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





Thursday, 23 January 2014

Sussex: Seven Sisters to Eastbourne 12/7/2001**


 

Round-headed rampion
 
Shingle reaching tops of groynes
 
Floral sculptures, Eastbourne
Near the entrance to the car park at Seven Sisters Country Park we saw more red star thistle.  Our path descended through sheep pasture along the east side of the river, initially following the dried-up meander of the old river.  We reached the shore at Cuckmere Haven, the tide just far enough out to reveal a little sand below the shingle and seaweed-covered chalk rocks.  To our left tall white chalk cliffs began again, this time constituting the series of truncated hillocks known as Seven Sisters.  A heron was fishing at the edge of the sea and others were using brooks along the floodplain or the river itself, quite a gathering for this usually solitary bird at this time of the year.  Among them were also little egrets.  The cliff tops consisted of short turf with a good range of plants typical of chalk, including carline thistle, dropwort and squinancy wort.  Even more notable were low plants of bastard toadflax and tiny dwarfed spurges that seemed to be miniature sea spurges.  At one spot sandhill or pointed snails were crowded over the vegetation.  In longer grass grew yellow-wort and clustered bellflower.  Most of this area belongs to the National Trust.  We dropped down to sea-level again at Birling Gap, where we got a snack at a café.  Another climb led gradually up Beachy Head, past Belle Tout lighthouse and above the Beachy Head lighthouse, decorated in red and white stripes far below on a small rock at sea.  The grassland here was degraded with few interesting plants.  Eastbourne Downs followed round the headland, overlooking the town, and these were much richer in plants, including cowslip and round-head rampion.  We gradually descended into town along a short length of road and a zigzag path to the bottom of the cliffs and the promenade above the shingle beach.  The shingle had accumulated so much it virtually covered the groynes and steps leading down to the shore.  Entering Eastbourne we passed tasteful unobtrusive chalets and thatched shelters.  A notice “CAUTION Dotto Train Passes Here” announced the rail-free train serving the whole front.  We then walked through a long series of colourful rock gardens.  The whole presentation and relative cleanliness was a contrast with preceding seaside towns and gave Eastbourne a genteel and pleasant appearance.   More centrally we arrived at the Wish Tower, a second Martello tower, where there were seats along sloping walkways at such an angle that it was difficult to sit on them without sliding off the end!  A military band was playing at the seafront bandstand before a large audience of elderly people on deck-chairs.  We passed Perry Winkle’s Fish Bar on the way to the pier with the usual amusement arcade, ice-creams and a bus stop for our return journey.  We decided this would make a good destination for the end of our coast walk when we were able continue it in the original clockwise direction, so it had been worth the digression to make Eastbourne effectively our start and finish, a marked improvement on Calshot!
 
 
 
Pointed snail
 
 
 
 
 
 


Cuckmere Haven

 
Eastbourne front

 
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