Wells Salt-Marshes

An education film documenting the flora and fauna thriving in the salt-marsh landscapes of Wells-next-the-Sea.

Produced by Norfolk County Council Education Department in 1976, this information film was shot and narrated by Paul Banham, Warden of the Wells Field Study Centre 1969 to 1989. Banham gives a comprehensive perspective on the flora and fauna that prosper in the 11 kilometres of salt-marsh landscapes of Wells-next-the-Sea. Following a brief welcome to Wells-next-the-Sea, Banham introduces the marshes submerged by the sea tide. Time-lapse photography, innovative for the time of production, condenses a three-hour shot into a ninety-second demonstration of the tide turning, with the marshland appearing in its stead. Over footage of the birds, Banham describes a selection of the avian visitors who frequent the salt marshes in winter, including the brent goose, common gull, black-headed gull, great black-backed gull and turnstone. Next, Banham outlines the locations of the plant-life that thrives on the marshland. The plants identified include sea purslane, scurvy grass, sea pink, sea plantain, sea arrowgrass, saltmarsh-grass, sea-spurrey, cordgrass, sea aster, marsh samphire, red fescue, sea wormwood, sea couch grass, shrubby sea-blite, sea lavender. Children identify the various plants and grasses of the salt marshes using identification boards. Older students carry out random sampling using quadrat squares to gauge plant population. The documentary concludes with another time-lapse shot showing the effect of the incoming tide on the marshland, and on moored boats in the distance.

Keywords

Education; salt-marshes; birds; plants; grasses

Background Information

Transcribed from Christine Marshall's notes: From memory this covers much the same kind of material as the pinewood film but obviously describes the Well Saltmarshes. It shows surveying with what then was unusual equipment, a theodolite among many other techniques including birdwatching. There is an extremely interesting piece of time lapse film (again well ahead of its time) showing the tide going out in the main harbour channel at Wells and its effects on the boats/wildlife. To film the outgoing tide in 'Wells Saltmarshes', battery powered time lapse equipment was used, taking one exposure every 4 seconds- except when boats went past, when it was changed to one second intervals, to make it look a bit less ridiculous! The sequence should have shown the incoming tide as well, but the battery ran out.