Morecambe Bay
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The deserted beach on Easter Sunday at Silverdale AONB. On the River Kent, the outflow into Morecambe Bay. A liminal place where the river meets the sea and the sands are renewed on every tide. A warm, sunny spring day where the sands glitter. Cumbria-Lancashire border.
This was a very unusual day at the edge of the sands in Grange Bay. The tide had been in and the surface of the water froze.
The tide then went out, leaving a thin layer of salty ice.
A morning stroll around Yealand Conyers and I found some marvellous new spots for Wild Garlic images (posts to come).
Part of my walk took me around the Leighton Hall Estate and from the high ridge you could see Morecambe Bay and Grange Over Sands in the distance beyond the Hall, with some rain hitting the South Cumbrian coast.
The high ridge here is made of Limestone and as I was heading up here I spotted a lamb appearing to be hiding in a crevice in a bit of limestone outcrop in a farmers field. On returning a couple of hours later I saw it was still there. On closer examination I could see it was actually wedged in the rock. So I walked back to the Leighton Hall Lodge farm and spoke to the farmer and we managed to get the little thing free. It must have slipped and fallen into the gryke in the Limestone, god knows how long it had been there!
This image is actually focussed stacked to try and get the tree and Hall in focus, but it was pretty windy!
Two Morecambe Bay Shrimpers sat in the evening light.
Wellingtons were a must as I tramped carefully amongst the shallow puddles and muddy silt. I must confess I also used my old Aluminium tripod, rather than subject the carbon fibre to the briny mud at this location,
The light was quite harsh, but made a great job of highlighting these weathered vessels.
Members of the West Coast Resistance stand on the exposed shoreline at Jack Scout near Silverdale, Lancashire.
There is nothing to stop the prevailing Westerly storm systems crossing the Atlantic until they meet this band of arboreal brothers. They are certainly shaped by their efforts to resist the forces of nature!
A chilly dusk at St Peter's on Heysham headland.This is one of the oldest places of Christian worship in Western Europe with a church sited here since the 8th Century. It celebrated its 1000 th year back in 1967 and there are some excellent examples of Saxon stonework throughout the building. Inside the chapel is a Viking Hogback Tombstone dating back to the 10th Century and many other ancient relics.
Its setting is quite spectacular with the vast expanse of Morecambe Bay behind its walls overlooking a small cove below the headlands cliffs. It is believed that the 5th Century missionary St Patrick was shipwrecked here and the ruins of St Patricks Chapel lie just to the left of this shot.
It was minus 4 degrees when I took this image, which is unusual this close to the sea!
It is believed that a church was founded on this site in the 7th or 8th century. In 1080 it was recorded that the location was the site of an old Anglo-Saxon church. Some of the fabric of that church remains in the present church. The chancel was built around 1340–50 and the south aisle was added in the 15th century. The north aisle was added in 1864 and other extensions and restorations were carried out by the Lancaster architect E. G. Paley. At that time an Anglo-Saxon doorway was moved and rebuilt in the churchyard, and two galleries which had served as private pews with their own entrances were taken down. Wikipedia
A splash of light during this dreary, wet, mild and windy winter weather we are currently enduring.
This is a sunset on the Lancashire coast where limestone meets the ocean. The rocks appear to look up in awe at the rainbow bringing a bit of colour to the gloom (as I was !). Lets hope this weather pattern breaks soon.
The sun finally dips over the Cumbrian horizon after its longest display in 2022.
Yes, it was the years longest day and I was stood in my wellies in the muddy sands of Morecambe Bay looking at the back of my camera as I composed this shot of the "Shrimper", surprisingly called "Bernadet". The setting sun lit the rusty, mustard coloured hull of the boat, which made a nice complimentary colour to the sunset scene.
The sun sets over South Lakeland and Morecambe Bay. This is the view from the summit of Holme Park Fell. The sun sets over the Coniston Old Man range of Lakeland Fells with the silhouette of the Central Lake District Fells to the right hand side of the horizon.
