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

Somerset: Brean Down to Weston-super-Mare 19/7/2002****


 

Pale StJohn’s-wort
 
Autumn gentian
 
Grayling
Having parked at Brean Down we set off up a steep path to the top of this isolated limestone knoll that forms a prominent headland renowned for its flowers.  We soon saw the main speciality, white rock-rose, but we also saw Somerset hair-grass, small-leaved sweetbriar, pale St. John’s-wort, autumn gentian, and many familiar calcicoles like yellow-wort, eyebright and wild thyme.  Parts where the rocks outcropped were very colourful and we had the added value of graylings flying.  We walked along the crest to the tip, where there was a 19th century fort, meant to forestall a French invasion.  Used as a tea-house after the first world war, it is now preserved as an ancient monument.  We walked back on the north side of the peninsula, a lower path and generally of less interest with a great deal of bracken, although here was common rock-rose.  Only the white species, with its conspicuous grey leaves, was seen on the south-facing side.  At the eastern end we found a narrow overgrown path that led to the bottom by Brean Down Farm.  Here an excellent low limestone cliff had calamint, rusty-back fern, and small-leaved sweetbriar.  The farmer joined us examining these plants.  He had already intervened when we were seeking the path along the embankment of the River Axe that led to the ferry a few hundred yards up the river.  We had found the path obstructed and he explained that the ferry had been closed ten years ago because it was too dangerous and people had fallen into the mud!  This was a big disappointment because there were no footpaths on this side of the river by which we could go round it.  The alternative was to walk roads a very long way from it for many miles, well away from both river and coast.  There seemed little point to this, so we visited the former ferry on one side of the river, had a brief lunch at the Bird Garden Cafe with goldfinches, and drove the circuitous road-route to Uphill.  From here we could walk along a side stream to the main river back to the point where the ferry used to call, still used for private boating.  We walked the brief distance from here to the mouth of the river, where we turned the corner into the wide sandy beach of Weston-super-Mare.  Cars were allowed to travel along much of this and to park on it.  The shells were limited to those seen the day before, plus another freshwater mollusc, a Planorbis.  Beyond a caravan park there was a stretch of dunes, but this was fully occupied inland by a golf course and the seaward bank was spoiled by sea buckthorn.  There were a very few plants of saltwort at the head of the beach.  We walked on to the centre of Weston, stopping at the Oceanarium, where we ascended to the esplanade.  We looked at the edge of Ellenborough Park just here, a very unremarkable green space, but beside the railings in rough vegetation was a patch of branched horsetail, one of only two sites for it in Britain!  We then continued along the sea-front lawns, where we found extensive Bermuda-grass and a plant of sand catchfly, crowning a wonderful day for rare flowers.
White rock-rose & wild thyme
 
Somerset hair-grass

 


Brean Down from north

 


Leaving the non-existent ferry

 
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