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, 31 January 2014

Yorkshire: Filey to Flamborough 19/6/2007


 


Lucinoma borealis

 

Gannets, Bempton Cliffs
 
Rough hawkbit

Having completed the Cleveland Way, we had to find our own route again.  From the centre of Filey we walked down the street to the front and through a subway on to the beach, where the tide was just going out and we were able to walk along the wet sand without fear of being cut off.  Here we found northern lucine shells Lucinoma borealis.  We walked underneath the Primrose Valley Holiday Village and the little hamlet of Hunmanby Moor, where a road comes down to the shore, until Reighton Sands Holiday Village.  All the way there were low sandstone cliffs, but after Reighton we could see the high chalk cliffs of Bempton coming up and had to get to the cliff-top.  After cliffs of carline thistle, common spotted orchid, twayblade, pyramidal orchid, seed-heads of early purple orchid, and thick thorn scrub, we eventually found a new permissive path leading up from the beach to the cliff-top footpath (saving an otherwise long detour via inland roads).  We also discovered a welcome seat at the top, for it was time for lunch.  It had been misty all morning and at lunchtime it was particularly thick, preventing us seeing very far.  We were soon on top of the chalk cliffs, where there was a strange “toilet-like” smell, which we eventually rumbled was caused by large sea-bird colonies on the cliff.  At several points where we could overlook the cliffs we saw large numbers of gannets, along with kittiwakes, guillemots and razorbills.  We had several excellent views of all of them within the range that the mist allowed.  We passed increasing numbers of birdwatchers as we neared Bempton car park, and then on to Flamborough Head itself.  Here the sea-birds seemed to decrease, but there were sometimes northern marsh orchids on top and in hollows down the cliffs, and plentiful red campion, hogweed and sea mayweed.  Many of the fields inland of the footpath were managed under Countryside Stewardship and were largely long grass, in one spot with ragged robin and another with rough hawkbit.   We eventually reached North Landing where the road from Flamborough village ends and we could call for a taxi to take us back to Filey.  We drove back again to Flamborough, to the Manor House B&B at the beginning of Lighthouse Road.  We walked to North Landing to eat at the North Star Hotel.

Flamborough Head & Bempton Cliffs
 
Flamborough North Cove
 
Northern marsh orchids
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