In the middle ground you can make out the sweep of Morecambe Bay around Arnside and Silverdale with Arnside Knott visible on the extreme left. In the valley below are the villages of Holme and Beetham and the M6 Motorway. The small cairn you can see on the extreme right of the middle ground is the summit of Farleton Fell.
You get tremendous views on all sides from this lofty limestone plateau, with the Dales to the East, Lakes and Pennines to the North and the Lancashire Plain, Morecambe Bay and the Fylde Coast to the South. A nice place to contemplate at sunrise and sunset.
The limestone meets the sea at Jack Scout on Morecambe Bay. The sky was looking good for a sunset as I walked through the woods near Silverdale, so I headed here to the cliffs, only to witness another "cloud hoover" of the sky!
So looking for a bit of foreground interest I found this area of limestone with a small clump of "Sea Thrift". The rocks provide a bit of a lead into the Kent Estuary and you can see the Central Lake District fells in the far distance as the sun sets over Southern Cumbria.
The tiny church of St Peter’s in Heysham is dramatically perched on a cliffside. This Grade I Listed church must have one of the most picturesque settings in the country, looking out over Morecambe Bay to the panorama of the Lakeland hills.
There are remains of some of the Anglo-Saxon building from around 800AD, but most of the present building dates from the 14th and 15th century. Inside the church is a Norse hog-back stone from around 1000AD, which would originally have been a grave cover.
During restoration work in 1864 a chalice was discovered in a stone coffin outside the church, and the chalice is now on display inside. Access at regular church service times.
As I drove home yesterday afternoon, I noticed a lot of high Cirrus Cloud and I thought, hmm this could potentially be a nice sunset this evening. So I got my gear and headed up Holmepark Fell.
The light over Morecambe Bay was really good as I made the climb up the Limestone Plateau. Scouting round I found some nice spots and set about trying to get some decent images as the light got better and better.
I had a couple of messages from fellow Flickr member John Bleakley who happened to be down in Morecambe and we were treated to a great light show after sunset too. More of those later.
Another shot from Rossall Point. The view across Morecambe Bay to the Lakeland Fells is just wonderful. You can also make out a ferry from Heysham sailing out towards the Isle of Man.
The tiny church of St Peter’s in Heysham is dramatically perched on a cliffside. This Grade I Listed church must have one of the most picturesque settings in the country, looking out over Morecambe Bay to the panorama of the Lakeland hills.
There are remains of some of the Anglo-Saxon building from around 800AD, but most of the present building dates from the 14th and 15th century. Inside the church is a Norse hog-back stone from around 1000AD, which would originally have been a grave cover.
During restoration work in 1864 a chalice was discovered in a stone coffin outside the church, and the chalice is now on display inside. Access at regular church service times.
Out and about today enjoying some extraordinary weather we've been having!
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End of the day ay Heysham Head and the Dredger "Deo Gloria", heads out beyond the old jetty to deposit its contents out at sea.
The old Pier structure here is steadily decaying and looks like it would make a fascinating subject for future shots, now I have discovered how to get here.
I had a wonderful walk around the Storth and Silverdale area in the aftermath of Storm Arwen on Tuesday. The area has been badly affected by the winds causing devastation in the forests and woods up on the Barrows. I managed to find the Limestone Fairy Steps in the woods above Slackwood, which were well worth seeing.
As the afternoon progressed I thought about the "lone tree" at Jenny Browns Point and thought it would be worth a visit as the sun set over the Kent Estuary, so I headed there. This tree and the contorted trio behind it were actually sheltered from the worst of Storm Arwen's Northerly blast as they face and are shaped by the prevailing westerly winds.
The sunset wasn't overly spectacular, but I liked how the tree seemed to be shaping to head out along the rocky ridge to the sea.
It is believed that a church was founded on this site in the 7th or 8th century. In 1080 it was recorded that the location was the site of an old Anglo-Saxon church. Some of the fabric of that church remains in the present church. The chancel was built around 1340–50 and the south aisle was added in the 15th century. The north aisle was added in 1864 and other extensions and restorations were carried out by the Lancaster architect E. G. Paley. At that time an Anglo-Saxon doorway was moved and rebuilt in the churchyard, and two galleries which had served as private pews with their own entrances were taken down. Wikipedia
Dusk settles across Morecambe Bay and the diminutive Lighthouse at the entrance to the harbour of Heysham Port starts to do its thing!
