Sea air at Arnside and Grange

Our second day off took us to Arnside, by Morecambe Bay, where the local train connects the village to Grange-Over-Sands, across the other side of the bay. Why take the train? - well, the train journey takes 5 minutes, but to get there by car would be a round trip of nearly 20 miles.

The scenery around Morecambe Bay is spectacular, and the old railway viaduct has its own charm. The River Kent flows underneath, but twice a day as the tide rushes in, the river and the entire area becomes flooded in dramatic fashion.

Arnside is a popular destination for walkers; the hill overlooking the village, Arnside Knott, is a relatively easy climb and offers spectacular views. But not today. Instead, we'd planned to take the train across the viaduct and over to Grange for some easy walking along the sea front.

The one element outside our control was of course the trains, and in true British style, it was late. Then very late. Then, just to toy with us, the station display kept informing us that the train would be another minute, and another, and so on... After nearly an hour, when the next train was almost due, the display finally announced what we'd realised some time ago and confirmed it was cancelled. At least the following one arrived on time to get us across the Bay, which by this time had filled spectacularly with water rushing through on the incoming tide.

Over in Grange, there were plenty of ducks in the park to keep us company as we ate our lunches, and some were happy to be photographed in return for some pieces of bread.








Grange itself is perhaps slightly old fashioned, yet has character and lacks the hoards of tourists who head further north to the popular lakes, although in February it was never going to be busy. We walked through the town over to a second park containing a bandstand, which is still regularly in use. Although the wide-angle of this shot distorts the perspective, I quite like the effect.

From here we headed down to the shoreline and back towards the station. There was just time for a pot of tea in a nearby cafe before catching our train back - which at least was on time!