22. Millom to Bootle

I’ve been thinking a lot about my adventure round the coast of Britain, and how I’m going to do it, in particular when I get to Scotland. Scotland, especially the north west, is difficult for coastal walkers. There’s the accommodation for a start – hotels are few and far between in some areas, and get booked up a long time in advance, and can be expensive. Then there’s the public transport, which is virtually non-existent in many areas. Then more subtle factors – loneliness, the remoteness. After my marriage breaking down, and then being single through the Coronavirus lockdown, I don’t think I’m ready to be so far from people for so long in such difficult circumstances.

The 4 phases of my new plan

So I’ve decided (almost) that when I get to the Scottish border I’ll miss it out for the time being, and skip on to Berwick-on-Tweed in the north east of England. The second phase of the adventure will then be around England and the Welsh coast, and then when I reach England again near Chester, only then will I do Scotland as a third phase. After Scotland I can finish the adventure off with the fourth phase, the small distance from Chester to Liverpool where I started in January 2020. That’s the idea anyway! That’ll be a few years time, and I’ll be a more experienced coastal walker, and might even have some useful stuff like a camper-van and an electric bike to negotiate Scotland with.

This weekend I was thinking of doing another two walks, and so booked a room in a pub for Saturday night in Broughton-in-Furness. I wasn’t altogether enthusiastic about it, after the last time I did two walks in two days, especially as the distances were almost identical to last time – 15 miles and 12 miles. As luck would have it, I realised I’d booked the accommodation for the wrong week, so I had to cancel.

So this weekend was just the one section, although at 15 miles it was at the upper end of my abilities, and reading David Cotton’s blog a lot of this section is across shingle and boulders which is always really hard going.

I park up next to Bootle station and catch the train to Millom. Bootle is a request stop so you’ve got to stick your thumb out like a hitchhiker. I’ve always wanted to do that to a train, so there’s another one off my bucket list. Yeah, it’s not a very exciting bucket list. Bootle station is quite nice though…

Bootle station

Bootle station may seem a very quiet place, but on 22nd March 1945, towards the end of the Second World War, it was the scene of a huge explosion. A freight train heading south was carrying depth charges, on the way to Liverpool, when the crew spotted that one of the wagons was on fire. They stopped the train and Herbert Stubbs, the fireman, managed to uncouple the burning wagon. The driver, Harold Goodall was going back in an attempt to extinguish the fire when the load of 52 depth charges went up in a massive explosion, killing Harold, and leaving a crater 100ft long and 50ft deep. Due to the heroic actions of the two men, most of the depth charges were moved far enough away to prevent them exploding also. The crater was filled and the track repaired in only three days. Unfortunately, there’s no memorial here to Harold and the event.

The train arrives, I flag it down with a little inner surge of excitement, and it takes me to Millom. From Millom station I walk down Lancashire Road to the coast, and pick up where I left off last time. The route starts with a narrow path along a bank, with Black Combe and its sister hills to my right.

Black Combe (I think)

A butterfly settles on the golden ragwort ahead of me, and spreads its wings to greet me…

Tortoiseshell

Millom was constructed as a new town beginning in 1866. Built around ironworks, the town grew to a size of over 10,000 people by the 1960s, but has struggled since the works were closed in 1968. The aftermath of the ironworks can be seen in the slag heaps that still cover large swathes of the coastal land, interspersed with the estuary tidepools.

Iron works slag heaps near Millom

Fired out rocks are spread all around as if a volcano had erupted here.

Volcanic rock… from Mount Millom

I come across a guy with a pair of binoculars looking over the slag heaps and the streams that run around them, and ask him what he’s looking for. He tells me that kingfishers come here every summer, but seem to disappear later in the year. He’s seen a few around here over the years, but none turn up while I talk to him. I’ve never seen a kingfisher.

The path leads down to the estuary, where a collection of boats lie seemingly unloved on the tidal grasses.

