Morecambe Bay Sands from Hest Bank

‘& wee ridd uppe ye sands where neuer noe man before ridde (not knoweinge y:e way nor ye: daunger of y:e sands) a very dangerous place’. Unfortunately we do not know exactly where Justice West was living at the time. From his house in Middleton he could not have seen the sands, as Heysham Hill is in the way.

This was the beginning of the old route across the Sands. The shorter Bay Walk now starts from Arnside and goes to Kents Bank, though this route from Hest Bank to Flookburgh is featured about once a year as a charity half-marathon. The River Kent shifts its channel dramatically in a short time, and the quicksands move about: only attempt this walk with an official guide (see next two images). On the extreme left, Black Combe with Ulverston beneath; in the middle, Humphrey Head; Grange over Sands on the far right. Even though Black Combe appears to be immediately behind Ulverston, in fact the whole of the Furness peninsula and the Duddon Estuary separate them.

Image © Meg Twycross 14 May 2007

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