Old Moaner Travel
I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list
Coast: Silloth to Hoylake
This section of the coastal tour takes in north west England, beginning in Cumbria with quiet resorts (and a nuclear power station). Then the bigger resorts of Morecambe, Blackpool and Southport.
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Then the port of Liverpool before finishing up on the Wirral
Silloth is the sort of town which makes this Old Moaner purr with delight. What there is of a beach isn't actually much to write home about, it's more of an estuary with some dull sand and shingle. This area is lined by a promenade but it the area behind the promenade which makes Silloth so special - The Green.
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The Green, as the name implies, is a massive, 40 acre grass expanse with flower beds, rose gardens and fringed with pines, a lovely place to chill and relax. Beyond the green is a wide cobbled High Street with a few seaside type shops. However there is an excellent ice cream shop where they sell their own, home produced, product. Buy an ice cream, sit on The Green and be in another world. On a clear day, and especially in the evenings, there are great views of the mountains on the Scottish side of the Solway Firth and some decent sunsets can be seen. There is a small harbour which still attracts some commercial traffic. Silloth became popular in the 1850's with the advent of the, now defunct, railway and the harbour quickly followed the railway
Allonby, a few miles south of Silloth has a mainly shingle beach but it is very gentle and the tide goes out for over a mile when it is low, however it can be unsafe when the tide turns, the bay is popular with windsurfers. Fishermen's cottages are scattered along the coast, some brightly painted, with stretches of grass between them. Facilities are basic and the pub, which looks tacky, makes it abundantly clear visitors are not welcome to use their toilets unless they are buying a drink.
Maryport is a fairly nondescript town with a harbour. In the 18th century coal was the main export from the town, whilst in the 19th century railway lines were the main export. The Maritime Museum is quite interesting with several displays centring on Fletcher Christian (who was born in Cockermouth) of Bounty mutiny fame.
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Workington is one of those industrial towns which has seen better days. The port is still used to export locally produced railway lines. The Helena Thompson Museum tells the story of the towns better days.
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Whitehaven has the distinction of being the first "planned" town since medieval times when it was expanded in the late 17th century. Before then it was a small fishing port with half a dozen houses. By 1730 it was one of the major ports in the country exporting Cumbrian coal and being a home for ship building, as well as importing goods from across the Empire. The Whitehaven Beacon is a museum near the harbour telling the story of the town.
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Sellafield would not even have warranted a mention were it not home to Britain's first nuclear power station to generate commercial electricity.
Ravenglass is built at the convergence of three rivers and has had settlement since Roman times. The remains of the Roman bathhouse remain and there are the best preserved Roman remains in northern England. Ravenglass is also the terminus of a seven mile long, steam powered, narrow gauge railway and the route takes in some lovely scenery as it progresses through the Esk Valley.
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Barrow-in-Furness owes its success to locally mines iron ore which was exported and also retained locally for shipbuilding, indeed by 1870 the now defunct steelworks were the largest in the world. The wide Victorian streets in the town centre underline the civic pride and wealth of the town in the 19th century. With the steelworks long gone and shipbuilding in steep decline the town is looking towards becoming a tourist destination.
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A casual visitor my be surprised to find a museum dedicated to pioneering film stars Laurel and Hardy in Ulverston, however it isn't as random as you may thirst think as Arthur Stanley Jefferson who changed his name to Stan Laurel, thus becoming the skinny half of the duo, was born in the town and to almost quote another star of the silver screen, "that's about all folks".
Holker Hall is home to one of the largest heard of fallow deer in the country and they can be viewed from the woodland walks. The grounds contain extensive gardens. The Hall dates from 1604. Open late March - early November. Adults Hall and Gardens £12.50, Gardens £8.50,(2018 prices)
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Grange Over Sands is a genteel resort with substantial Edwardian houses, arcades of shops, ornamental gardens and a bandstand. There are a couple of children's amusement areas along the mile long promenade. Nearby is the village of Cartmel, home of an historic priory, arguably the prettiest racecourse in the country and, most importantly, sticky toffee pudding.
Morecambe is another of those resorts which owes its existence to the railway when it became a destination for workers from the industrial towns.
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The sweeping four mile promenade offers views across Morecambe bay. The tide goes out a long way and the mud flats can be treacherous with quicksand to catch out the unwary. In truth the resort has seen better days, is a poor reflection of its former self and if you decided not to visit you would miss very little.
