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: Hayburn Wyke to Scarborough 17/6/2007 ***


 

We took yesterday (Saturday) off and were glad to have done so because there were many torrential rainstorms once again and more floods.  This morning we walked directly from the hotel down Hayburn Wyke itself, a dark damp wood with lots of great woodrush and ferns, until we reached the coastal path towards the bottom, where the swollen river roared down with probably more waterfalls than usual.  We soon mounted to the top of the cliffs again, where it was quite easy going until the only other main descent to Cloughton Wyke, after which it was again plain sailing. The flora was limited, being on sandstone and between cultivated fields (wheat and rape) on one side and a small strip of tall grass at the cliff edge, although the cliffs in places had wood vetch, kidney vetch and plenty of common spotted orchids.  There were few arable weeds, but we did encounter a large patch each of hairy buttercup and scented mayweed.  The mist cleared as we walked and we only met a little light drizzle, so that in the latter part of the morning we could look down on the coastal rocks with gulls, fulmar and cormorants.  Near Cromer Point sand martins were using the sandstone cliffs.  At Scalby Ness we suddenly arrived at the Scarborough conurbation.  Below the cliff a small bridge took us over the “Sea Cut” river, which presumably served the former mills, and immediately into the grounds of the Scalby Mills Inn, which had lots of real ales with which to celebrate Father’s Day.  We walked from here along the North Beach. There were some surfers at the south end, where the rollers were coming in.  Recent storms had brought up a number of wrecked crabs and lobsters.  As the tide came in, we ascended steps back to the promenade at the south end and followed this around the bottom of the main Scarborough headland, Castle Cliff, with its castle ruins clearly outlined against the sky on top.  On the east side the cliffs were crowded with nesting kittiwakes, and we even saw a razorbill fishing at sea.  The gulls kept flying back and forth between cliff and sea over the lines of trippers walking the prom.  We left this steep headland at the harbour with gaudy funfairs and then entered South Sands, which, despite the bad weather forecast, was still crowded with people enjoying the beach, although not exactly clad in bikinis.  The street above was full of cars and lined with the usual seaside paraphernalia of amusement arcades, Italian ice cream parlours, burger joints and boutiques of tawdry goods.  We took a walk up towards the centre of town along more busy streets until we found a taxi to take us back to our hotel, where there were chimney sweeper moths at night.
Great woodrush
Father's Day, Scalby Mills Inn

Hayburn Wyke misty
 
Lobster on Scarborough North Beach
 
Scarborough Castl;e
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)