After the success of last year’s Autumn Walking Weekend, the Isle of Wight Council will be repeating the event this year between 23rd and 26th October 2009. There will be over 50 walks to choose from, with a wide range of walks for all ages and abilities. The walks are led by experienced volunteers. Many of the walks are free and range from easy, level walking routes, to challenging sloping walks more suited to keen walkers and those with a good basic level of fitness.

Walks include “the Darwin Celebration” which will take place around Sandown Bay, and an “Alfred Lord Tennyson” walk exploring the landscapes that inspired the Victorian poet laureate during his time on the Island.

There are over 500 miles of well-maintained and signposted footpaths around the Isle of Wight Heritage Coastline.

See http://www.isleofwightwalkingfestival.co.uk/ for more details.

The cruise liner Queen Mary 2 is currently docked in Greenock (Glasgow) as part of a tour of the British coast to celebrate the 151,400 tonne ship’s fifth birthday.

A viewing area has been set up at the Ocean Terminal to allow onlookers the chance to see the enormous $800 million cruise ship. A firework display will mark the departure of the ship. The Queen Mary 2, operated by Cunard, is 147 feet longer than the Eiffel Tower (984 ft) at 1,132 feet and is currently the World’s largest ocean liner (until the 225,000 tonne Oasis of the Seas becomes operational in November 2009).

Source: UK Press Association

Great Yarmouth’s “Out There” Festival is taking place this weekend (Saturday 19th – Sunday 20th September).  Top European acts including French acrobats Les 3 Points De Suspension, Dinosaur stilt walkers from the Netherlands and Brazilian style floats will be performing at various places around the town.

UK talent including comedy duo Ronny Ronco and Kenny K-Tell aka “Cheesy Rider”, and Kings Lynn based parkour group KLFR will also be taking part.

The “Out There 2009″ festival now in it’s second year is part of a larger plan for Great Yarmouth as the town aims to build it’s reputation as one of the UK’s leading destinations for street entertainment. The festival is backed by EU funding totaling €600,000.

Focusing on the less beautiful aspects of Britain’s coastline, BBC’s Panorama will be showing a programme entitled ‘Britain’s Dirty Beaches’ on Monday night (7th September).  The programme will investigate the outflow pipes that discharge sewage and other items into our coastal areas, and will show the results of it’s own specially commissioned scientific tests.

UK viewers will be able to see the programme on BBC One, Monday 7th September at 20:30 or information about the programme is available on the BBC website.

Update 16th September 2009: The Environment Agency has responded to the Panorama program with their own short film which can be viewed below. You can also view their response to our blog post in the Comments section of this post.

Nick Hand set off on 21st June from Bristol on a charity bike ride around the UK coast and today will reach Southend after 75 days in the saddle. To sponsor Nick, and donate to the Parkinson’s Disease Society please visit his sponsor page.

The project website can be found at slowcoast.co.uk, and there is a regularly updated blog with additional detail on his trip.

The website has route maps, and interesting soundslide features which highlight artisans visited on his long journey. Well worth a look.

The Pursuits section of the FT has published a list of the best rock pools to be found on the UK shoreline. Based on Daniel Start’s book ‘Wild Swimming Coast’ it lists the best five natural rock pools for swimming and diving along the coast.

1. Blue Pool Corner (Gower, Wales)

A 12ft deep ‘tub’ with a perfect cylindrical shape. The pool stands at the east end of Blue Pool Bay, near to the sands of Rhossili. There are also the remains of a chapel on nearby Burry Holms island to explore, as well as a set of sea arches, and ancient caves that contain gold doubloons from a Portuguese wreck.

2. Dancing Ledge (Langton Matravers, Dorset)

On the spectacular stretch of coastline between Swanage and Lulworth Cove. The remains of the marble quarries provide access to a labyrinth of sea caves, inlets and plunge pools. Dancing Ledge forms a large flat seashore rock platform. The famous tidal pool was blown out with dynamite in 1906.

3. Treyarnon rock pool (North Cornwall)

Treyarnon cove is a family beach popular with surfers. To the right, on the rocks just below the youth hostel, there is a rock pool that is 30ft long and about 8ft deep in the centre.

4. Harkess rock pools (Bamburgh, Northumberland)

10 minutes to the north of the beach below the Bamburgh Castle castle ruins, you will find Harkess Rocks, where there is a string of natural plunge pools. ‘Gun Pool’ and ‘Spark Plug Pool’ are narrow channels, ‘Half Moon’ is crescent-shaped, and ‘Egg Pool’, is large, deep and oval.

5. Fingal’s Cave, Staffa (Fionnphort, Mull Scotland)

Boat trips to Staffa island and Fingal’s Cave are available from Fionnphort, Isle of Mull. The acoustics in this natural sound chamber inspired Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture. Hexagonal basalt columns rise up from the sea within the cave.

See the FT article and the Wild Swimming Coast website for full details and safety information.

