shells and progress was slow through here and the next community, Trusthorpe, as we searched the tide-line for new species.  Many more varieties were found to add to yesterday’s list for Mablethorpe and proved this to be a good collecting beach, and we even found a fossil ammonite.  Large numbers of shells were present, sometimes in shell-heaps, as well as many starfish also thrown up.  There was little dune present at the head of the beach, and only occasional plants of sea rocket and saltwort were managing to survive along the high spring-tide line.  This was not helped by daily beach cleaning by huge machines which also broke up the sand surface and made it more difficult to walk, except on the freshly wet sand right beside the waves.  At Sutton on Sea we walked the concrete embankment for a change, in front of the little wooden chalets, but the main town was below this level and hidden from the front, so that we did not know we were there until we were at the far end of the town known as Sandilands.  Hordes of turnip sawfly were drifting in from across the North Sea and carpeting the ground and vegetation.  Beyond here a golf course occupied the land and there was no feasible walkway above the beach, the concrete bulwarks and steps that had been built here for miles being covered by nascent dunes of loose sand too soft to walk, so we resorted to walking the beach for several miles all the way to Chapel Point, the number of shells gradually reducing as we progressed.  In some places the beach was rather soft and walking laborious, but at other places we could find a reasonably firm surface.  The only birds seen with any frequency (and this still not very many) were black-headed gulls.  At Chapel Point there was a concrete walkway in front of some chalets and then we found a path to the road to the centre of Chapel St. Leonard’s and the bus-station there, where we caught the No.9 bus from Skegness that terminated at Mablethorpe.  Like yesterday we could see little of the land from the beach and had little idea of what we were passing, although there were more frequent car-parks at the beach-head and therefore a few holiday-makers and dog-walkers now and again.  Out to sea was a large (although apparently not functioning) wind farm (and a smaller one on land just behind Mablethorpe).  On our return to Mablethorpe we found an Italian coffee-house where we could get a decent Americano – only just in time as they closed up as we were leaving – and then tried traditional fish (“fresh Grimsby” haddock) and chips, with mushy peas and white bread and butter, plus coffee (again!) all for £5.95 at Salty’s.  This was far from the best fish and chips we’ve ever had, but there was little choice for eating in this resort.
Sutton-on-Sea chalets
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