Out of the back of Millom Station we head south on the coast path through an area that shows signs of previous industry. (no photograph, don’t know why). In its heyday, Millom Ironworks was one of the largest in the world, but was forced to close in 1968 after a failure to attract investment for new steel making processes. Since its demise, efforts have been made to transform the pits and slag heaps into a local nature reserve which opened in 2002 .

Leaving the car outside the pub, we stock up on what look like fabulous sandwiches in the small bakery and start walking out of the village.

Out of the station at Askam we walk through the dull streets of the village to a path leading out to the coast – there’s been a lot of rain recently so a small deviation is necessary.

Back in 2017 we spent a night in a hotel at St. Bees, on our way up to Gretna Green to get married. This is not our van but it seemed appropriate at the time. Today we are setting out from the same hotel to drive to Drigg – a village some 13 miles down the coast – and then walk back.