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: Thorney Island 1/7/2001


 

From the north end of Langstone Bridge beside the Ship Inn, we walked the edge of the saltmarsh at the top of Chichester Harbour.  The tide was in and we saw mute swans, particularly numerous when we reached Emsworth Quay.  We walked either on top of the sea-wall or on the dry upper margin of the saltmarsh, which was largely stony or covered in the remains of green algae drying in white carpets.  A large pool nearby held moorhen, coot and mallard.  The sea wall was planted with tamarisks.  At Emsworth we walked the harbour wall, sea on both sides, making various convolutions to avoid houses built right on the front.  At Slipper Mill Pond a black swan swam among the mutes.  There was also a confrontation between two coot families, the females protecting the chicks while the males half-raised their wings in an aggressive stand-off.  We still had to negotiate a marina before being able to access a track along the west edge of Thorney Island, really a peninsula jutting out into Chichester Harbour.  We had crossed the border from Hampshire into Sussex. 
      Most of the peninsula is MoD, with a military station and airfield.  The public footpath follows the top of the seawall.  A quarter of the way down this side a man-made channel of water crosses the whole peninsula, making the rest effectively an island.  On each side was an electronically-controlled gate where you have to press a button and wait for the gates to be released, but we found them unlocked.  Below the embankment was a large stand of red-hot poker.  Now and again we encountered sea wormwood and corky-fruited water-dropwort.  There was a particular lack of waders and sea-birds.  We lunched on a sandy margin of the saltmarsh at Marker Point.  By the time we reached the southernmost point at Longmere the sea was well out, exposing a sandy stretch reaching out to Pilsey Island, which is largely dune.  We saw frosted orache, sand couch and saltwort at the front, sea spurge, sea bindweed and sea holly among the rabbits.  The trek up the east side of the island was along an overgrown narrow path.  On reaching the boundary with the lockable gates we found this one closed and could not get any response on pressing the button.  We were just getting out the emergency wire-cutters when the gate suddenly opened.   We began to see a few more birds as well as the usual black-headed gulls, crows and starlings - great black-backed gull, lapwing, meadow pipits and an egret scared from its resting-place in a sea-edge tree.   We passed another marina before ending at Prinsted, where sea scouts were selling ice-creams and cold drinks.  As we were only about 3 miles from our car we walk backed through Hermitage, past the Sussex Brewer pub (where we came back to eat at night) and Emsworth to our starting-point.
Mute swan on nest
Black swan

 
 
Chichester Harbour from Thorney Island
 
 
Corky-fruited water-dropwort
 
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