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Heysham is best know for its ferry links to the Isle Of Man but the nearby old village is a complete contrast to the bland port area. High on the headland narrow streets, some dating back to the 7th century, lead to the remains of the only single cell Saxon church in the country. Nearby are the remains of graves hewn into the rocks.
The Lancaster Canal meets the sea at Glasson and the port is still a working docks, one of the very few small ports on this stretch of coastline which have not been destined to become some sort of historic curiosity. Built in 1783 it was one of the first ports in the country to be fitted with lock-gates, keeping the water levels in the harbour constant. There is a trail along the Rive Lune towards Lancaster offering varied bird watching opportunities.
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Fleetwood had plans to be a grand "new town" in the 1840's but the work was never completed, although some traces of the grand design still remain. Fleetwood was a major fishing port in its heyday and although it still has a small fleet, roll-on roll-off ferries are the mainstay of the port. It has a couple of miles of beaches and Fleetwood Freeport is an outlet shopping centre. The town is home to three lighthouses and it forms the northern junction of the Blackpool tram system.
If you visited Blackpool in 1840 all you would have found is a single row of houses facing the sea but, like many coastal resorts the railway transformed the town. Attracting 3 million visitors at the beginning of the 20th century the towns popularity peaked in the 1960's and has been in steady decline ever since.
Nowadays the resort has a tacky feel to it looking really run down in the daylight and only looking better at night, especially during the illuminations season from September to late October, in truth the only redeeming feature of the town.
The town seems to attract more than its fair share of down and outs and benefits claimants and the resort is a magnet for raucous stag and hen parties making the town very unpleasant in the evenings, especially at weekends.
So are there any redeeming features? Well sort of but whether they are enough to justify anything more than a day trip is debatable.
In its heyday the Pleasure Beach was one of the top amusement parks in the world but the heyday is long gone yet the owners still try to hold on to the former glory and are failing spectacularly. Frankly it cannot compete with the likes of Alton Towers, Chessington and Thorpe Park yet their charges suggest they feel they are in the same league. They charge £6 just to enter the park, to be honest they would have to pay me £6 to enter the place which has a dingy, claustrophobic feel. An unlimited ride wristband is £29.99 on the gate, that is for 12 years old and over, with a massive? saving of £3 for under 12's , although discounts are available if booking online. Oh yes I forgot if you want to see most of the shows inside you can expect to cough up a lot more.
At the other end of the resort is Blackpool's most famous attraction - the Tower. Think Eifel Tower and then half the size and you will about be there. Built in 1894 it was for a long time the tallest building in the country. The Tower is part of a large entertainment complex and there is a complex pricing structure. An advanced ticket taking in the Tower, Ballroom, Blackpool Dungeon, Circus and Children's play area is £46 adult / £33.50 child. If you want to do just the Tower then it is £13.50 / £10.50 on the day or discounted by around 20% if booked in advance. Visiting the ballroom is £9.95 on the day, accompanied children free. There is a complex mixture of ticketing options but if you want to just do the Tower on the spur of the moment then £12.95 is, arguably, good value depending on the weather. The disadvantage of booking in advance is you don't know what the weather (and visibility) will be like. If you are a fan of Strictly Come Dancing then a visit to the Ballroom would also be a reasonable investment.
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Elsewhere there are three piers containing various entertainments including funfairs and end of pier shows. As befits most seaside shows the performers tend to be either "have beens" who are past their best or "never were beens" who seem to have found a niche in this sort of market.
In conclusion if you are the sort of person who likes tacky places, whose idea of a good night out is drinking until you vomit / get in a fight / get arrested then Blackpool is the place for you. If you are a normal person than I would say visit once to see what the place is like and say you've been there - try and go during the illuminations as they are worth seeing - think of the chaviest Christmas lights you've seen and you'll have an idea what to expect. Blackpool used to be a "kiss me quick" type of resort nowadays it's probably more of a "shag me quick" resort.
To the south of Blackpool are the towns of Saint Anne's and Lytham and visiting them after Blackpool is like visiting another planet offering a much quieter alternative. St Anne's has a safe sandy beach and a small pier with a promenade lined with red brick Victorian and Edwardian villas and Grand Hotels. Between St Anne's and Blackpool are sand dunes which form part of a nature reserve. Fairhaven Lake is used for watersports and offers views of migratory birts on the Ribble estuary. Lytham is a genteel town and a rare resort in it has a windmill located on the seafront. It was a working mill until 1929, when a freak gust of wind sent the sails spinning the wrong way, destroying the milling gear inside. The mill is now a museum of milling. Next door the old Lifeboat Station tells the story of the towns Lifeboat crews. The eastern end of the beach is more muddy and has some dangerous currents. The town is home to the famous Lytham and St Anne's Golf Course, part of the Open circuit.
