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| Sefton Coast Partnership | Shoreline Management | Nature and Wildlife | Coastal Heritage | Visiting the Coast | Students and Teachers | Coastlines | |
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Winter 1995Sobieszewska IslandArticle by John Houston, Coast Management OfficerSitting amongst the marram grass and sea holly at the top of the beach, watching white gulls skimming the white horses as we watched an approaching storm. As it hit us we sought shelter in the pinewoods and marvelled at the autumn carpets of mushrooms and toadstools. A red squirrel dashed up a tree and a flock of tits moved through the canopy . From a high vantage point we could see the sandy fields, leading towards the rich, low lying mossland of the river flood plain. Sefton? - No, Poland. The similarities between the Polish coast and the Sefton Coast hit you straight away - the differences come later. As part of a UK KNOW HOW fund project, a party from the Sefton Coast spent a week in the Gdansk area in October looking at developing the processes of integrated coastal management. In Poland the democratic process is still very young and our role was to work with local communities, private businesses, conservation organisations and the city council to develop ideas about round table discussions and the process of management based on our experiences in Sefton. The of the outcomes of the exchange has been in regard to the island of Sobieszewska (pronounced sobie-sh-ev-ska) as a natural twin for the Sefton Coast. The island is in fact man made but it celebrated its 100 years of being an island in 1995 and this anniversary has helped to rekindle ideas about the islands identity. In 1820 a huge ice-jam in the river Vistula caused it to break its banks and force a new route to the sea, forming one end of the island. Later to better control the Vistula a canal was dug to direct it straight to the sea. The canal forms the other end of the island and this was opened in 1895. Sobieszewska today is about 10kn long and 4km wide at the widest point. With virtually no tides in the Baltic the beach is narrow and backed by dunes. Most of the inland dunes have been planted with Scots Pine but, apart from the seaward plantations, these become rich and diverse woodlands with alder, birch, oak, beech and sycamore being common. Behind the woodland belt is an area of sandy fields associated with two villages. The main agriculture is arable with some grazing nearer the river. Bulbs are also grown in the in the sandy soils. At each end of the island are the nature reserves with sand dunes, woods and reedbeds. About 3000 people live on the island itself which is connected to the mainland by a pontoon bridge. The island is essentially unspoilt by western standards. In the 1960's it was very popular for beach recreation but since the 1970's the beaches have been closed due to pollution. Clean up schemes are in progress and the island population is gearing itself up for greater tourism in the future. The exchange visit with Sefton helped the community to come together to recognise their strengths and weaknesses and to look forward to their opportunities in the future. Beachcombing on Sobieszewska could make you very rich! It lies on the amber coast and the strandline was littered with small pieces of amber.
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