Morecambe Bay

Morecambe Bay, situated along the coasts of the English counties of Cumbria and Lancashire, is the United Kingdom's largest expanse of inter tidal mudflats and salt marshes, covering an area of three hundred and ten square meters.

The bay, which is renowned for it's extensive cockle beds and notorious for it's fast moving tides and quicksand, is the site of several river estuaries, including the eight mile long, River Leven, the forty four mile long, River Lune, the twenty mile long, River Kent and the twenty eight mile long, River Wyre.

The bay is also home to several islands, which are collectively known as the Furness Islands, the largest of which are the inhabited islands of Barrow, Piel, Roa and Walney and the uninhabited islands of Chapel, Foulney and Sheep.

Piel Island is famous for it's thirteenth century castle and it's self styled King of Piel . Piel Island is accessed by way of a ferry from the neighbouring Roa Island, which has a nineteenth century, deep water pier. Roa Island is accessed by way of a man made causeway from Barrow in Furness, which was constructed in 1846.

Walney Island is the site of a renowned bird watching observatory and can be accessed by way of the three hundred and forty three foot wide, Jubileee Bridge, a bascule road bridge which was opened in 1908 and spans the Walney Channel, linking it with neighbouring Barrow Island, which is joined to and forms part of, the town of Barrow in Furness.

The bay is also the site of one hundred and sixty two wind turbines, two large gas fields, the thirty two square mile, South Morecambe Gas Field and the eleven square mile, North Morecambe Gas Field, and the vast, Rampside Gas Terminal, all of which are situated just off the coast of Cumbria's industrial town of Barrow in Furness, a town famous for it's docklands, large sea port, ship building facilities, the twenty five thousand square meter, Devonshire Dock Hall, home of the U.K's largest submarine building complex, the Roosecote Power Station, four wind farm sites and the popular tourist attractions of Barrow's Docks Museum and the tenth century, Furness Abbey. Barrow in Furness is also one of the premier gateways into the country's popular, Lake District.

Other townships along the bay's coast include the seaside resort of Morecambe, famous for it's Art Deco, seafront Midland Hotel, the ancient village of Bardsea, the small town of Cartmel, famous for it's race course, twelth century priory and nineteenth century, Holker Hall and gardens, the Lancashire, deep water port and market town of Fleetwood, famous for a large sand dune, known as The Mount, which overlooks the seafront and is the site of a seven acre park, the Art Deco, Marine Hall, a premier entertainment venue situated on it's seafront and no less than forty three grade II Listed buildings.

Other Morecambe Bay towns also include the Cumbrian, market town of Ulverston, famous for it's Laurel and Hardy Museum, the Lancashire ferry port town of Heysham and the Cumbrian, seaside resort of Grange Over Sands, with it's Grade II Listed, Art Deco lido.

Relentless westerly winds blow in from the Irish Sea across Morecambe Bay's landscape of wide, flat beaches, sandy peninsulas, deep water channels, salt flats and mud flats. This treacherous terrain along with the area's vast swathes of quicksand and high velocity, incoming tides have all resulted in the bay's coastline being dubbed Britain's 'Killer Sands'.

Despite it's deadly reputation however, the area is one of Europe's most important wild fowl havens and a popular location for kite surfing, land yachting, sea fishing, bird watching and coastal walking.

Walking along the bay's sands however must never be undertaken without the services of one of the royally appointed, Queens Guides to the Sands, a post which has been in existence since 1548.

The nine mile long guided tours are held between the Lancashire coastal village of Hest Bank and the Cumbrian village of Kent's Bank, situated on the River Kent estuary.

Morecambe Bay's treacherous coastline is served by twelve lighthouses, one which is situated on Walney Island, one which is situated on the Walney Channel near to the Rampside Gas Terminal and one on Morecambe's Stone Pier. There is also a beautiful, eighteenth century, sandstone tower situated at Near Naze near Heysham.

There are two lighthouses situated at Hodborrow Point near Millom in Cumbria known as The Haverigg 1 and The Haverigg 2, two lighthouses situated in the town of Heysham in Lancashire, one at South Breakwater and one on the town's South Pier.

The town of Fleetwood, also in Lancashire, is served by three lighthouses, an unusual screw pile lighthouse situated on the Wyre Navigation Channel known as the Wyre Light, which was the first of it's type to be used in the world when it was first lit in 1840, and two nineteenth century, Grade II Listed towers situated on the town's sea front known as the Upper and Lower Lighthouses. Fleetwood Upper Lighthouse is a red sandstone, pharos tower built in 1840 and Fleetwood Lower Lighthouse is an octagonal, sandstone, lantern tower, also built at about the same time.

Some Morecambe Bay Links You May Be Interested In -

Visit - www.morecambebay.com

Kite Surfing - www.baykitesurfing.co.uk

Fleetwood - www.visitwyre.co.uk

Morecambe - www.citycoastcountryside.co.uk

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