Harrington to Whitehaven and St Bees

We left our cottage in Allonby quite early and by 8.15 am we had driven, by way of the more easterly (i.e. inland) route through Workington and then down to Harrington. The little parking area by the Station was full, but there is masses of parking space down by the harbour; the carpark is marked on the OS map to the south of the the harbour but we actually parked on a rough area of ground to the north of the harbour, From here we went onto the beach. thus joining up properly with yesterday's route; the weather was rather better today! We walked around the harbour then we crossed the railway and left Harrington by way of the track which climbs up Copperas Hill. There were good views behind us, back down to the harbour and beyond.

About a mile south of Harrington we passed the first of the turbines in Lowca Windfarm and, as expected from the online version of the OS map, when we were about parallel with the fourth turbine, there was a track off to the right. This track was not signposted, but the map was clear this was the route we were to take, so off we went. We disturbed some highland cattle who were grazing by the track and continued as the track meandered close to a couple of the turbines, gradually descending and getting closer to the sea. As we reached closer to the cliff-edge there were stunning views down to the railway, which chuggs its way beneath the cliffs, right by the sea. However, the more we looked for it, the more there was no forward route... We had no choice but to retrace our steps, past the turbines and cows, to where we had left the main track, near the fourth turbine.

After we had retraced our steps, we'd thought that we'd be following the route of the "Cumbria County Way" as shown on our 2009 copyright paper map. This would take us up to the road and so on through the village of Lowca. However, as we got back to the point where we'd turned right, we could see that the track we'd left continued on, and I think it had a footpath sign. We didn't know what would happen at Micklam Farm but we decided to take the risk, being reassured by the fact that a runner came the other way. At Micklam Farm we took a route through a quarry, and emerged on a cliff path above Micklam Point. There was even an England Coast Path sign and, even more irritatingly, a notice for walkers heading in the opposite direction, telling them to follow the diversion (which was exactly the route we had taken) because the planned route of the England Coast Path didn't exist yet. There had been no such sign at the opposite end of the diversion. Now come on: I have been very patient over diversions and mapping inconsistencies earlier in the week, given that they were usually caused by routes being closed because of storm damage, but [@OS], why put a route on the map that hasn't been built yet, and [@Natural England], why declare a route as open when it isn't? And where is the diversion sign where we needed it?

While it was annoying that we'd been led astray by the lack of clarity over the route, it had been a pleasant enough walk (including the dead-end section through the turbines), and from here, the map as shown on the OS Maps App appeared accurate. We continued towards Parton, descending steadily, though unfortunately just as we reached an information board overlooking the village and telling us about its industrial past, the rain came on. On this occasion it didn't come to much and by the time we had descended all the way and crossed the railway line to reach the beach, it had just about stopped. We took a subway back to the landward side of the railway and climbed slightly and were soon on the splendid cycleway that goes nearly all the way to Whitehaven, underneath the cliffs and with excellent views. It was quite busy, more with walkers than cyclists, and, as we stopped to take our waterproofs off, we had a brief chat with a man out for an amble from Whitehaven.

The cycleway became a road and we passed the Whitehaven Station and descended to the harbour area. It's an attractive place and we were taking lots of photos; a passing local advised us that we'd get the best views from "The Candlestick", which is a chimney (apparently a ventilation shaft from the disused Wellington Pit) high up on the cliff we would be climbing. After a short break we continued past the marina and climbed up the steps the man had advised us to use. It was a long way up! Once on top of the cliff we walked along past Wellington Lodge, a whitewashed crenelated building, which was apparently also part of the pit, the location of a 1910 mining disaster in which 136 men and boys lost their lives. It all looks so pretty now, but it is important to remember that this was once an industrial landscape. We realised that we had not actually taken the route of the England Coast Path in climbing up the cliff where we did; we should have continued along past the marina first. Just as well we're not purists, as we had no intention of descending the cliff only to climb up again.

We continued to climb past the candlestick and reached a flatter area. St Bees Head was the next landmark we were heading for, so I was half expecting us to be on a picturesque headland. Not so! To our left were the houses of the Kells area of Whitehaven. Kells was a mining community, but I was nevertheless surprised to see what looked like a pit head in the distance. It turns out that there was a pit here, but more recently it was the Haig Colliery Mining Museum, which closed in 2016. Some of the buildings have more recently been used by West Cumbria Mining, as they have tested the feasibility of a new offshore coal mine nearby. This is apparently to supply the steel industry, and it will create lots of jobs locally etc. etc., but I am struggling to see the environmental logic in the plan. Apparently we'll hear the UK Government's decision on the matter in just over a month.

We'd been walking on a cycleway but the England Coast Path was signposted off to the right, closer to the coast. There were older pitheads and these, combined with the cliff and the wildflowers (including thrift) were reminiscent of our walks on the South West Coast Path, especially the section in north Cornwall. I was loving it. We passed a bungalow and the small but operational St Bees Quarry, a source of red sandstone. Richard spotted a suitable rock on which to stop for lunch, so we did. admiring the views. We were now approaching the North Head of St Bees Head and the top of the St Bees Lighthouse appeared from time to time, We joined the route of Wainwright's famous Coast to Coast walk, which starts in St Bees village then rounds St Bees Head before setting off the way it needs to go i.e. east.

We rounded the corner of St Bees Head (North Head) and were now heading south. By now there were fair number of other walkers about. The stretch of cliffs that was beneath us now is famous for its nesting seabirds, and when we went down to one of the viewing stations we could see huge numbers of them. And to the west, we could see the Isle of Man quite clearly in the distance. We'd love to visit one day and even maybe to walk the "Read ny Foillan" (the "Way of the Gull", the island's own 100 mile coastal path). Back in England, we had to negotiate a descent to the attractive Fleswick Bay and a corresponding climb up the other side and then, after another mile of glorious coastal walking, the final steep descent to St Bees beach. Here we reached the board marking the start of the Coast to Coast.

We left the coast, and the England Coast Path, and walked the half mile or so into the village of St Bees and its attractive station. We had about 45 minutes to wait for our train and we spent some of it talking to a man who had been to St Bees beach with his son. The train arrived on time, though it was much busier than we have previously seen one of these little two carriage trains on the Cumbrian Coast Line, largely because there was a school party from Flimby School on board. Otherwise we had an unremarkable journey back to Harrington and so to Allonby. But it wasn't the end of the day. We had time to draw breath before heading out again for a lovely meal with Phillip and Anne-Marie, and the perfect end to the almost perfect day was a beautiful sunset. This had faded from its most intense phase by the time we got back to Allonby to take photos, but we'd been to see the colour in all its glory as we had driven up the coast from Workington.

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