Too Old Codgers

Statistics:
distance - 17.2 miles
moving speed – 2.9 mph
start – 9.30 am
finish – 5.05 pm
moving – 5h 55m

We had the best sleep so far in the big comfortable bed in the Muncaster Castle Coachman's Quarters, waking after 6 am which is very late for us. Breakfast at 8.30 was in the old stables, with horse stalls forming partitions between tables. We dawdled through the castle gardens, taking pictures of the many birds. It was 10 am by the time we left the castle grounds. The road from Muncaster to Ravenglass was busy. We detoured to the station to see Lil Ratty being fired up ready for the run to Boot.

'Muncaster Castle gardens'

'Mallard on pond in Muncaster castle gardens'

'Lil Ratty being fired up for a run on the Ravenglass and Eskdale railway'

Our route to St Bees was to follow the Cumbrian Coastal Way, using maps from an old guidebook. When we got to the 'shore' at Ravenglass the tide was way out leaving little water in the estuary. After taking the footbridge over the River Mite we followed the shoreline to Saltcote where we passed and smelled the tractor, trailer and crabpots that had made the tracks we had seen across the estuary mudflats. We met another tractor coming down a farm lane a little further along, then followed the River Irt (the third river entering the Esk estuary) to the lovely arched Holme bridge.

'Ravenglass and the Esk estuary mudflats'

'Holme bridge over the River Irt'

We thought the village of Drigg was very pleasant until we reached a large nuclear facility (dump?) on the outskirts. From there it was a long road walk to the coast where we had our late morning tea at the edge of the dunes. We attempted to walk along the beach, but couldn't find any firm sand. So we retreated to a narrow uneven path through the dunes – even there we had to contend with some soft sand. The dune path became too overgrown as we neared Seascale so we again tried the beach. The cliffs at the southern end of Seascale were obviously being eroded by the sea, and there appeared to be the remains of houses at the base of the eroded cliffs. Seascale looked like a down-at-heel seaside resort with Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant looming in the background.

'Drigg station and pub'

'A long road walk to the coastal dunes from Drigg'

'Leaving the beach where walking was difficult'

'The dune path to Seascale'

'Seascale, a down-at-heel seaside resort'

The path beside the rail-line was easy walking as far as Sellafield, but the path shown on our old map disappeared at the railway station. We skulked past the station, then bashed our way through bracken and brambles up a steep slope to find a fence with the strands propped apart by the bones of a deer's leg. We went through the fence and followed the edges of fields along the dune crest until we reached the River Ehen flowing from Ennerdale. We crossed the river on a footbridge beside the rail bridge, then went through a tunnel under the rail tracks.

'Security fencing at Sellafield Nuclear reprocessing plant'

'Walking along dune crest past Sellafield'

'The coastal rail line crosses River Ehen'

From there on we followed a track described in the old guidebook as 'the flower speckled raised beach'. Perhaps it was once, but now it was covered with large shingle and the flotsam from large tides leaving it looking like a rubbish tip. Nevertheless, we stopped on a seat amidst the rubbish and had our lunch looking out to sea.

'Lunch overlooking the Irish Sea'

The track along the edge of the dunes was so unpleasant that at Braystones we headed through the rabbit warrens, overgrazed horse paddocks and mobile home parks to the road paralleling the coast about half a mile inland. Then it was solid plodding along the bitumen to St Bees, covering over six miles in under two hours.

'Beautiful Braystones'

'Road walking to St Bees'

We called at the Queen's Hotel for drinks before going to our accommodation at Stonehouse farm. We had a lovely, big room with a good shower. After showering we went to the Manor for dinner. We had the usual pub fare, and it was very good. After a big day we went to bed just after 9 pm.

'St Bees village'

'Entry to Stonehouse Farm B&B'

'The Manor pub, St Bees'

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