Digital Pictures IndexMorecambe Bay crossing

Sunday 30th June 00.  Cloudy in the morning with light rain, cleared to give brightening skies later.

The crossing of Morecambe Bay is an unusual but very popular walk.  However, shifting quicksands and incoming tides that can outpace a galloping horse make the Bay notoriously dangerous and the crossing should never be attempted without a guide - even the local fishermen have lost carts, horses, tractors and more in the quicksands.  This is no place to wander alone.  Before the days of easy road and rail travel, Morecambe Bay was a notable short cut for travellers between Lancashire and Furness.  The Roman Emperor Agricola may have used the crossing and it was certainly well used by the monks from the 7th century onwards.  Soldiers, drovers and travellers regularly made the crossing.  Guides were established by the late 13th century to aid travellers in the dangerous crossing, for there were many cases of people vanishing into the quicksands.  The tradition of the guide, appointed by the Duchy of Lancaster, is still upheld.  The present incumbent, Cedric Robinson, was appointed to the ancient post of Guide to the Kent Sands in 1963.  A fisherman by calling, he has culled flukes (flounders), shrimps, cockles and whitebait from the Bay for years.  Cedric has appeared in several TV programmes about the Bay, has received an honorary masters degrees from Lancaster University and the University of Central Lancashire and was awarded an MBE in the 1999 Queen's Birthday list.  He also won the Barclays Bank Prize for books about people with his book "Sand Pilot of Morecambe Bay" - available from amazon.co.uk

A good description of the walk, and more photos, can be found at lakedistrictwalks.com


Setting off from Arnside


Cedric Robinson, Guide to the Kent Sands (centre)


Crossing the main channel of the river Kent


Another view of the main Kent channel


Heading out into the Bay, with one of the laurel branch route markers (known as "brobs")


A distant view of the Lakeland fells from far out in the bay


Approaching the western side, near Grange-over-Sands


Back on Terra Firma, now for a pint to celebrate!

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