To Silloth from Allonby

We were staying in the delightful Seasalt Cottage in Allonby, with glorious views over the Solway Estuary to Scotland. We had spent four days walking south on the England Coast Path from its current start, also in Allonby, getting as far as Drigg. The weather forecast for today wasn't great, so I decided to stay in the cottage to do some work. Meanwhile Richard headed north from Allonby. The England Coast Path isn't open in this direction, but there is a newly opened section of Hadrian's Cycleway (route 72), partly on a purpose built track close to the B5300 and partly on existing roads. Richard walked along this route, initially on the cycleway, then on minor roads through the hamlet Mawbray and back to the B5300.

Further north, Hadrian's Cycleway takes a longer inland diversion on minor roads, but Richard decided to stay closer to the coast by walking along the B5300 for a few miles, before taking a path alongside the "Silloth on Solway Golf Course" to the town of Silloth (or "Silloth on Solway") itself. Silloth is an attractive place. It developed in the middle of the 19th Century, around the terminus of the railway from Carlisle and its associated docks which had been built to replace Port Carlisle as the deep-water port for Carlisle. It developed as a Victorian seaside resort, though it still has some industry too, notably the Carrs Mill, where the flour for Carr's Water Biscuits was originally milled in 1836 - and still is.