Natural Selection

I’ve used this blog to do book reviews when I’ve read something new, so here are my thoughts on Ange Harker’s recently published guide to the north western portion of the officially launched England coastal path.

“I’ve used Cicerone guides numerous times over the years, and this is right up there with the most useful I’ve read. The provision of several options for breaking up the route helps. But basically it’s just extremely well written, normally there are some inaccuracies but this is spot on.

As the [only] previous reviews [on Goodreads] points out it only covers north to south. This is obviously a drawback if you plan to go the opposite way, but I’ve always found books that do the route both ways also a bit unsatisfactory in duplicating content so I understand the decision to go one way only.

The biggest issue with the book isn’t the book, it’s the path itself. At Ravenglass there is a significant gap in the path requiring a train journey. In several other areas the book describes planned enhancements to the route that may or may not occur. If you are aware of that at all times this is an outstanding guide to a long distance path which has gone live without dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s.”

Area Covered By The Book

Subsequent to writing this review and completely coincidentally I was approached as a ‘local expert’ to advise Ange in her day job on suitable species for interpretive signage at Cleveleys, North Pier and Starr Gate along the Blackpool stretch of the path.

A year or two back I wouldn’t have hesitated to suggest Snow Buntings for Starr Gate and maybe Purple Sandpipers for Blackpool North Shore. I said these still occurred but were likely to disappear soon. I mentioned how sad it is to read the information boards on the public parts of Barrow Docks, illustrated with ducks that aren’t there any longer and in one case (Pochard) are now basically extinct in the whole Furness peninsula.

Some years ago I walked the Lancashire and Cumbria sections of what is now the National Coastal Path*. It will be interesting to see as well as the proliferation of Little Egrets what else has changed along the route. I will include the walks that make up this encore on this blog. But first I have some holidays to take that will also get an airing here, my twentieth anniversary visit to Out Skerries and a return to Boavista.

Example of what the Blackpool signage will look like in style

*  Technically the Cumbria Coastal Way was not the same, if largely on the same footprint. It was eventually unsupported because access to all of the route could no longer be maintained. The ‘new’ Coastal Path adds Walney Island is different in some other places with new paths. I haven’t checked Lancashire as I don’t have a guidebook to it, Blackpool Promenade certainly remains unchanged!