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: North Somercotes to Mablethorpe 25/6/2008**

 
Common sea-lavender
 
Saltfleet Haven
 
Black-tailed skimmer
We parked near the Axe and Cleaver in North Somercotes and walked along the main A1031 until the track to Howden’s Pullover took us to the coast.  A thin strip of dune, again dominated by sea buckthorn, bordered a saltmarsh and mudflats, beyond which a strip of sand almost a mile out bordered the sea.  We could just see the rollers and boats passing far away.  It was easy walking along the dry top of the saltmarsh where common sea lavender was just coming into flower and large flocks of starlings wheeled around, but there was little other wildlife.  We reached the sands where the Saltfleet Haven channel went out to sea and then had to follow the bank back into the village of Saltfleet to cross the bridge and resume the top-of-saltmarsh path on the other side.  Here were a few dragonflies, both common darter and black-tailed skimmer, and 11-spot ladybirds.  A passing dog-walker who lived locally told us, among other things, that this region is one of the driest in Britain and that it is classified as semi-desert under EU regulations, so the farmers get special grants!  Just after he left us it began to rain!  However, it did not amount to much after all, and the day remained almost totally dry and mostly sunny.  After the saltmarsh we entered broad sand-flats, passing an old WWII tank that had been mostly shot to pieces in military exercises (as we had also been informed by the passing walker).  The drift-line included sea rocket, saltwort, and frosted orache.  There were many razor-shells scattered on the sand, sometimes large aggregations of young ones.  As we went further south the variety of shells increased to quite a reasonable total.  Approaching Mablethorpe the width of the sands gradually decreased to less than a kilometre at low tide.  The flat land and the dune-ridge of sea buckthorn, however, totally screened all buildings inland and often there was a wide landscape with no people in evidence at all.  There were eventually holidaymakers on the beach in front of the holiday camp on the north edge of Mablethorpe, with a sand-train taking people from the centre of the town to the camp.  Half-way along this stretch was an ice-cream van where we could sit and rest with cooling refreshment before completing the walk into Mablethorpe up the main High Street, popping into the Information Centre and then finding a taxi-office to arrange our return to North Somercotes.
 
Mablethorpe sand-train & wind-streaked beach

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