The Sefton Coast: a Crowded Coast...

Another Place by Sally Parkinson

Sand, Feet and Muddy Bottoms
Dr. Ann Worsley
Reader in Physical Geography, Edge Hill University

An evening lecture at the GTE conference 2009

Useful for those studying CROWDED COASTS: looking at the SEFTON COAST.

Sefton Coast: Southport at the northern end, Crosby at the southern end.

Coast as the best vehicle for exploring people / landscape interactions. It's a Crowded and dynamic coast: 49 agencies are involved in managing the coastline; several SSSIs; it gets 1 million plus visitors per year, and over 6 million birds visiting.

A male mallard will produce more poo than an adult each day. There is only 1 blue flag along the coast, as tidal inundation of salt marshes flushes out the effluent and affects the water quality and the nature of fine sediments - not human waste that affects water quality.

There are 23 miles of dune coast.

Coastline responds very quickly to changes in climate.

There is a designated kite surfer zone: 218 people have a permit to kite surf

1000+ species of plants are found in the area, on what is predominantly a sand dune coastline.

730 new strandlines are created each year (2 a day): a delivery of organic detritus and sand which provide key nutrients - also plastic debris washed up - these can form the embryo dunes as sand washes up.

• Salt marshes north of Southport and its pier. Reclamation projects in the 1920s
  
• Creek systems and brackish marsh near Birkdale.
  
• Ainsdale - Pontins Holiday Camp - structure (aerial image)
  

Crosby - Another Place

The Freeport was built in 1960s and the promenade changed sediment dynamics and stores, and the coastline prograded west. It has a dramatic history of wrecks, some of which are revealed by sediment transfers - particularly after storms.

Tourism: impacts of Another Place on the physical and human geography.

Students measured height of sand around the figures. They had GPS locations of figures, and spot heights of installations (on plinths) Evidence of scouring around the base of the figures, and the change in the form of the beach.

How did people interact with the statues ? - observations of interactions. Lots of examples of this whenever I have visited.

Ainsdale Dune System - typical psammosere - very much as you would expect in the textbooks

Formby Dunes - lost the embryo and mobile dunes - an eroding coastline: fixed dunes and slack between them. In the last 10 years, it has lost around 4 metres of dune system per year.

Birkdale, Green Beach

Psammosere with areas of brackish marsh in front.

This has produced 3 different scenarios - different to what it says in the textbooks. 

A good basis for geographical enquiry for 'A' level students.

Formby: Nov 2007 - weekend storm removed 11m of dune front. National Trust managed site. Since 1990, the rate has increased dramatically. Up to 1906, the coast was prograding - since then there has been erosion.

Dune systems are not just retreating, but 'rolling back'. Images from 20 years apart showed the change - lowering of the dune system.

Areas of standing water in the car park, as  it has been lowered to the water table. What to do about the car park ? If it moved eastwards, cuts into red squirrel territory. Pressure on management of changing landscape and generating economic reward for effort. Difficulties for manager Andrew Brockbank.

Glacial till at the base of the dune system. Erosion clears away the sand and exposes the organic material beneath. Sampling of microscopic plants that are found in the material. Also revealed the imprints of red deer, and a 4400 year old antler, plus ox (similar to those in the caves at Lascaux) - also running people alongside deer.

Evidence for people using the coast for last 6000 years. Reconstructing the past landscape is the next stage.