Hello hawthorn! £10m sand dunes project brings plants back to life

Traditionally, scrub has been allowed to swamp England and Wales's sand dunes, but now they are being set free

A few dark clouds, remnants of the storm that whipped up the North Sea the night before, still hang in the big Lincolnshire skies, above a coastline famed for its kiss-me-quick holiday towns such as Skegness and Mablethorpe. But push on north towards Cleethorpes and the mouth of the Humber, past the caravan parks and imposing sea walls, and the shoreline becomes much wilder, a mix of mud flats and salt marshes, backed by a wide expanse of sand dunes frequented by a few hardy dog walkers.

This is the eastern outpost of Dynamic Dunescapes, a 10m project supported by Natural England and conservation groups including Plantlife and the Wildlife Trusts, which aims to bring new life to sand dunes, with a radical approach to their management.