Meanwhile an egret stalks the meandering shallows, keen eyes on any sign of movement.

Out fishing

I pass what looks like a hotel, with a large lawned garden littered with old pieces of marine equipment. I’ve little idea what they are. The second one looks like a naff robot from a 1970’s sci-fi film.

Across the estuary, the hills of the Furness peninsula peer down upon the trails of my previous walks.

Looking across to the Furness peninsula

A bench looking out over the estuary provides a convenient spot to take a break. I take the opportunity to scoff far too much of the food I’m carrying today. I don’t know why I brought so much stuff. There’s pork pies and sausage rolls, Pepperamis, and any number of cereal bars. I think I got a bit carried away. I take a selfie to make sure I’ve not got too fat from the mega scoff I’ve just finished…. OK I think.

Fat bloke

Near the tip of this small peninsula, at Crab Marsh, I come across the remains of a wharf, presumably used to transport iron from the smelting works that used to occupy this site and nearby.

The remains of Millom wharf

more remains of Millom wharf

The wharf was quite a substantial structure in its day, as this historic photograph shows, but it’s fallen into almost complete dereliction now.

Millom wharf before it was remains

Sand dunes appear towards the end of Hodbarrow Mains, and the estuary gives way to sea and a proper beach.

Using the full zoom of my camera, I see Askam-in-Furness a couple of miles across the water, and the smoking tower of the Furness Brick & Tile Company. It’s been a month since I was over there. A month to travel a couple of miles… if only I was a crow!

Askam-in-Furness

The beach is deserted….

It’s too far from any car parks for dog walkers or beach lovers, and mine are the first footprints in the virgin sand. Or so I thought…

Residents’ footprints

The remains of the Hodbarrow Old Lighthouse sit atop a hill on my right. There’s a newer lighthouse a little further on.

Hodbarrow Old Lighthouse

Patches of seaweed form a colourful mosaic carpet on the beach, looking like an autumn forest floor.

Seaweed carpet

I hear a droning buzz from above, and look up to see a glider being tugged into the air over the estuary, shortly to be released to soar the thermals on this still, sun-soaked day.

The beach ends and I arrive at the rocky outcrop of Hodbarrow Point. The sand gives way to rocks and pools which I carefully clamber over to reach a small sandy beach and the start of the Millom Outer Barrier.

Hodbarrow point
Hodbarrow outer barrier (top)

The outer barrier was constructed in 1890 and was the third attempt to protect the land being mined for iron ore from the sea, after the first wooden wall failed, and the second concrete wall subsided and was breached. It now forms a walkway with a nature reserve in the artificial lake created by it, which I now walk along.

Hodbarrow Outer Barrier, sea to the left, lake to the right
The sea from the top of the outer barrier
The lake, with the old concrete barrier

Halfway down the outer barrier is the new Hodbarrow Lighthouse, built in 1905. This was used up until 1949. It was restored in 2003 with the help of the local primary school.

Hodbarrow New Lighthouse

Children’s paintings opposite the lighthouse brighten up the concrete wall…

The peaks of Black Combe and its sisters loom over the artificial lake and the breached second sea wall.

Black Combe, behind the breached old concrete sea wall

The outer barrier ends at the small village of Haverigg, where brightly coloured houses cluster around the small river, oddly named “Haverigg Pool”. “Pools” round here can be the sea or can be rivers, but seemingly never pools!

Haverigg
Haverigg

There’s an ice cream hut just before the village, so I take the opportunity to fill up on calories and fat in preparation for the shingle beach ahead. I tell myself I’ll need the nutrients, but really I just fancy an ice cream.

It turns out not to be that nice anyway.

Walking through the village I find a plaque indicating the location of “Concrete Square”, a radical housing project built in 1873. Houses were built out of concrete for the workers instead of more traditional wooden structures that frequently burned down. However, the materials used in construction caused all sorts of problems, and they were eventually demolished in 1973. I wonder how many “radical housing projects” ever turn out to be successful. Architects are frequently blessed with radical ideas, but how many of them would choose to live in the buildings they design… very few I imagine.

