110 ©-mike-pennington geograph-1372551 © Derek-Harper -geograph-4180946


Fulmar


bat, roosting upside down – sometimes hanging by one leg – and wrapping its wings around its body. Greater horseshoe bat numbers have declined by 90% since 1950 and Devon is one of their last strongholds. On the cliffs above Long sands, you may see the dark shapes of Hebridean sheep, which are being used to graze the cliffs and maintain the unimproved coastal grassland. The back of the beach at mansands used to be pro-


tected from erosion by rock filled steel baskets called gabions. The National Trust decided to let natural processes take their course and in 2004 removed these basic sea defences. In 2005 National Trust created a freshwater lagoon, mansands Ley, behind the beach. The Trust expected that at some point rising sea levels would probably mean that the Ley would be breached by the tide. In fact, this happened sooner than expect- ed, in the spring of 2007 during a large storm. It is not intended to try and restore the Ley but instead to work with the changing ecological conditions there, allow- ing the sea to mould this area of the coast. The route back from mansands takes you along part


of an intricate network of green lanes. These were the ancient rural communication routes, used by drovers, traders and smugglers. The lanes running down to the sea here were probably once used by fisher-farmers. In the past the threat of seafaring raiders meant it was too hazardous to live right on the coast and most people settled a mile or two inland for safety.


Teasel


Wildlife Fulmars have formed a colony on the cliffs by scabba- combe sands. This is a bird of the open ocean which returns to the coast to breed. The fulmar resembles a gull in build but with a shorter, thicker neck and glides smoothly around the cliffs on straight, stiff wings. It has an appealing baby-faced appearance close up, but spits a foul- smelling oil at anything which gets too close. The cliffs are rich in wildflowers, including the early purple Orchid, which has elegant spikes of lipped flowers and pointed narrow oval leaves with dark blotches. Other species include the delicate white sprays of Greater stitchwort and Oxeye Daisy. You may also see the tall Teasel growing along the


clifftop. It produces cones of pale purple flowers, the spiky flowerheads remaining after the blooms have gone. They are often found in dried flower displays, and were also used to card wool and to raise the nap of woven cloth. This process of ‘teasing’ out the fibres gave the plant its name. Grass snakes are found around mansands Ley. This


grey-green snake is around a metre long with striking black lines on the face, and often dark spots along the body. It swims, with its head above water, but catches most of its prey in underwater dives. When threatened, the grass snake puffs up its body and hisses, then produces a foul-smelling liquid to put off attackers. If none of this works, it rolls on its back and pretends to be dead.


The lanes running down to the sea here were probably once used by fisher-farmers


Grass snake ©-evelyn-simak 2418923


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