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

Norfolk: Titchwell to Burnham Overy Staithe 4/9/2008***


 

We parked at the RSPB reserve near Titchwell.  We sampled the views from each hide and walked out as far as the beach.  This landed a good haul of birds, including curlew-sandpiper, avocet, bar-tailed godwit, golden, grey and ringed plovers.  After checking out the visitor centre we walked along the main road to the far end of Titchwell, where, just after the church, a track came off left towards the coast via a little copse.  This led to an embankment beside the Titchwell saltmarsh, from which we again saw marsh harriers.  The final walk to the beach was a puddly path off the embankment, which enabled us to examine the saltmarsh flora at close quarters.  All the marsh edges here, as yesterday, were lined with shrubby seablite which, despite its rarity along most of our coast, is here one of the dominant plants.  There was also much shiny glasswort with orange stems.  The beach itself provided the routine shell collection of the day, including slipper limpet which had started at about Hunstanton.  We walked a short way eastwards along the shore to the clubhouse of the golf-course that occupies the dunes beyond.  The only plant of sea holly we saw all day was here.  We turned inland along the embankment beside the road, as we had to keep landward of the saltmarsh around the major creek that comes in along the south side of the golf course.  We saw a young toad crossing the recently cut path.  (We saw two more toads in the afternoon.)  As we reached the edge of Brancaster we found a useful seat for lunch overlooking the characteristic reed beds.  Some of the reeds are still cut and used in traditional ways.  We did not see any bearded tits supposed to be here - there are very few pairs.  We took the path, the official coast path, bordering the marsh, with residential gardens to our right. (We had left the official path to avoid road-walking when it took a long detour inland.)  The proximity of gardens at Brancaster and then Brancaster Staithe led to garden escapes like hybrid clary Salvia x sylvestris, sweet tobacco and coralberry invading the saltmarsh.  Near the harbour, with many yachts and other boats moored beyond, we passed the rear entrance of The White Horse, where we were staying.  Just after this we came to the beginning of the embankment again at Burnham Deepdale, where the path goes for 3¾ miles, some distance from the road.  Although heavy rain had been forecast we had had only light rain all day and now was no different, so we took the decision to embark on this route which leads ultimately to Burnham Overy Staithe.  As we walked towards the outer coast we could see the dunes of Scolt Head Island extending east and west in front of us across a large creek and saltmarsh.   As we neared halfway the rain began in earnest, but it was too late to turn back.  There did not in any case seem to be many features of interest along this stretch, despite the little egrets, normally hidden along the creeks, revealing their pristine whiteness whenever they flew up.  The path was well maintained, making walking easy.  We turned south at the creek that comes in before Overy Staithe and had to travel beyond the village before a bridge allowed us to cross near an old windmill standing beside the road.  Interesting field margins here had some arable annual plants, like chicory and flax, and we followed these fields to the beginning of the village and the main road.  This we followed as far as The Hero pub, apparently celebrating Lord Nelson.  Here was the bus stop for the "Coasthopper" back to Titchmarsh, for which we only had to wait a few minutes, as this great service runs every half an hour between coastal towns until the end of September.  Back at The White Horse, we had splendid wide views across the saltmarsh, looking so much more attractive as the sun was at last shining.  There was time to relax before eating at 7.30 in a large restaurant set high up to give a view of the sunset over the marsh and a line of fluffy clouds so unlike the dark ones we had endured all day.
Shrubby seablite, Brancaster
Saltmarsh, Brancaster Staithe

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