A quick dash up Holme Park Fell, saw me hunting around for a different composition. I have been here so many times and most of the shapely trees here are better shot in Winter when they are devoid of foliage. The sunset was rather diffused until the sun eventually made a last appearance over the Lakeland fells.
I thought the limestone textures made for an interesting enough foreground just near the Fell summit, so I went for this at f22 to try and get a bit of a sunburst.
The half hour after sunset proved to be interesting too, with some fantastic red cirrus clouds and I have yet to get round to processing those!
Another from my little walk out to Plover Scar Lighthouse on a very low tide.
Whilst the sunset was not dramatic or spectacularly colourful, I did like the reflections on the tidal pool just before the strong light died behind the clouds!
With the prospect of a decent sunset, I popped to the coast and what an eventful evening on the "longest day of the Year".
I had a recce at Sandylands before I went to the location pictured here. I didn't find anything that grabbed me there, so I walked back to the car. As I did so, a young couple were heading along the walkway towards me on their cycles when suddenly the young lady inadvertently clashed into her partners bike and she crashed heavily. It was clear she was badly injured, I ran over and she had fractured her right arm and possibly her collar bone too. So I provided first aid and called an ambulance. That took quite a while and after finding a local resident to provide a blanket and pillow for her, it was a wait for the Ambulance which actually came pretty quickly.
Anyway, I still had about 45 minutes until sunset, so I went near the Midland Hotel and put my wellies on and headed out onto the receding tide to a couple of the "Shrimping boats" that were quickly being left high and dry.
Here is one of the first shots I took before I saw a lovely golden sunset. It certainly felt like the longest day!
The sunlight breaks through the rain clouds just before sunset across the Kent Estuary on the Northern end of Morecambe Bay.
The sand and water channels are picked out in the low sunlight before the rays hit the rocks of the headland near Silverdale.
This is such an enchanting coastline full of character and most of the time its a nice place to get away from the crowds. I liked the shape of the sinuous channel leading down to the shore and the light on the textures of the foreground rocks.
After an afternoon wandering around the woods looking to try some "elusive to my eye" woodland images, I decided to chance a coastal sunset.
This is Jack Scout near Silverdale, where there are some wind twisted trees on the cliff tops and a moody expanse of Morecambe Bay. The light didn't last long and I got drowned in the extensive showers when walking back along the beach later. However, there is nothing like salt sea air to clear the mind after the fog of woodland composition!
A colour long exposure of Plover Scar Light.
This small lighthouse lies at the entrance to the Lune Estuary in Morecambe Bay, close to the village of Cockerham.
The lighthouse was actually struck by a ship a couple of years ago and had to be rebuilt. It is best to visit this location around either side of a low tide as you can walk out all the way to it.
This was taken with a NISI 0.9 soft grad and a NISI 10 stop ND Filter.
The tiny church of St Peter’s in Heysham is dramatically perched on a cliffside. This Grade I Listed church must have one of the most picturesque settings in the country, looking out over Morecambe Bay to the panorama of the Lakeland hills.
There are remains of some of the Anglo-Saxon building from around 800AD, but most of the present building dates from the 14th and 15th century. Inside the church is a Norse hog-back stone from around 1000AD, which would originally have been a grave cover.
During restoration work in 1864 a chalice was discovered in a stone coffin outside the church, and the chalice is now on display inside. Access at regular church service times.
The last light illuminates this wind tortured tree on the exposed promontory of Jenny Brown's Point at the North end of Morecambe Bay.
Low tide and a walk out to Plover Scar at the mouth of the Lune Estuary at sunset.
A lonely place to contemplate the end of the day. I liked the textures and lines that were accentuated by the mono conversion. Its not always the easiest place to get compositions as the Lighthouse here is relatively small and the landscape around it so open. You really have to have a good sky or some sort of foreground to make it work.