Our "extraordinary" loss of interest in our coastline - and why it matters

So says Petworth author Roger Morgan-Grenville, whose new book The Restless Coast: A Journey around the Edge of Britain is published by Icon Books at £22.95 on June 5.

Roger, aged 65, said our coast is “a vast source of history, geology, biodiversity, food and human culture, and we need to learn how to get back in love with it again.

“The idea of the book is to reintroduce people to their coast and to highlight some of the issues there and the people dealing with them.

“The book came as something of a sequel to my previous book (Across a Waking Land) in which I walked 1,000 miles from the Solent in the south to Cape Wrath at the top of Scotland. “This time, I planned to carry out 13 walks of around 100-150 miles each and look at some of the key issues on the coast, like sea level rise, erosion, aquaculture, seabirds and sewage. “The start point is at the lighthouse at Cape Wrath, where the last one finished. I have been inspired by the many generations of writers before me who have written about the sea and the coast, and most particularly by the people who still try to make a living there, and still try to sort out the problems that others of us have made. I was particularly struck by a few things: first, that the habit of the British two-week seaside holiday died off with the Beeching cuts to the railways and the advent of cheap flights to Spanish beaches; secondly, that, in contrast to every other coastal country in Europe, wealth has migrated away from the coast in Britain, and poverty and old age has migrated towards it, promising a real challenge in provision of resources in a few years time.

“Then, it struck me that few of the problems on the coast are actually caused there; from ghost fishing plastic washing up on the shores (which comes from out at sea) to sewage polluting the bays (which generally comes from inland), the coast often pays the price for other peoples’ mistakes.

“Finally, it seems very strange that we call it a coastline at all; nothing could be less linear, a term that assumes a straight line and permanence; the fact is that the coast is a dynamic, moving thing, that it always has been and always will be.

“Although I really enjoyed the voyage of discovery that the research entailed, it turned out to be quite a challenging story to tell. Not so much because I had to learn a whole new range of subjects which is always fun, but because the people eg water companies, farmers polluting water courses who are making things worse understand completely what they are doing, and could easily stop doing it. I want the book to be a bit of an inspiration to get far more people to take an interest in our amazing coast and then put pressure on the organisations who are still damaging it.

“To make sure that the book is not wholly serious in tone because the seaside should be about pleasure as well, there are little sections on coastal delights like fish and chips, memorial benches and ice cream vans.”