A scorching morning. My foot is happy after a night’s rest. The pretty Ulverston Canal, claimed to be the shortest in the UK at 1.25 miles, straight lines down to the bay.
The still water is coated with lily pads, allowing a moorhen and her chicks to dance across the surface. The water clears by the old lock gates at the beach.
A permissive path through the woods provides welcome shade and leads to the Buddhist Centre at Conishead Priory.
It’s still early in the morning, so I have the beautiful gardens to myself, while students in brightly coloured robes are visible through open windows. I sit for a while.
There’s a lovely woodland walk back to the coast.
The tide is out, enabling me to walk across the firm, wet sand for several miles, crossing a couple of shallow creeks, to aptly named Point of Comfort Scar for a loo break.
There’s a short section of easy verge walking into Rampside, home to “The Needle” navigation beacon.
A long causeway leads to Roa Island, where I catch the tiny 12-person ferry to Piel Island.
The 14th-century Piel Castle offered local monks protection from Scottish raiders and a base from which to monitor lucrative sea trade.
Having explored the castle, I retire to the Ship Inn for a cold beer. The inn has a large ceremonial oak chair, where I could be made a ‘Knight of Piel’ by the King of Piel, being the landlord. The cost of becoming a knight is to buy a round of drinks for all those present. However, the privilege afforded to knights is that they may demand food and lodging from the innkeeper should they be shipwrecked on the island. Tempting, but I’ll pass.
An older couple join me for the return boat trip, during which the skipper showers us with cooling spray as he cuts across the waves. The man previously worked at the nearby gas terminal, where the control room staff enjoyed watching people on the perimeter path caught unaware on camera. No nipping into the bushes on that stretch then.
Returning across the causeway, the boat that I explored on my earlier crossing is now surrounded by the incoming tide.
Is it weird to be excited by a gas terminal? Where are those cameras?
Reaching Barrow-in-Furness, I’d planned to walk a short loop of Walney Island, but that will have to wait for my next trip as the sun and heat have drained my energy.
This is my last coast walk until October due to family holidays. I’m also resuming my 100 Hikes of a Lifetime challenge, hiking and camping the famous Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls trails in Iceland at the end of August.
Walk distance: 20 miles.
Total distance: 3,322 miles.
Can’t wait for the Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls adventure
I’m very excited. It is supposed to be very busy, the opposite of my Greenland hike, but hopefully a little quieter at the end of the short summer season. I’m also walking in the less popular direction so if I set off early in the mornings I might get the landscape to myself. 🙂
Ah I wasn’t able to get to Piel Island as the ferry wasn’t there and no one answered the telephone number, despite being there at a time it was meant to be running. I did get around Walney Island though. I missed that Buddhist centre, looks quite nice.
I am very much looking forward to your trip to Iceland. I have been a couple of times, but didn’t do that much in the way of walking and would love to go back and do more walks there, so keen to hear how you get on. The scenery is amazing and I heard on the radio this morning there is a volcano erupting there at the moment.
It was such a lovely day that there was a queue for the ferry.
I’d not heard about the volcano so thanks for that. Thankfully, it will not disrupt any plans.
I’d forgotten about Conishead. It’s a very tranquil place to wander around and the cafe is nice too. I once spent a lovely summer afternoon there and was fortunate to be shown around the house and temple by a friend who was living there.
Have a great summer and hopefully some good walks too!
Thanks. You too. I look forward to your next post.
I didn’t get to see the priory when I went through, as the permissive path was closed for Covid. The monastery looks nice. I encountered a robed monk on the beach though, but not sunbathing.
The ferry wasn’t running to Piel island when I was there either. Roa island is definitely not a match for it!!!
Did you see the driftwood sculptures by the wooden shack? They were cool. As was the gasworks.
I only saw those sculptures in your post after I had completed the walk. As the tide was out I took the direct route across the bay and missed the shoreline stuff. I did see the shack but only from a distance. It looked like someone was living on the shore.
Can’t beat a good gasworks. 🙂