Concrete Square, late 19th century

At the far end of the village, about 50 yards after the start of it, a path leads down to the beach. The sand is slightly damp and hard, the easiest of all surfaces to walk on.

There are various patches of shingle and boulder fields, mostly at the top of the beach, but the tide is out so it’s no problem, and I can walk on sand nearly all the time. I come across a strange group of little fish, lying on the sand. I can’t imagine how they got there, they’re a long way from the sea. Perhaps they were in a pool which dried up, but it really doesn’t look like a pool would have formed here.

Previous inhabitants of Haverigg Bank

Perched on top of a shingle bank is a pile of driftwood, just waiting to be set on fire. I have a bit of history when it comes to lighting fires, although mostly before my sixth birthday (a story I won’t go into the detail of now, but suffice to say it involved a pile of burning paper on a policeman’s doorstep, in collaboration with his daughter). It’s something I’ve almost grown out of these days, but that pile would look great with flames…

A guy on a quad bike comes up behind me on the path. He’s got two kids with him on the bike and some equipment, and it looks like he’s collecting shellfish of some type from further up the beach.

The beach is sandy down by the sea, but up here there are grassy areas, mixed with pools of water, and banks of shingle. Since the guy on the quad bike left, there is no-one in sight in any direction.

I can just make out the buildings of Barrow-in-Furness across the water, and with my camera on full zoom (x 180) I can see the huge BAE factory…

BAE Systems over the other side of the estuary now

The path I’m following leads onto a bank of shingle, so I move down the beach onto the sand to make walking easier. Looking across the sea the mountains of the Isle Of Man are now clearly visible.

This stuff is a nightmare to walk on
The Isle of Man in the distance

Closer than the Isle Of Man, Duddon Sands Wind Farm out to sea is generating clean energy. I heard the other day that the UK went a whole month without burning any coal. That’s good news, although I guess it’s an easier achievement in summer. There were also several periods when more than half of the electric energy requirement was generated by renewables. With Windscale power station shortly in my sights these are good things to happen. I made my opinions about nuclear power clear on my blog when I passed Heysham nuclear power station, but of course Windscale has an altogether dodgier history!

Duddon Sands Wind Farm

On my right, Black Combe is a constant companion. I will have almost walked around it by the time I get to Ravenglass, all except its northern reaches anyway.

Black Combe. Definitely.

Nearer to me, at the top of the beach, a cliff is starting to rise, at this point gently and covered in grass.

A group of horses is coming down the beach towards me. This seems to be a popular spot for horse riding. These are cart horses (I think) which seems a weird choice of riding horse to me. I don’t know much about horses.

There are a lot more people on the beach now I’ve reached Silecroft. Generally, people don’t seem to venture far along beaches from the car parks. Nor did I before I started this walk. Now I’m discovering the lonely and deserted stretches between the towns and villages. Some are lonely because they’re miles from anywhere, some are lonely because they’re not very nice places! The beach along here so far has been really nice.

Silecroft

The sandy beach stretches on for miles and miles. The cliff at the top of the beach has got quite a bit higher now, and frequent landslides have exposed the red mud beneath the grass. The fence at the top of the cliff is frequently hanging half way down the cliff, as the top has eroded.

These red cliffs all have names on the OS map… Cotely Bank, Walkhole Bank, Townend Bank, Gutterby Bank. I’ve arrived at what is called Gutterby Spa on the map, and the majority of the beach is now covered in boulders, and there is little sand left.

Gutterby Spa

It’s the worst spa I’ve ever visited, that’s for sure. I’m forced to find an easier path at the top of the beach, where the collapsing cliffs have at least covered some of the boulders with a smooth layer of mud that is easier to walk on.

