Seaford Natural History Society

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Seaford Natural History Society ON THE BEACH

Did you know that Seaford has one of the best undisturbed shingle beaches in the country? That on the beach can be found the Yellow Horned Poppy (photo)? That its beautiful yellow flower only lives for a day? That its roots can go down for two metres as they quest for that elusive fresh water below the surface? That those long thin seed pods contain hundreds of tiny seeds? That the sap it exudes is poisonous?!

Members of the Seaford Natural History Society do, following their recent visit to the shingle beach at Tide Mills where the beach is undisturbed by the twice-yearly redistribution programme that wipes out vegetation on most of Seaford Beach. Here at Tide Mills is one of the few undisturbed shingle beaches in the UK and it is thick with plants such as Sea Kale and Curled Dock. They and the Poppy are three of the very few plants that can survive in this challenging, dry, unstable environment.

The visit was one of the last in the programme of summer visits organised by the society. Over the course of the summer-members have visited dairy farms, private woods and Gatwick Airport amongst other places, and on other occasions, trapped moths, spotted birds and beachcombed.

As summer ends, members prepare for the winter indoor programme. They can look forward to talks about the local environment, from the Ice Age through to plans for the future. At other times experts will be on hand to talk about topics as varied as Swifts, Seaweed and Shetland.

Talks are open to the public for a small charge and details will always appear in Seaford Scene. Talks are free to members who will already have received details of the full programme and have the dates in their diaries. Membership costs £20 a year. For details of membership please visit our website: www.seafordnaturalhistory.org.uk or email: richardmongar@btinternet.com