TRY THE TRUST'S SEASIDE TREASURES

Published date13 May 2022
Publication titleExpress, The/The Express on Sunday
Just remember to keep dogs on leads, be sensible with barbecues, steer clear of ground nesting birds and look up ways you can help the National Trust when you visit the coast at this time of year. Here are just a few of the very special places looked after by the National Trust

CWM IVY, NORTH GOWER, WALES THE marsh at Cwm Ivy on the Gower peninsula was a small parcel of land that had been claimed from the sea and used as farmland since the 17th Century, protected by a sea defence which, over the centuries, had increased in size and strength.

IN on Bay

By November 2013 the sea wall was deteriorating as heavy rain welled the inland stream and a sluice gate designed to drain the marsh could not remove the water fast enough.The pressure of water forced a small hole under the wall, allowing sea water into the freshwater marsh and, in August 2014, the summer storms finally caused the wall to fail. The Trust's Shifting Shores report had already concluded we can no longer build our way out of trouble on the coast so the decision was made not to fix sea defences and Cwm Ivy freshwater marsh has become a saltmarsh rich in flora and fauna.

LINDISFARNE CASTLE AND HOLY ISLAND, NORTHUMBERLAND KNOWN as the castle that's not a castle on an island that's not really an island, the former priory was converted by famed architect Sir Edwin Lutyens into a private holiday home for Edward Hudson, founder of Country Life magazine.

Lindisfarne is regarded as one of the most important centres of early English Christianity, having been settled by Irish monks in AD 635.The monastery became the centre of a major saint's cult celebrating its bishop Cuthbert.Travel across the causeway at low tide to discover this magical place for yourself. For 2022, a new soundscape installation by artist Paul Rooney blends the past with the future, with nature at its core.

Song (After Nature) is an immersive soundscape interwoven with individual pieces of nature writing. Pre-booking is advised, and you should check the tide timetable for safe crossing times.

COMPTON BAY, ISLE OF WIGHT SOME people call the Isle ofWight "Dinosaur Island" because it has the richest source of dinosaur remains in Europe.The best place to go looking for fossils on 'Dinosaur Island' is in Compton Bay.Around 125 million years ago this part of the coast was a series of muddy lagoons, and dinosaurs roamed far and wide.They left their footprints and, sometimes, when they died, their bones became fossilised.

When the sea water...

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