In 1965, concerned about the impact of development along the coast of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we launched our Neptune Coastline Campaign to help us raise money to buy and protect further stretches of the coast. That summer we commissioned the University of Reading to survey how land along the coast of England, Wales and Northern Ireland was being used and find out which areas were most at risk from development. Fifty years on, we’ve resurveyed the coast to see what’s changed.
A ground-breaking mapping project. The 1965 survey would prove to be an epic journey around our shores. Dr John Whittow, who was then a professor at the University of Reading, led a team of students to walk 8,000 miles around the coastline of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. ‘For the National Trust to establish a programme of acquisition at the coast it was essential to identify which sites needed protecting,’ said Whittow. ‘Over three months the intrepid surveyors and I set forth to tramp thousands of miles generating more than 350 field survey maps.’ To read more click here: