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: Dunball to Highbridge 17/7/2002*


 

Just past the Dunball demolition site
 
River Brue approaching Highbridge
 
Flowering rush
We parked at the Admiral’s Table and walked across the dual carriageway to the industrial estate where the footpath was to start.  Signs referring to “authorised personnel only” made us fear the worse, but consultation with friendly workers at the reception hut confirmed that the footpath did traverse the site and they showed us the way.  It meant walking a narrow concrete path outside a demolition site (which smelled like an abattoir), where at one point the collapsing wire fence and an intruding elder shrub virtually reduced the leeway to nothing at all.  A rat ran across the path in front of us.  However, we were soon through the site, following the river embankment along the east side of the Parrett, with a flat stony path and no overgrown vegetation.  Only one section proved less hospitable, where one farmer made us climb locked gates and erected signs “Keep out – bull in field”, although the only bull proved to be his notices.  We therefore made good time, although there was generally little of interest from a natural history point of view, apart from three lapwings coming down to the riverside mud.  There was some improvement beyond Combwich, with excellent ditches full of interesting plants, damsel- and dragon-flies, moorhens and mallards.  The plants, typical of the Somerset Levels, included bulrush, flowering rush, fat, common and ivy duckweeds, water-plantain and frog-bit.  Water-fern entirely covered the surface of one narrow ditch, turning it red.  These ditches were on the landward side of the embankment.  On the seaward side there was less diverse vegetation, although it included sea barley, stone and corn parsleys, and knotted bur-parsley.  We crossed the Huntspill River (a wide drainage ditch) via a sluice with narrow concrete gangway, and were soon across the water from Stert Point.  Here we encountered a stiff breeze from the open sea and a slightly better-developed saltmarsh.  Much of the next stretch of walk was along old concrete sea-defences seaward of the grassy embankment, but we soon turned east once more to follow the southern bank of the River Brue to Highbridge.  We reached the A38 which crossed the river and led us quickly to The George, where we had a quick drink before catching the bus back.
Frogbit
 
Ditch covered in water-fern
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