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

Offa's Dyke: Kington to Lower Harpton 18/6/2003***


 

View from Stanner Rocks
 
Spiked speedwell
We spent the morning examining the small national nature reserve of Stanner Rocks, which lies exactly on the English/Welsh border, although Offa’s Dyke and its path are a couple of miles further east at this point.  We eventually discovered one of our main targets, sticky (or red) catchfly, on a sheer cliff attained after a difficult path through steep woodland.  There were about ten flowering spikes and some non-flowering rosettes, but they had just finished flowering and were now in seed, disappointingly.  On another sharply-sloping cliff-ledge above a sheer drop, however, there were a hundred or so stems of spiked speedwell.  The basic volcanic rock of this isolated hill supports a typical limestone flora amidst what is otherwise very acid sandstone.  The base of the cliff which is easily accessed had fairy flax, milkwort, rock-rose, crow garlic, rock stonecrop and thyme.  Behind the rock is a fir plantation where we saw bullfinches.  (When we had first visited this reserve it had been midwinter to see the very rare early star-of-Bethlehem, flowering even in the snow.)  After lunch we set out on a 4-mile stretch of the dyke walk from Lower Harpton south to Kington.  On the way the dyke itself re-appeared after several days’ absence, curving round Herrock Hill as a low embankment and then becoming full-blown with a ditch across Rushock Hill.  Here we came across the body of a common shrew.  Unfortunately the path left this section in the middle to travel directly down to Kington across sheep grasslands (sterile from the point of the view of plants and wildlife) and a golf course, and across the busy A44 by-pass to Back Brook.  We followed the brook westwards to get back to Stanner Rocks and our car, which we took just a couple of miles to the Harp Inn at Old Radnor.  The Harp is set on top of the west-facing side of a hill, by a church and village green, with tables overlooking the scenery, which we admired over a local Brecon beer.
 
View from beside Harp Inn
 
 
Early star-of-Bethlehem in January


 
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