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.
Damian’s toe has proved to be more troublesome than we thought, so I’m on my own today – but it’s only a short walk around the docks and up to the football stadium. He leaves me at Roose station and I make my way though depressing residential streets to Salthouse Junction, where I join a path around Cavendish Dock Reservoir.
On the OS map there is no clear path along the coast from Bardsea, apart from an initial stretch along a dirt track at the back of the beach. So, after much rumination we decide to try it anyway – the beach is enormous and the water very far away.
The woods to our right mark the edges of Bardsea Country Park and Sea Wood, both of which will make it difficult to join the road if the beach proves too troublesome – I’m really hoping this won’t prove necessary.
Today could not be more different from yesterday – we open the curtains to a blazing sun in a brilliant blue sky and according to the weather forecast this will continue all day. Hooray!
Continue readingIt is one of those mornings when I ask myself why we are doing this – it’s pouring with rain and to get to the footbridge at Greenodd we have to risk life and limb to cross four lanes of fast moving traffic. One more battered old Cumbria Coast sign points us in the right direction.
Cark and Cartmel station is a five minute walk from our BnB in Flookburgh, and it’s a four minute train ride to Kents Bank, where we finished our walk last time. It’s a grey morning but we’re not expecting rain.
Walking up the minor road northwards we pass the entrance to Abbot Hall – I had wondered if it was possible to take a shortcut through the grounds of the hall, but there are No Access signs everywhere so we carry on up the hill, past rows of neat semi-detached houses. As the road dips down, I find the footpath I’ve been looking for off to the left – a battered old signpost shows us the way. The Cumbria Coastal Way is actually not marked on OS maps anymore as I’m told there are a few farmers who have withdrawn their permission to let walkers on their land. We do however come across quite a few signposts helping us on our way.
The snow has caught up with us overnight leaving a blanket on the car but it has stopped so there is just a cold wind to contend with. As I struggle to get my boots on outside the Derby Arms, a small voice inside my head is lobbying for a day off but I know as soon as we get moving it will be fine.
Not such a lovely day as yesterday but not raining – a good start. Finding ourselves at Arnside railway station, we cross the railway bridge and head off down a permissive path which runs northwards, parallel to the road. The route around the estuary will be quite complicated today, particularly because we will be trying to avoid waterlogged fields and flooded footpaths.
Continue readingThis was the walk we did on our way up to Gretna Green to get married – it rained all day and I have precisely 4 photographs – 1 outdoors and three inside our hotel. It is also a very long time since I laced up my walking boots. Why? well Christmas, granddaughter in Denmark, work and last but not least a gammy leg (or knee to be precise) which I’m trying to get sorted.
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Joining the Dots 