I
am writing this latest entry on the veranda of our apartment overlooking one of
the 7 Natural Wonders of Portugal.
The
Ria Formosa Natural Park is one of the most amazing places of the Algarve, not
only for its variety of landscapes but also because of its unique location.
This
is a unique coastal lagoon which encompasses an area of about 18,000 hectares.
It is protected from the sea by 5 barrier-islands and 2 peninsulas. This
awesome area extends for 50km along the leeward coast of the Algarve through
the municipalities of Loulé, Faro, Olhão, Fuseta, Tavira, Cacela Velha and Vila Real de Santo Antonio on the the
border with Spain.
Not on the same grand scale as the Ria Formosa, but somewhere we are looking forward to walking around next Saturday is the newly created Medmerry Nature Reserve, right next to our caravan at Bunn Leisure.
Between
Selsey and Bracklesham the Environment Agency has created the largest managed
realignment of the coast anywhere in Britain
Managed
realignment is where major new sea defences are built inland and the existing
shingle bank is breached, allowing a new intertidal area to form.
The
Medmerry scheme's overriding objective is to greatly improve the standard of
flood protection for over 300 homes in Selsey, for the water treatment works,
and for the main road into Selsey.
But this scheme
will also create important new wildlife
habitat, and it will open up extensive new footpaths, cycleways and bridleways
for everyone to enjoy, right on the doorstep of Medmerry Park.
Work on
this multi-million pound scheme started in September 2011 and completed in
September 2013, when the beach was
finally breached at the Selsey end.
The new
reserve, including habitats both seaward and landward of the new sea defences,
will be managed by the RSPB, who already own the Bracklesham Bay Nature Reserve
just south of Medmerry Park.
The clay
needed to build Medmerry’s new flood banks was dug from large shallow pits
within the scheme. It was a wonderful opportunity to look for archaeology and Archaeology
South-East (ASE), from University College London, has been undertaking
fieldwork and has discovered some amazing finds. Bronze Age settlements and
Neolithic pottery are some of the finds made by UCL archaeologists.
Now that the
fieldwork is complete, the archive of artefacts, dating back to c. 1,100 BC
will be submitted to Chichester Museum.
Somewhere
among the people being shown round the digs are Janice and I, who were invited on an Environmental Agency walk of the archaeology site earlier this year.
Meanwhile Portugal is in the grip of election fever. The local elections are taking place tomorrow and for the last week Fuseta has been inundated with cars and vans continuously circling the town blaring out their election promises.
Meanwhile Portugal is in the grip of election fever. The local elections are taking place tomorrow and for the last week Fuseta has been inundated with cars and vans continuously circling the town blaring out their election promises.
Hey Ho!
