Silecroft Beach to Millom and back to Haverigg

We weren't entirely sure how far we'd walk today, and we couldn't see an obvious place to park in Millom, so we decided to leave one car in the car park In Haverigg, knowing that we could walk back to there from Millom, which is what we ended up doing.  As had been the case on Monday when we walked the previous leg, our outward drive was slightly complicated by roadworks; actually today it was largely that Google Maps believed there to be roadworks. We drove a long way round to Haverigg in case the other route was closed, but it might not have been. Nevertheless, by 9.40, we'd parked one car in the nice little free car park at SD784159 and driven back to Silecroft beach (SD121812) in the other. We were off!

In comparing the former route of the Cumbria Way with the route of the relatively recent England Coast Path, Richard had commented on the fact that the newer route is sometimes further from the coast than the older one, and this was the case a short distance from Silecroft, when we were signposted inland around the edge of a golf course.  We were rewarded by what I think is the first signpost we’ve seen bearing the entire name of the King Charles III England Coast Path and the new logo.

The rest of the walk around the golf course was OK, and eventually we found ourselves back  at the coast, on a low cliff behind the beach; a sign here indicated that we should stay on the inland side of a fence so we did. We were crossing a patch of rather overgrown and muddy scrubland, with wind turbines behind, but we found a way through, watched by cows. We were within sight of an England Coast Path sign at the end of this section when Richard sunk up to his knees in mud. Oh dear! At about the same time I became suspicious that the the England Coast Path sign we could see was both on the other side of a fence and pointing inland; and, yes, it transpired that we shouldn’t have been walking across this scrubland at all. The path is actually on the coastward side of the fence between the two signs. Back we went.

Muttering about the misaligned signpost, we went through the gate and followed along the edge of the low cliff. It was pleasant and easy walking. At the second signpost, we headed inland towards the wind turbines, and we soon found ourselves walking on the edge of what appears to be an old airfield. The signposting was again somewhat unclear, and we were again unsure which side of a fence we were meant to be on. It probably didn't matter too much here, but I was anxious that if we went too far inland we might accidentally break into the grounds of the prison that we knew to be around here somewhere. Richard pointed out that if it was that easy to break in, we could hardly be held responsible for doing so!

A sign directed us back towards the coast and another told us to stay on the path because there's a naturist colony nearby. Really?; it seems a most unlikely location. Whatever, following the "official" route continued to be difficult because the signs were not always in helpful places (we were left thinking that they'd been put up by someone who didn't appreciate what it is like to be trying to follow a route  you don't know through scrubland and dunes) but, more by good luck than anything else, we followed something approximating to the correct path. We reached a more conventional dune landscape and meandered our way through this for a while, passing pretty wildflowers, then eventually we descended to the beach, me on my bottom!

We enjoyed walking along the beach and it would have been tempting just to continue walking in the same direction.  However, if we'd have done this, I think we'd have encountered a waterway that we couldn't get over - and we would have missed Haverigg! A track took us towards the village, passing the curious "Escape to Light" sculpture,  and we ate our lunch sitting at a bench overlooking the coast, near a children's playground and the car park where we had left the car. After lunch we had a cup of tea sitting outside Betty's Beach Hut, just opposite the car park, then we continued our walk. There's an attractive row of colourful cottages on the front, but to get to them you need to go inland around "The Pool". It's more complicated on the ground than it looks from either the map or as viewed from the coast.

To my surprise, the route doesn't actually go down in front of the cottages, but rather cuts off a corner. There were several family groups walking in the same direction as us, and we missed the exact route, but  the correct general direction, past a layby where trading vans were selling coffee etc., was clear. We were heading to the Hodbarrow Lagoon. It's an eye-catching structure on the map, with the outer wall built between 1900 and 1905 (following the failure of an earlier inner barrier) to protect lucrative iron ore mines from the sea. When mining ceased in 1968 the area inside the outer barrier was allowed to flood, and there is now  an RSPB Reserve here and, the Port Haverigg Marina Village sits on the northern edge of the lagoon.

The England Coast Path follows around the outer wall, with good views back to Haverigg and also across the lagoon. It wasn't as pretty as I'd expected and children were scrambling on some the rubble remaining from the industrial past around the edge of the lagoon, which didn't seem at all sensible (and there were certainly signs later on warning you not to do this). However, things improved. We passed the Haverigg Lighthouse at the southern extremity of the lagoon and as we began to curve back around to the north, there were lovely views across the lagoon, with another disused lighthouse and the mountains further to the north provided an attractive backdrop. 

At the end of the lagoon, near Hodbarrow Point, we climbed slightly, cutting off the corner, to the Duddon Estuary. We passed an attractive modern standing stone, this one showing a tern, one of three standing stones produced by artist Irene Rogan between 2019 and 2020 with the overall title "Between silence and light".  It was a nice reminder of the miracle that has seen this former industrial area become a nature reserve and, while the walk around the lagoon had been something of a disappointment, the walk from here to the end of today's leg of the England Coast Path was distinctly better than I'd expected. 

We were walking a short distance from a sandy beach, and I walked down to it, slightly behind a little family. It was wonderfully peaceful, and we still had the view up the Duddon valley to the mountains at the top of it. Just the previous day, we'd been at the head of the Duddon valley, just beneath the Hard Knott Pass, looking at the farm where my great-great grandfather was born. Having such a good view today was a real connection to this. 

We rounded the next little headland and passed the site of an enormous ironworks, with the remains of a jetty at Borwick Rails Harbour. There was another one of the standing stones here, this one showing the molecular structure of haematite.  We were now heading towards Millom, but before reaching the town we passed an area of water and marshland known as Salthouse Pool. Then, just before the railway line, the England Coast Path almost doubled back on itself to head north, but we left it there. That was the end of our walk along the coast path for now. The current end of the  ECP is a few miles further north at Green Lane Station and we'd decided that we weren't missing much by omitting this section. However, since this meant that we were missing more walking along the marshes by the Duddon Estuary, all the time heading towards the Lake District fells,  I suspect our decision that we weren't missing much was wrong! Hopefully, we'll be able to return before too long.

For today, we headed into Millom and took another diversion into family history, climbing up Holborn Hill to find "East View" where I now know that my first cousin once removed, a Medical Officer of Health, once lived with his family. We then had an icecream from the tea room/bar adjacent to the station, before through the outskirts of Millom and so to the northern shore of  the Hodbarrow Lagoon. We then walked through the holiday village and back to our waiting car.