Southport is home to a seven mile stretch of sand. There has been a pier in the town since 1860 and at just over ¾ mile long it is the longest on the west coast. A railway connects the land end of the pier with its amusement arcades to the sun decks and bars at the far end of the pier. Victoria Park to the east of the esplanade is home to the prestigious Southport Flower Show, held every August. The town also has an amusement park and a zoo. The shopping centre where many shops have elegant verandas is a Conservation Area due to the outstanding Victorian architecture.
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Ainsdale Sand Dunes is a national nature reserve of some 1,700 acres. 6 miles (10km) of marked footpaths cross the dunes. A large colony of natterjack toads live on the dunes and the male mating calls at night are so loud they have been nicknamed "Southport Nightingales". Many different species of butterfly can be found on the dunes.
Formby beach is separated from the town by a mile of sand dunes. the beach offers splendid walks with views of shipping entering the River Mersey and the Welsh mountains in the distance. Although there is an attractive beach, swimmers proceed with caution as there are some treacherous currents and also the tide comes in very fast, quickly cutting off areas of the beach. Britain's first lifeboat station was built here in 1776 and the remains of the 1809 station can still be found on the beach.
Crosby is one of those beaches which would not normally merit a mention in a guide like this as it is relatively nondescript and is wholly unsuitable for swimming. However thanks to the installation of some modern art, it has become one of the must see coastal locations in the country. Crosby beach is home to 100, life size statues of the artist Antony Gormley. Standing on plinths, looking out to see the statues are evocative. At low tide they look like statues looking out to see, although what they think of the offshore wind farm remains a mystery, but as the tide comes in the statues are submerged. Indeed the statues are so realistic barely a day goes by without some hapless visitor calling the coastguard to report a person drown on the beach. Due to their being "drowned" twice daily the tide and nature has turned the cast iron statues into living objects. They are well worth a visit.
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By the end of the 19th century Liverpool was one of the most important ports in the world, with some 40% of the worlds trade being carried by Liverpool ships.
Widness is often called the home of the British chemical industry, although nowadays the industry is not as significant as it once was. A town developed here as it was the first point where the River Mersey was narrow enough to be bridged. A strip of land called Spike Island was once a major chemical works but is now a nature reserve, home to a few species of birds of prey.
Whilst Widness may have been the home of the chemical industry in days of yore, the baton has now been passed to Runcorn, a town dominated by a massive steel works which is visible day and night, when it is a mass of light. The town is also where the Manchester Ship Canal meets the Mersey. It isn't all modern industrial buildings and Town Park in the east of the town sees the start of a two-mile circular walk, taking in the remains of a 12th century castle and a Priory cum manor house.
Ellesmere Port is where the Shropshire canal system met the Mersey and it wouldn't probably warrant a mention if it were not for it being home to the worlds largest collection of traditional canal boats, housed in old warehouses.
Port Sunlight is a model town built by Lord Leverhulme for his workers and named after the most famous product produced in his factory, Sunlight Soap. The town is, thankfully, a conservation area and a delight to visit. The town museum tells the story of the town and Lord Leverhulme. The town is an example of philanthropy at it's very best belying the myth all 19th century factory owners were uncaring about their staff.
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Birkenhead was once a thriving port but nowadays more berths are empty than in use. There are some good views of Liverpool the other side of the river and the town is the southern terminus of the famous ferry 'cross the Mersey and the southern end of the Mersey Tunnels.
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In 1898 the 621ft (189m) New Brighton Tower ousted Blackpool Tower as the countries tallest building and it attracted thousands of Victorian day trippers. The tower fell into neglect during World War One and was subsequently demolished, leaving only the ground floor theatre and ballroom, which was destroyed by fire in 1969 and never restored.
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It seems appropriate this section of the tour ends at Hoylake as we have visited many world class golf courses along this stretch of our coastal journey. Hoylake is home to the Royal Liverpool Golf Links, yet another course to grace the Open circuit. The town was named after Lake Hoy but shifting sands filled the lake to create two miles of sandy beach, which prove to be very popular today.
Previous: Dunnet - Gretna
Next: Flint - Chepstow
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