Monday, 22 May 2006

Coastwalk

The end of the coast

For the past twelve weeks I've been watching an episode of the BBC's Coast programme every Sunday night. Last night I travelled with the presenters from The Wash round to Dover - the only one of their segments which I've walked in entirety.

It's been a fantastic series, telling stories of people and places that are often overlooked. The frequent sweeping aerial views provide glimpses of hundreds of shared secrets: the long sweep of Shingle Street, the towers at Reculver, the ferries waltzing in Dover harbour.

The series book is a worthwhile read too. Its chapters break the coastline into the same segments as the series, but that's the end of the similarities. Each medium tells different stories, picks different places and has a different tone.

Both are great souvenirs of my walk. Both tempt me to revisit places I've been to before. The striped cliffs of Hunstanton are famous, but walking along the tops I passed their layers of bold geology without noticing.

Thank goodness that although my twelve week armchair voyage is over, I've barely scratched the surface of the real thing.

Posted by pab at 18:38 | Comments will be back later in the year. Please email me instead!