Last updated at 12:08, Thursday, 23 April 2009

Forsake the mountains and coast along to the county’s much-neglected shoreline

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Map: OS Landranger map 85, Carlisle.

Start and finish: Mawbray Banks car park, about 200 yards north of Bank Mill Nurseries on the B5300 (grid reference, NY087480).

Public transport: Bus number 60, Maryport to Skinburness (telephone 0871 200 2233).

Refreshments: Dunes Coffee Shop at Bank Mill Nurseries, near Beckfoot.

Distance: 8.3 miles

Total ascent: 312ft

Time: 3¼to 3¾ hours

Grade: Easy

Overview: Cumbria isn’t renowned for its coast – holidaymakers, traditionally drawn to the sea, would rather stay inland and explore our mountains and lakes than head west to the where the land ends. They don’t know what they are missing! We may be a bit lacking in the cliffs department, but we have some fascinating stretches of coastline nonetheless. The Solway coast, in particular, is a joy for bird lovers. And, with Criffel and the Dumfries & Galloway hills on the other side of the water, the views are gorgeous. This week’s outing includes a good, long stretch of beach/dune walking followed by some farm paths and quiet lanes near Blitterlees and Wolsty.

The Walk: From the parking area close to the road, follow the track towards the sea. When you reach a fenced turning area, go through the gap in the fence on your right. There is a brown ‘access’ sign on the wooden post here.

Walk through the dunes on the wide, grassy path. Before long, you find yourself walking along the very edge of the dunes, with a drop of several feet down to the beach on your left. Make sure you keep back from the unstable edge and follow the clear path whenever possible.

As you approach Beckfoot, the dunes narrow and your way ahead is blocked by gorse (one mile from the start). You will now need to get up on to the road for a couple of hundred yards. Once you have crossed the road bridge over the small beck that feeds straight into the sea on the southern edge of the village, find a convenient spot to make your way back down to the coast.

Whether you choose to walk through the dunes or along the beach, you now have a further 2.5 miles of coastal walking before you turn inland on the edge of Silloth. As you make your way steadily northwards, you may see large flocks of black and white oystercatchers at the water’s edge. There’s a good chance you will also see ringed plover, dunlin and the occasional curlew, although the latter begin returning to their nesting sites further inland about this time of the year.

As you draw level with the Lees Scar Lighthouse, the metal construction about a third-of-a-mile off the coast, you will notice that Silloth Golf Club occupies the ground up to your right. If you are walking on the beach, you now need to head towards the lower dunes where you will pick up a faint path through the grass. Just after passing a sign warning of “flying golf balls”, you will see a short post with a yellow Cumbria Coastal Way waymarker on it. Turn right here to walk up the sandy track heading into the higher part of the dunes.

With your back to the sea, keep straight ahead at the next junction of paths. The path soon enters the golf club’s practice ground. Keeping a wary eye out for any golfers about to tee off in your direction, make sure you keep within the white lines that have been painted on the grass. When these end, you simply follow the surfaced path until you reach the gate beside the road (3.9 miles from the start).

Once through the gate, turn right to walk along a wide track to the right of a short row of houses. You now pass between the golf course on the right and a caravan site on the left. Before long, the fences are replaced by gorse. Turn left along the next clear track that you come to (4.3 miles from the start).

When you reach the road, cross straight over to join a wide track (signpost reads: “Public byway leading to public footpath”). Go through the large metal gate to gain access to a muddy track. When this swings sharp right, you will see two metal gates on the bend. Go through the right-hand one. There is a yellow waymarker to the left of it, but it’s easy to miss.

You now walk close to the field boundary on your left. Having crossed one step stile along the way, you will reach a watercourse, which you cross via a narrow footbridge. Turn right to cross a second bridge – this one made more awkward by brambles covering the stiles at either end of it. Head SW with the channel close by on your right, crossing some more stiles before you reach yet another bridge on your right (5.3 miles from the start). Once you are carefully over this – watch for those brambles! – turn left to walk with the channel on your left. You soon pick up tractor tyre tracks, which you follow to the road at Wolsty Hall.

Turn right along the asphalt. At the next road junction, bear right – towards Silloth and Maryport (6.35 miles from the start). When you reach the main road, cross straight over and go down the rough track towards the Wolsty Banks car park. At the parking area, go through the gap in the fence to get back out on to the dunes. Once you’ve passed the fence on your left, you can turn left to walk back along the coast to where the walk started. It is almost two miles from the Wolsty Banks car park to the Mawbray Banks car park near Bank Mill Nurseries.

Points of interest: This section of the Cumbrian coast forms part of the Roman Empire’s north-western frontier. Although Hadrian’s Wall ended at Bowness-on-Solway, the defences didn’t stop there. The section of coast between Maryport and the wall was a particular problem for the Romans because of its close proximity to Scotland. To combat this weak link, they built a series of fortlets interspersed with small towers. The full extent of these defences is unknown, but there are remains of milefortlets between Port Carlisle and Maryport. The milefortlets appear to have been abandoned after Emperor Hadrian’s reign ended in 140AD.

The Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty was designated in 1964 and stretches from Rockcliffe in the north to Maryport in the south. It contains a wide range of fragile habitats, including the sand dunes along this section of the coast. These are home to wildflowers such as wild thyme, ladies bedstraw, restharrow, birdsfoot trefoil and harebell. You may see curlews, oystercatchers, little terns, bartailed godwits and little plovers, some of which nest in the strandline vegetation. The area is also home to the natterjack toad, and the spread of gorse and scrub has to be managed to improve the habitat for these rare amphibians.

For walks in the Lake District, try Vivienne Crow’s Easy Rambles Around Keswick and Borrowdale and Easy Rambles Around Ambleside and Grasmere (published by Questa, price £3.99 each).

First published at 15:37, Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Published by http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk