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Helen Mark travels to the Sefton Coast, which runs from Liverpool in the south to Southport on the western side of Lancashire. Miles of golden beaches stretch as far as the eye can see. Vikings settled here and the names Crosby, Rimmer, Formby bear testament to this. The area is flat and has always suffered periodic flooding and erosion. For centuries the efforts of man and nature have created a series of shifting offshore sandbanks and coastal dunes. Today the area is home to internationally important wildlife and has an interesting historical heritage.


Helen meets local historian Dr Reginald Yorke on the sand-dunes at Formby. The dunes have a rich history of human activity and it's the site of Britain's (possibly the world's) first lifeboat station. Liverpool Bay was a dangerous place for early craft to navigate and the siting of a lifeboat offered a chance of saving stricken mariners. The lifeboat was an open rowing boat manned by local volunteers clad in oilskins. Many local families spent their lives in the dunes manning the lifeboat. The station closed in 1916, but the foundations still remain.


A pine forest comes grows down to the beach. Rob Wolstenholme and Lynne Collins, from English Natures, take Helen round Ainsdale Dunes Nature Reserve. The wide open sandy nature of the area, with its patchwork of dunes and slacks (indented valley areas), has created habitat for important niche species, including the red squirrel. One reason the squirrels have a stronghold here is the pine forest itself, which was planted by local estate owners a century ago to provide cover for game. The more common grey squirrel is also present and this foreign invader has a faster breeding cycle and a less specialised diet - which is why it has ousted reds elsewhere. The greys also carry a disease called Parapox which is fatal to reds. Luckily the pine forests on the coast are hemmed in by open agricultural land which provides a natural barrier from incoming greys (they don't like travelling across open ground). Helen plants a new tree, part of a scheme to keep the reds with a good supply of food.