There’s not much to do in Shoreham unless you like plants or kite surfing. I don’t even care for shingle beaches – they’re difficult to walk on, monotonous from afar, and noisy in a storm. But Shoreham is blessed with a vegetative shingle that extends to Lancing. The best part is the stretch between a line drawn from the Adur Ferry Bridge and Shoreham fort. The dominant species are sea kale, red valerian and silver ragwort, but you can find many others.

You should see the plants in late spring. Then the surreal domes of fleshy sea kale leaves are crowned with white flowers, and the valerian has sent up pinky-red fireworks. Later in the year, there are seed pods, and the colours are muted, though you should find yellow-horned poppy and viper’s bugloss in flower. There are unique plants too.

West of the bridge is Widewater lagoon, a brackish lake which supports a wide range of animals and plants. There are large mats of sea heath, masses of tiny pink stars. In Shoreham itself, there is a path that goes beside the Adur up towards Old Shoreham that is full of wildflowers even in high summer.