At the top of the cliff, a cow looks down on me with interest, perhaps wondering why someone is stupid enough to walk along a boulder-strewn beach, risking twisted ankles or worse. She’s got a good point, I’m wondering the same.

I check my map and it shows there’s a path along the top of the cliff. That would be a lot easier than walking over these boulders, but I can’t see any easy (or even moderately difficult) way to get up there. The cliff at the top is vertical, or even has overhangs in many places. Up there somewhere is a place marked on the map as “Bog Hole”, so I’m in two minds whether I really want to be up there anyway.

Tricky to climb, that

This really is the toughest terrain to walk over. If the stones were smaller, like shingle, then it’s OK to walk on, albeit very tiring as the shingle moves underfoot. If the stones were bigger you could hop from stone to stone. But the stones roll underneath your feet here, constantly twisting your ankles, and are too close together to pick a path between them. I’m starting to get depressed. I can’t go on much further on this, and I can’t climb the cliff. I guess I could always walk into the sea, but that doesn’t seem to offer a satisfactory solution either!

The worst possible surface to walk on

A patch of colour up ahead distracts me from my moaning for a bit – part of an old brick wall, rounded by the erosion of the waves and pebbles. It looks quite nice, almost a piece of art…

Finally the boulders start to thin out a bit, and sandy patches appear again. Sea snails cling in large colonies to the remaining larger boulders.

A fine dish of escargot

Even better, the cliff is getting lower and lower, until finally it reaches beach level, and a gate allows me to get off it.

I pass through the gate and walk along a farm track at the edge of a field. The hill above me is glowing purple with heather, looking spectacular in the evening sunshine.

Heather in full flower

However, the track quickly comes out onto a bank of shingle at the top of the beach, almost as hard to walk on as the boulder field.

Luckily it doesn’t last for long, before I reach a nice wooden footbridge crossing the River Annas.

Footbridge over the River Annas

This leads into a field and a grassy track sandwiched between the river and a marsh.

Hyton Marsh

The way gets narrower and narrower, until I’m pinched between the river and a steep hill.

I’m sure other coastal walkers have mentioned this, but I can’t remember what they said, and I’ve got no signal on my phone to look it up! I’m sure it’ll be fine…

No way through here without a dunking!

I come to a dead end. The water beside me is about 2 foot deep, the ground under me is unstable, and there’s a gorse bush blocking the way. I could conceivably step around the gorse bush, but there’s nothing to hold on to, except the gorse, and I don’t fancy that. I reckon there’s a 75% chance of me ending up in the water if I try to continue.

Now I’ve had a few dunkings on this adventure so far, sometimes in far worse fluids than a crystal clear river, but today I just don’t fancy another, so I retreat, and shin up the steep bank where it’s clear of gorse. At the top is a gate into a field, and finally I’m back on the footpath.

Out to sea three separate suns reflect off the water, where gaps in the clouds allow.

Inland, someone doesn’t seem too pleased that I’ve intruded into her home.

In the evening light, the Isle Of Man looks even better, framed by the dying embers of sunlight

Isle Of Man

Looking far off into the distance to the north west, I can just make out the coast of Galloway in Scotland. This is the first time I’ve seen Scotland on this adventure! Seeing it reminds me that I’ll soon be switching over to the Northumbrian coast, and that settles me somewhat. I’m looking forward to that, and I’m pleased I’ve made the decision to skip Scotland for the near future.

The coast of Galloway

The footpath takes me through a farm called Selker, and I then have to follow the farm lane inland for about a mile to get back to Bootle station. So here is where the coastal part of today’s walk ends, and will continue next time. As I trudge up the hill towards my car, the dying sun illuminates one of the mountains of the central lake district, a beacon for me to follow on my next section, and it leaves me in a serene and contemplative mood.