Images:
Blue Pool Corner © Copyright Nigel Davies and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
Dancing Ledge © Copyright mark green and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
Treyarnon rock pools. © Jamsta. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License

A Victorian water-powered lift on the Kent coast has been closed after the local Shepway council deemed it too expensive to run.

The Grade II-listed Leas Lift on cliffs at Folkestone carried passengers for the last time on 30th June when the council’s lease ran out.

The lift was built in 1885 making it the oldest water-balanced cliff lift in England. However Shepway Council said it was running at a loss with costs of £90,000 a year and earnings of only £30,000 and the cost of maintenance was also going up. According to the council, the number of people using the lift had dropped considerably since the Sunday market on the Folkestone seafront ended.

A spokesman for the owner, Radnor Estates, said it wanted to reopen the lift.

“It is the estate’s wish to see the lift continue operating.”

“Had the decision to end the lease not been taken [that] would have placed onerous and significant financial obligations on the council,” it said in a statement.”

“We will continue to offer all the support we can to individuals or groups who feel they can contribute to the lift’s future.”

There was drama on the final day of running as two people got stuck in the Leas Lift carriage. A rescuer abseiled down the cliff to assist the pair, who were later rescued in front of onlookers. The lift service was resumed for the remainder of its final day.

Sources:
BBC News Kent
This is Kent

A bid to extend the Heritage Coast of North Yorkshire to Filey Bay will be recommended to Scarborough councillors next week. The current Heritage Coast extends from Saltburn to Scalby Mills, and there is another stretch of protected coastline from Bempton Cliffs to Flamborough. The potential bid would join up the two protected coast sections, with benefits for conservation and tourism. It would also add pressure to create a single continuous coastal footpath along the length of Filey Bay, where currently walkers have to make detours.

Earlier attempts to extend the Heritage Coast designation provoked fears from landowners who believed it could lead to more rigorous planning constraints and falls in the value of their land and property.

But Scarborough Council’s head of regeneration Mrs Elliott said Heritage Coast status would not change the existing land usage policy framework and protection would rely on existing enviornmental protection designations. Mrs Elliott said “The beauty of the borough’s coastline is one of its greatest assets. Any tourism publicity should also be used as an opportunity increase people’s enjoyment, appreciation, understanding and concern for the Heritage Coast.”

It is now believed an upcoming review of National Landscape Policy by Natural England represents a “window of opportunity” for designating the Holbeck to Speeton area as Heritage Coast. If agreed at next week’s meeting of Scarborough Council’s cabinet, a Heritage Coast application could be submitted to Natural England next month.

Source: Filey & Hunmanby Mercury

Welsh beach used for blockbuster movie filming

Freshwater West beach in Pembrokeshire Wales is busy currently, as the filming of a new Robin Hood movie starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett takes place. The beach was also used in May for the final film in the Harry Potter series with a giant ‘shell’ cottage built on the sands.

A 800 strong cast plus 130 horses, are due to shoot a major battle scene for the Robin Hood film made by Universal Pictures at the Pembrokeshire beach. A fleet of boats for the battle are currently being assembled in Pembroke Dock and temporarily moored off Dale.

Part of the film is based around the seaweed hut near the main car park at the beach. Although the beach remains open to the public there will be road closures with nearby residents issued passes.

Permission to use the site has been granted by a number of organisations including the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, the National Trust and Pembrokeshire Council. A joint statement said: “We recognise that the filming will inevitably cause some disruption in the area as well as great public interest.

“We hope people will help us to accommodate the film companies and we hope that filming on this scale will bring numerous benefits to the local economy, both during filming and following through knock-on tourism spend.

“While it is difficult to quantify it is estimated in the region of £1m, including temporary employment, repeat visits by crews and cast, raising the profile of the area and use of local services – from food to vehicle hire, from laundry services to security.”

The park authority said it had worked with Universal Pictures to protect the sand dunes and beach. “The routes for access to the beach have been chosen carefully and fencing is in place to direct people,” it said. “Facility bases for the film crews have been selected outside of any Sites of Special Scientific Interest.”

Source:

BBC News website

Over 2000 Birdwatchers have visited the Dungeness RSPB nature reserve over the past week to try to view the crested lark bird which has been seen for only the 3rd time in Britain in the past 35 years.

The crested lark was seen at Dungeness National Nature Reserve in Kent on Wednesday 29th April. A Spokesman for the Romney Marsh Countryside Project, Owen Leyshon, said the rare bird was similar to the more common skylark but “slightly plainer and a different shape”.

Owen added: “It will have crossed over the Channel from France. They are not rare in Europe, but they are here as they are a non-migratory bird and do not usually like flying over water”. He also said that the crested lark was “quite secretive and flighty so it’s hard to get prolonged views of it on the ground. It’s quite an amazing spectacle to see hundreds of birdwatchers running across the shingle chasing it.”

The last sighting of a crested lark in Britain was 12 years ago. The sighting before that was in Dungeness in 1975.

Source: BBC Kent News website – http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/8030713.stm