Saunton Sands and Braunton Burrows
There are SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) Restrictions on this site.
Saunton Sands Beach
Saunton Sands
Saunton Sands is a beach in the English village of Saunton on the North Devon coast near Braunton.
It's part of the Taw estuary Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Braunton Burrows.
It is at the northern edge of the sand dune system. It is the start of a three mile (4.8km) crescent of fine golden sands, that stretch southwards between the sea and the Braunton Burrows towards Appledore and Bideford Bar.
Northern end, which, in this part of the beach, is a designated military training area. It is cordoned off a few times a year and the beach is converted into an air strip for the military transport planes, usually C-130 Hercules, of the Royal Air Force to practice STOL (Short Take 0ff and Landing).
Saunton sands is popular with many surfers purely because the beach is so long and provides adequate space for large groups.
Sand Dunes - Braunton Burrows
Braunton Burrows
Braunton Burrows is the largest sand dune system in the UK. It hosts an extraordinarily diverse plant community, with over 400 recorded species of vascular plants. This in turn means that there are also a great variety of associated invertebrate species. Its uniqueness and biodiversity is recognised in its designation as a UNESCO biosphere reserve. Braunton Burrows is located in the South West of England, in North Devon, to the west of the town of Barnstaple.
The sand dunes are stabilized and held in place by the root systems of a variety of creeping plants. Marram Grass, in particular, is one of the pioneer species which colonize and stabilize the sand hills piled up by the wind.
The valleys between the dunes, which are known as slacks, are wet and marshy in the winter and host a variety of marsh herbs and low creeping shrubs.
Its name is derived from the large numbers of rabbit burrows to be found in the area. The many rabbits have a profound effect on the vegetation of the dunes through their grazing, in many places creating a short, cropped turf of herbs and grasses.
Because of the continual cropping by the rabbits, many of the plants are short and stunted and have an entirely different growth form to their normal one.
A number of the plants are very small and a hand lens is essential to appreciate them!
Cache
This is wheelchair accessible earthcache. Coordinates given will bring you to the Information Board. On this board you can find answers on all question bellow. You can park at waypoint CPARK (Car Park, daily charge, free after 6pm). Dogs are allowed on certain parts of the beach. Other facilities: toilet, shop, Café Bar, shower, watersports equipment hire.
There is the other, very interesting Earthcache nearby: Saunton Pink Erratic. I recommend that you visit it.
To claim this cache you need to take a photo of you with a GPS (or your GPS only) and the beach or dunes in the background near the co-ords given. You also need to email me with the answers to the following questions:
- Up to what high are Braunton Burrows dunes?
- Which two words are the correct in this sentence: "Sand dune system is an unique and d...... , s...-n...... habitat."
- How long is South West Coast Path?
- How many species of butterfly live in Braunton Burrows?
Regarding last info from cachers, infoboard disappeared. I will change questions soon. Please, temporaly use google. Sorry for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.
Feel free to log this cache. You may not wait for permission to log.
If your answers are not correct, incomplete, without picture etc., i will contact you by e-mail. But if your e-mail is not comming to me without 3 days, I will delete your log without notice.
Source: http://www.devon-online.com/towns/braunton/, http://www.countrysideinfo.co.uk/biospher_reserves/braunton.htm, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saunton_Sands