This walk was completed on 29th August 2020, and is about 15.1 miles long. Here’s the real-time recorded map of my actual route, in which you can pan and zoom around…:


22 thoughts on “22. Millom to Bootle

  1. You’ll enjoy the northumbrian coast. I’m finding hotels quite pricey though at the moment with stay cations. The trains aren’t great either, the service on the Cumbria coast is probably the best in the North.

    1. The trains in Cumbria are convenient because they shadow the coast, but only run every 2 hours at the moment so if you miss one it’s a pain!

      1. The stopping service is once a day and the expresses don’t stop at every station, and most services only stop at one station. Buses are OK near Newcastle and berwick, but in between you rely on taxis

    2. Depending which one of us gets to Berwick first I guess we’ll cross over at some place, as you’re going anti-clockwise at the moment!

  2. Nice to see another post from you Paul, I was beginning to think you’d given up! 🙂 Some great shots here, I like the one of the Isle of Man in the evening light. I’m looking forward to your thoughts and photos of Ravenglass – I went there a few years ago and was disappointed to find there’s nothing there so last year I went back to see if anything had changed and there’s still nothing there! It’s good for photography though if the weather’s nice 🙂

    1. I’ve been to Ravenglass quite a few times – used to stay at the B&B at Muncaster Castle. I quite like it, although as you say there’s virtually nothing there! There is an old Roman baths, but to be honest it’s not much more than a pile of stones. Oh, and the Eskdale railway up to Dalegarth, that’s nice.

      1. I went on the narrow gauge railway from Dalegarth the first time I went to Ravenglass, I was camping at a lovely site just along the road from Dalegarth station. I enjoyed the train ride but was quite disappointed with Ravenglass.

  3. I’m glad you’ve made the decision on Scotland and you’re not going to miss it out entirely. You will enjoy Northumberland very much I’m sure.

    You got some lovely photos of the Isle of Man here, I don’t think I could even see it when I did this walk which is a shame. The Isle of Man is awesome by the way and has a wonderful coast path all the way around it’s very varied coast. I did the coast there a few years ago with a friend of mine.

    I’ll probably write those walks up when I get to the point that my blog has caught up with where I’ve walked too.

    Walking multiple days does get easier. I find drinking lots in the evening helps (otherwise I often wake up with a headache).

    I do remember that bridge but not how I got around that bit I’m afraid, though I don’t remember getting stuck. I also enjoy hailing a train like a taxi. A bit further up the coast I ended up starting/finishing walks at Nethertown when I ran out of time to get as far as St Bees. That’s a very remote station and at the time the platform was so low they had a little set of wooden steps on the platform the train driver had to try and line up the doors with. I suspect they didn’t like ti when people wanted to get on or off there. I think they’ve put a sort of rubber hump on the platform now to make it higher and got rid of the little steps. A shame.

  4. Your plan sounds like a good idea. You could do the English/Scottish border perhaps following Hadrian’s Wall thus eventually encircling England. I enjoyed this post bringing back memories for me along with your excellent collection of varied photos and story. One of those photos has two curious illuminated white streaks in the sky?

    1. Thanks Conrad. The two streaks could be lens aberrations from the sun, or far more likely alien spaceships coming down to rescue us from ourselves ?

  5. Another good write up. I’m enjoying your adventures whichever way you go. You won’t be lonely with a few virtual followers.
    Great views of the Isle of Man and I’ve trying to identify the last photo – looks like Great Gable if that was in your line of sight.

  6. I think there is a heavy horses riding centre in the silecroft area, so maybe that’s where the horses are from. Was in nearby Ravenglass for a weekend in August which was lovely.

  7. A lovely walk and a great write-up. Loved the robot. And stopping trains is great fun isn’t it? The first time, I just couldn’t believe a whole train would stop for little ole me, but it did! Think you’ve made a sensible decision about Scotland, Paul. It will wait, and you’ll feel more confident when you’ve got a few miles under your boots. It’s all about confidence really, not about ability.

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