I don’t like staying away from home the night before I start these walks. It feels fraudulent drinking beer and eating food I haven’t earned yet. I have therefore decided this evening to eat lasagne, surely the pub meal equivalent of a hair-shirt in the wardrobe. I haven’t yet decided how to make myself suffer in regards to alcohol. Pernod and black would be the ultimate punishment but seems unduly harsh. Perhaps if I have a little walk along the promenade and back I might feel that I’ve earned a few pints of Fighting Cocks IPA.
Ah yes, the promenade. I wasn’t expecting one but Arnside has one. It’s on the Kent Estuary which leads into Morecambe Bay and manages to appear pretty and sombre at the same time. I recall a past news story about a double drowning in Morecambe Bay which still frightens me to think about, and might explain the sombre part. It’s one of those places (like those on the west side of the Wirral) where, when the tide comes in, the water comes upwards through the sand rather than in waves. My room at Ye Olde Fighting Cocks is also called ‘Promenade’, and looks out at a wall about five feet away.
Arnside.
So why did I choose the Bay 2 Bay ahead of possible alternatives? Well chiefly because it’s a really interesting, well planned route across England, visiting many places I know and like as well as many I don’t know but will hopefully like (hello Arnside!). And I’m pretty certain it would have been a much more popular route were it not for two issues, both of which are quite significant.
Firstly, the official route is divided into two 100 mile walks, both beginning at Grassington with one heading west to the coast and the other east. However for most of us the centre of the world isn’t Grassington so the two walks don’t make much sense, transport is awkward and the insistence upon 100 miles makes the western route too long. It reaches the coast after about 60 before wandering, so a 160ish mile coast to coast would make more sense (and be doable - 200 miles plus travelling is too much for most people in a fortnight).
Secondly, the two guide books are lovingly put together but far too big to carry, full as they are of photos at the expense of maps. And the font is enormous! A supplementary book of directions and maps only would help a great deal (à la the Dales High Way). As it is I read the books at home and drew the route on my OS maps.
Looking upstream. Telescope not required for blatant product placement (again!).
So it’s a few miles south in the morning to Silverdale, which actually is on the west coast, then pretty much due east for 11 days to Robin Hood’s Bay on the east coast, with a mini coastal finale up to Whitby for no other reason than I’m fascinated by the Dracula story. And the railway station is there.
Or I could just stay here...
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