CHAPTER XII 



ALONG THE COAST AND ELSEWHERE 



I HAVE, during the last twenty years, visited a good stretch of 

 our British coast-line, from, appropriately enough, Start Point, 

 Devon, in the south-west, all along the south coast, and then 

 northwards from* Norfolk and Suffolk to Yorkshire, Durham, 

 and Northumberland, up to Aberdeen. It has been my good 

 fortune also to explore the Welsh coast from just beyond Chester 

 to Carnarvon, and then up the west coast from the Wirral 

 Peninsula, along the Lancashire coast to Morecambe Bay. 

 Skipping the Cumberland littoral, I have peregrinated along the 

 Scottish coast, its Lochs and Islands, from the gleaming waters 

 of the Solway Firth, right up to Skye. So that, altogether, I 

 have been able to gain a fair idea of the greater portion of the 

 coast-line of Britain, an ambition which I long cherished, and 

 which I hope to complete in its entirety in days to come. 



Such pilgrimages as these, although for the most part made 

 but once a year, afford one a capital geographical education, 

 and when, added to this, some amount of historical and natural 

 history knowledge is sought for and obtained, the pleasure derived 

 cannot be overestimated. 



By spreading out before me a map of England, Scotland, and 

 Wales (I have yet to set foot in Ireland), holiday memories are 

 renewed with increased interest. The scenes I witnessed are 

 still clearly denned, and I readily acknowledge what a privilege 

 it is to spend so many happy holidays where the salt sea 

 spray invigorates, and brings new thoughts, feelings, and aspira- 

 tions to one who, like myself, revels in the natural and human 

 history of the land of his birth. A map thus studied becomes 

 a living regional survey, and when, added to one's memory, a 

 detailed diary is at hand for consultation for any given district, 

 one's reminiscences bear an added charm, which only those who 

 experience can fully appreciate. 



Let me recall some of the scenes of my rambles away from 

 Hertfordshire, as proof of how one is able to store up knowledge 



167 



