Spiny sea buckthorn flourishes on the shores of East Lothian, protecting dunes with its roots and offering wildlife – and humans – nutritious berries to enjoy. So why do some conservationists want it removed? asks Sheila Sim
Words and pictures: Sheila Sim
The car park overlooking the sea at Gullane Bents on East Lothian’s coast is always busy, even on a bone-chillingly cold autumn day. This has long been a popular place for a day out. The sandy beach is wide and welcoming, providing an ideal location for picnics and sunbathing in the summer and windsurfing in the autumn. Even during the more bracing months of the year, walkers – and their dogs – love it here.
In the 1930s, people would come to this beach by the charabanc load. Photographs from that time show the start of the erosion on the 12-metre-high foredune as people clambered over it to get to the beach, and further erosion caused by beach huts dug into the seaward face of the dunes.
But by far the greatest damage resulted from the training exercises conducted during the Second World War; it was here that Royal Engineers were trained in the recovery of military vehicles and tanks in preparation for action on the Normandy beaches in 1944. Nearby, prestigious Muirfield golf course was in danger of being covered in windblown sand.
That was the situation facing Frank Tindall, East Lothian’s celebrated county planning officer from 1950 to 1975, who pioneered dune restoration work along East Lothian’s beaches. When Tindall started this task in 1955, he had no park staff or countryside rangers to work with – only gravediggers. The first undertaking for them at Gullane was to protect the rear dune, which was being eroded by the constant wind, with sea buckthorn transplants.
SIBERIA’S SUPERFOOD
Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) is a hardy, deciduous shrub, growing up to six metres tall. Its Greek name means ‘shiny horse’, thanks to Alexander the Great’s observation that horses feeding on sea buckthorn developed lustrous coats. In summer, its bushes are clad in grey-green foliage, and in autumn its female plants (it is dioecious, meaning the male and female reproductive organs appear in separate individuals) bear huge clusters of large, bright-orange berries between its fiendishly sharp thorns. Migrating birds, especially redwings and fieldfares, adore the fruit; its antioxidants help them reco
