Continuing the coastal theme of my last entry I caught up with a friend over the weekend who lives on the North Kent coast. We took a walk across the marshes at Seasalter which lie between the towns of Whitstable and Faversham. The stretch of water here is not the Thames Estuary itself, it's a channel known as the Swale which divides the "mainland" from the Isle of Sheppey.
 The coastal path runs along the land side of the seawall and here the grass is quite lush, and thick with red and white Clovers (Trifolium species). These have perhaps self seeded from the adjoining fields where they are used as part of the crop rotation cycle. I also noticed that swathes of various coastal wildflowers are about to burst into flower. I know from previous visits that marshes hereabouts like Seasalter and Reculver see an eruption of wildflowers between mid-June and late July.
 On the Swale side of the wall the grasses are sparser and tougher; they extend to where the shingle of the foreshore meets the mudflats. I say shingle but as well as pebbles it is the accumulation of millions of fragments of oyster shells.
 Spires of Viper's-bugloss (Echium vulgare) rise up through the grasses right down to the tideline. As mentioned in my previous entry coastal areas are one of its favoured habitats, so it's tough as old boots. Bumblebees were buzzing along the beach to feed on them. These grassy marshes are also great for butterflies and very important for migrating birds.
 So a different kind of walk to the one I describe below along the South Downs Way. That was steep, this was flat. That was long, this was short. And that day the sun shone and burned the back of my neck; today the weather was cool and cloudy...