lancashire

To Morecambe … and back again

/ Dee and Steve / Leave a comment

Saturday 25th January 2025

Storm Eowyn has been doing its stuff over the last couple of days – today we woke up to stunning blue skies, but still a whole load of wind. So Saturday at 9.00am, of course we found ourselves at a Parkrun! The Lancaster one had been called off due to fallen trees and so Morecambe it was – and how lovely to finally find ourselves at the seaside. It was a wonderful out and back run along the promenade with fantastic views of the wide expanse of sand, the sea and the Lake District coastline on the horizon. The return part was not much fun however as we were running into strong wind – it was a battle.

We drove back to Lancaster and after a quick turn around we were heading back to Morecambe – this time walking. We caught the bus to the bus station (our starting point), couldn’t find the bus station cafe so carried on – our tummies were well and truly rumbling by the time we came across sustenance in Starbucks, about two miles in.

The Bay cycleway had been our path thus far, and we could have carried on this very pleasurable route all the way to Morecambe but that would have only been a couple more miles and cheating as so inland. The true coastal path option was a little risky as it floods daily and you need to know the timing of the tides. It would also have meant going via Heysham and being a 15 mile day. So our plan was to walk roadside into Morecambe – we had two roads to choose from. We checked them both out, neither had pavements! One of them did have a narrow kerb so we went for that, but it really wasn’t safe as it was National speed limit and we were getting some funny stares. A little over a mile of this stress we came to a turn off and Steve worked out a cross country option. And it was beautiful. Yes it was muddy paths and waterlogged farm fields but I’d take that over the craziness of speeding vehicles any day. A huge relief.

When we reached the outskirts of Morecambe, we had another hellish 200m walking another section of narrow busy road, with the blindness of a bridge thrown in. We took our life into our hands inching our way up and over, making our way to the safe haven of pavement. We really did get some puzzled looks that time!

And before we knew it, we were on the beautiful promenade of Morecambe – all our stress fell away. We walked 4 miles along this perfect stretch, making our end point at the oh so famous Eric Morecambe statue. What a wonderful tribute to a wonderful entertainer. It felt fitting to pay our respects for all those heartwarming Christmas Day memories.

Morecambe Bay with the Lake District in the background.

There’s a huge amount of Cormorant sculptures – funnily enough we didn’t actually see any real ones!

The absolutely wonderful Eric Morecambe!

Me and Eric xx

We treated ourselves to food and a few celebratory drinks back in Lancaster. So recommend ‘Merchants 1688,’ a bar just near the castle, a fabulously atmospheric venue for eating and drinking.

Today we walked 8 miles (plus our 3 mile run in the morning of course!!)

On this trip, we have covered off 43.5 miles over 4 days of coastal walking. Not bad for a couple of old codgers. And we will be coming back one day to continue this stretch of coastline, beginning with a guided 9 mile walk over Morecambe Bay, notorious for its quick sands – we are definitely not taking any risks by going solo!! Till next time Morecambe.

Walking into Lancaster

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Let’s give this a go!! Yesterday’s blog was taken down from Facebook – I have no idea why. I have appealed and am waiting to hear.

Thursday 23rd January 2025

Apart from being up to our ankles in mud and at one point up to our knees in water, our walking day wasn’t too bad. The start was a little challenging and I so nearly turned back. It was a ridiculously narrow path, on a slope and slippery. After a half mile of this, with lots of muttering, we took the alternative lower path which was very wet – nothing like starting the day off with wet feet!

The narrow path on the slope!

Anyone for a picnic?

The first 6 miles was a complete mixed bag of terrain – from boggy to tarmac, from puddles to farm lanes – you never take anything for granted. Stopped and had a lovely chat with a farmer in his tractor – he was just about to start lambing and explained all about it. He was fascinated that we were walking all the way to Lancaster in this weather – mad Southerners! I’m sure this area is fabulous in sunshine but even today the Lune estuary was pretty scenic.

Anyone for a picnic?

The remains of Cockersand Abbey

Our half way point was Glasson Dock, a quiet village and marina. We treated ourselves to a coffee stop and a humungous slice of Millionaire’s Shortbread – they had the thickest layer of caramel and the thickest layer of chocolate that you’ve ever seen – the perfect energy booster.

Rejuvenated we made our way to our next path and were delighted to find another tarmac surface – in fact it appeared to be an old railway walk as long, straight and flat – a complete breeze for ramblers. Halfway along, the app suggested a turn off onto a sea wall path – after a ‘brief’ investigation we decided it was far too muddy so stuck to the very lovely manageable path all the way to Lancaster – great decision.

It felt like coming home walking back into Lancaster. We’ve so quickly blended into this historic city – everywhere you look is magnificent, even the newer builds are so cleverly designed to merge in tastefully. Plenty of student halls too – sneaky views of untidy bedrooms!

11 miles today.

And back to our temporary home, muddy boots and all – to find our little charges, Monty and Kit, in their usual cuddling position.

Cockles and Cockerham

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Wednesday 22nd January 2025

An altogether much brighter day – started in rain but ended with some blue sky and the sun trying to pop his head through the clouds – we’ll take that, so much better than yesterday. We started off walking from Knott-End-on-Sea, a pretty seaside village although somewhat deserted. Lowry used to sketch here, it was a great inspiration to him. So we had to get a photo by his sculpture – forever the tourists!

My kind of bench!!

We quickly picked up the sea wall path and it was such a treat to find it was tarmac, no squelchy mud thus far. There was a huge expanse of sand on the beach and we’re guessing the sea was there somewhere but was shrouded in mist. Some smart coastal properties too but their signage was well and truly letting us know that this foreshore was private property.

The sea wall came to an end after 3 miles and at this point we got chatting to a couple of cockle pickers who had just returned on their quad bikes, bringing in bags of cockles. They were a jolly pair too and were delighted to share all their cockle picking expertise – shame we missed a photo opportunity! As we left them, Steve started reciting: “I’m not a cockle picker nor a cockle picker’s mate, I’m only picking cockles cos the cockle picker’s late.” Well, I could not get that rhyme out of my head for the rest of the day!!

We picked up a country lane now so again pleasant walking for a few miles – we were using our OS app to follow the Lancashire Coastal Way. Surprisingly it took us onto a fairly major road (we found out later that the rest of the sea wall is closed off for construction). There was no pavement on this road and cars were whizzing past at 70mph – not idyllic rambling conditions. So, after a mile, Steve worked out a detour on to some country lanes that would circle around to where our car was parked. It was a huge agricultural area, both livestock and arable – not seaside but still interesting. It did however add another 1.5 miles onto the walk but we decided it was worth it for stress and safety reasons. And as the weather cleared we were just about able to see the mountains of the Lake District in the distance.

The bar was closed!!

We ended our trek in another lovely village, Cockerham, where our flask of hot chocolate was waiting for us in the car! The thought of it had kept me going those 9.5 miles. But today we’d had no mud and no wind … it was a good day.

Now home for cockles … or is it curry!?