Exciting chap that I am, I have spent a significant part of this evening pondering the significance of the words ‘Heritage Coast’. I was aware that they exist and also that they are administered by the Countryside Agency. I also knew that there are 20 stretches of Heritage Coast here in the south west, out of 43 nationally.
But what exactly are they and what do they do? I confess, I wasn’t entirely sure. Luckily, Wikipedia knows everything;
‘1,027 km of the English coastline and 500 km of the Welsh coastline, in both cases approximately one-third of the total length, have been designated as Heritage Coast. These coastlines are managed to conserve their natural beauty and improve accessibility for visitors.
Unlike National Parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), the Heritage Coast designation is non-statutory, and designations can only be made with the agreement of local authorities and land owners, however the majority of Heritage Coast falls within National Parks, AONBs or the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.
South Wales, Devon and Cornwall have the most heritage coastline per mile than any other regions: over 50% of the coast between Cardiff and St Davids is heritage coast, while about 55%–60% of all Cornwall’s coast is designated heritage coast, while around 60-65% of Devon is heritage coast.. This contrasts with the coasts of North West England or the south-east stretch of the English Channel which have only very sporadic patches of heritage coast. This is somewhat conclusive that the best coastline is found in Wales and the West Country.’
The things I don’t know, you could write a book.
Poole in Dorset is a great place for this.