Coastwalk

Beckfoot → Workington

Distance: 16.4 miles
Ascent: 199 metres
Duration: 5 hours 43 minutes

Facing the open sea
« Kirkbride | St Bees »

The Solway Firth is the large body of water that separates England from Scotland on the west coast. Today I finally turned the corner and caught a glimpse of the open sea ahead of me. I've stopped walking west and have started heading south.

Looking across to Criffel I saw into the future briefly. In twenty years time will I finally have made it to the west coast of Scotland? Will I be looking back at the Cumbria coast trying to remember those early years of coast walking?

If you're ever walking in the Lake District, I strongly suggest forsaking the fells for a day and taking the path from Silloth to Maryport. The path is easy to follow, and if you get tired there's an hourly bus service just a couple of hundred metres inland.

There was a lot of refuse on the beach; just north of Allonby I met a couple who litter-pick the dunes near them daily. One thing they'd not found was this jigsaw of a sign. I pieced it together as best I can, but can't figure out the message. Suggestions anyone?

Beyond Maryport I met another beachcomber. In the shadows of sixteen wind turbines I met a man filling his pockets with coal washed ashore on the tide, the classic sources of energy vying for a place amongst the new.