Slightly to the south of our position we had a good view out to sea to the huge Walney Wind Farm and other smaller wind farms round about it that lie offshore opposite the mouth of the Duddon Estuary. On reaching Kirby, we parked the car by the railway station and then took the train back to Barrow-in-Furness to start the walk along the coast. Waiting for the train, we spoke to a local woman who told us how hard it was during lockdown living in a small village where what little activities there were, were closed down for the duration.
It is a walk that remains fairly constantly at sea level with only a couple of small rises over the length of it. The weather forecast was good, with a small risk of showers at the Kirby end later in the day.
Walking light, we carried only day packs with map, waterproofs, lunch and snacks. At the other end, we will pick up the car again and move to our next accommodation, a rented flat, at Millom. Millom will be our base for the next three days, before moving on to Whitehaven for our final sections.
Just beyond Ormsgill we could take a public right of way down to the coast by Sowerby Lodge. On the way, crossing a railway bridge, we passed a huge solar farm in the fields of an area known as Palace Nook. In the planning application for the development it is estimated to consist of over twenty thousand panels, generating almost 5mw of energy. There are good views of the array from the bridge. Once over the bridge we followed local paths down on to the beach just below Sowerby Lodge.
The coastal area around here has seen a lot of military activity over the years, particularly since the early 1900's with the growth of military industries in the local area. With the growth in industrial activity more defences were constructed locally and there are numerous reminders of this military past as you walk along the beach, including the upended pillbox in the attached photograph.
Sandscale Haws dominates the view to the front and because of its size you think it is much closer than it actually is. Consequently, you feel like you walk for ages and make little progress. Sandscale is a national nature reserve, managed by the National Trust and there is a Visitor Centre on site, but currently closed due to the Covid situation.
This first beach section ends at Scarth Blight. To your left here, the end of Walney Island, North End Haws, is separated from Sandscale Haws, which is on the mainland, by the Scarth Channel, which runs down from here to discharge in to the Irish Sea.
I find moving through sand dunes difficult at the best of times. When the path keeps disappearing, or when mountain after mountain of sand dune block your path putting you off in different directions, it is not long before the lost flag goes up. A quick look at the map will demonstrate where we were not paying attention to the route and for some inexplicale reason took a left instead of going straight on and ended up wandering in the dunes. When you are hot and tired and following very faint outlines on the ground it is easy to do. Eventually, sitting down for five minutes, taking a cold drink and thinking it through, we were soon back on the route. But just for that infinitesimal moment you experience a wee sense of panic and that is when you know it is time sit down and take stock.
The younger of the two, Askam, was established in the 1850's when iron ore was discovered in the area. On the back of this a local steel industry developed. The Askam pier was constructed from the slag that was part of the steel making process. Not the most beautiful of piers, I suppose it served a utilitarian as opposed to aesthetic purpose. We stopped on the approaches to the village for lunch, sitting on a bench, looking over Duddon Estuary, enjoying the view and watching the wading and roosting seabirds, taking the opportunity to check out the next section. To progress after lunch, we simply stepped through the large arch that is part of Askam Pier and on to the shore beyond.
To the north from Askam you are looking towards the Woodland Fell, beyond which lies the Old Man of Coniston and the famous Conisten Water, location for a number of the Arthur Ransome stories in 'Swallows and Amazons. On a day such as today it was simply breathtaking. A number of the mountain features on this panorama are included in Alfred Wainright's 'The Outlying Fells of Lakeland'.
Where before lunch we had walked on the lower shore, for the afternoon we were confined to the back of the beach. At times we were some distance from the sea, walking behind large stretches of delightfully coloured saltmarsh. The grasses and sea shrubs were, despite the season, a wonderful range of Autumn golds and browns, burnished by the afternoon sun. Gone now were the flocks of waders that had accompanied us in the morning and we were left to walk in splendid isolation. At times it was a bit of a clamber as the 'walkable' beach became narrower and narrower and we were occasionally forced to walk up against the retaining fence.
North of the headland there is a large expanse of saltmarsh that runs right up to the edge of the railway line. Walking through here we were often called upon to jump over some of the channels that had filled up with high tide. At one point we came to a long channel runnning north to south that was just too wide and deep to cross. As stood trying to puzzle out a way forward, a train passed on the line and we enjoyed waving to the passengers. Fortunately, before turning back on the path to retrace our steps, I took the time to follow the bank of the channel back and after about two or three hundred yards found where it petered out and we were able to walk round it.
Once we were back over the railway again the walking became a bit more difficult as we pretty much lost our path to the water of the saltmarsh. For much of this section we walked on the sloping concrete bank that ran down from the railway line. The path eased again a bit further along and we found the odd bit of dryish path to walk on which, after the strain of walking on the angle, was a relief.