I’m bang up-to-date with this weeks Friday Photo! This is what the beach looks like this week by the new lifeboat station at the bottom of Hoyle Road.
The spartina grass (I believe its called) is really established as you can see. I can’t recall what the current plan is for managing the grass – can you remind me at all? This is the most prevalent patch but there are other patches along the sand.
Also, the sand is regularly raked by a tractor or two dragging a mechanical rake behind – who does this and why?
The tractor that appears on the beach is a contractor to the council, they tow a Barber Surf Rake which is a device for picking up litter and seaweed effectively cleaning the beach and the operation normally takes place during the summer months only.
The sailing club used to organise a yearly “Spartina” dig to prevent Hoylake turning into Parkgate, then i believe English Nature or some such organisation objected to this claiming it damaged wildlife, however more recently i thought the council had relented and allowed a dig to take place once more.
Did’nt King Canute try something like this way back in the Middle Ages?
Give another fifty – hundred years or so and that big flash lifeboat station will be sitting up high and dry like a stranded whale upon a grassy meadow!
The spartina needs to be removed ASAP, What happens is, as the tide covers the patches of grass the sediment drops out and eventually the levels of the said area will rise, this combined with the grasses root sysem encourages it to spread at an alarming rate,thats exactly whats happened in the Deeestuary!!!!!!, Dont let these conservationists get the better of you ,or in no time at all you will be looking at miles of nice green grass and not the fantastic view you now have across the sand banks of the Hoyle!! BEWARE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!