The pictures, from this magnificent day are:
Morcombe Bay at Carnforth; swans flying; the coast near Silverdale; view towards the lakeland high fells from south of Kendal.
Day 28 Sat May 2nd. Our landlady, Gayle at The Blue Anchor very kindly got up especially to give us an early breakfast, so we were on the road by 8.30am walking down to the A6, then through a caravan park to the.... beach? sea front? the sands? It is none of these, but when you step down from the actual land, you are on a marsh that is grassed with sudden water-filled holes and channels. Further out, this turns to sand, and there is flat sand as far as we could see in all seaward directions. We could see Morecombe to the south, and the cumbrian hills to the north. We were able to walk on the grassy marshy bit, although it was often very wet. We could see some oyster catchers and shell ducks further out and later saw some lapwings from a distance. We managed to pick our way to where it was drier and followed this fascinating coast round past Carnforth and Warton, joining a lane that ran along the shore. The path then left the road and crossed another marshy area on which a large flock of brent geese were grazing, to the Siverdale peninsula. Here we climbed steeply up through some woods and came out at a gallery and coffee shop, where we stopped for refreshment.
The wonderful coastal views continued through Silverdale, after which we turned inland to cross more low lying land to Arnside. There are a lot of caravan parks in this area, but they seemed mostly to be fairy discretely placed and weren't offensive. Arnside is on the huge estuary of the River Kent, which passes through Kendal. This is another expanse of sand and mud with fine views of the hills beyond in all directions, but we could see that the tide can fill the estuary when it is in, and the water must race in and it would then would look very different and hard to imagine from where we stood!
We walked up a lane to our 15-mile stop, sitting outside a pub in the sunshine, then on to the next phase of this special walk. Let me explain something... Walking 20 miles every day is much too much of a good thing, and on some days it is a real trial to the point that you ask yourself why on Earth you thought it could be a good idea. We are definitely both looking forward to completing the walk and getting home, so at the end of a long day of tramping miscellaneous lanes through indifferent countryside or worse, you feel tired, sore, and every step seems to take an age. However, here are days that shine out and pass much more easily and, somehow, with less pain at the end. We have had a good mixture, but this day was a real joy for endless wonderful scenery, good paths well sign-posted, not too much climb and variety. We had already been spoiled, but as we climbed on footpaths above Levens, we were treated to an extraordinary vista across the fields and peaks of Cumbria, climaxing at a popular viewpoint. The weather was perfect - clear, cool with puffy white clouds, the birds were singing and it was perfect.
So we were very happy as we descended into Kendal having walked 23 miles and were looking forward to the pub I'd booked whilst walking. I have an iPhone which allows me to find any business I want using Google Maps - this can be great. So I typed in Kendal Hotel and got 5 results. Now, I like to stay in pubs - they tend to be inexpensive and are often idiosyncratic, but that can be fun. They certainly have character, which many hotels and B&Bs don't. One pub came up in the Hotel search - the Dun Horse, which was in the middle of Kendal and had a room. The price wasn't very cheap at £25 each sharing, but it MUST be good if it was the only pub listed as a 'hotel'.. mustn't it? The appearance wasn't promising and, crucially, we didn't ask to see the room before handing over £50, because it was appalling. Dingy, rather small, shared shower and loo down the corridor - we weren't pleased but too tired to argue with the landlady. It was also quite noisy, then the karioke started. We got our showers and went out for a rather poor pint and rather good meal in an Italian restaurant nearby - best pizza I've had in the UK I think (really crisp and thin). When we returned to our room, the noise was deafening and because it was bank holiday saturday went on till 2am. Then there was a noisy extractor fan and our window didn't close. We both were awake a lot but managed to sleep enough to get up at 6am capable of going for a walk. Horrible place, and the owners were not helpful or nice.
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