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Bittern
Bearded tit
Occasional rare visitors, like the osprey, promote great excitement on the grapevine for ‘twitchers’, and Leighton Moss is invaded by keen bird watchers from a wide area. There is a public hide on the Causeway; access to the reserve hides is free to RSPB members, but a charge is made to non-members.
Walking seasons
Walking in the Silverdale and Arnside area can be enjoyed throughout the year. Springtime, with its abundant flowers, and the colourful displays of autumn are especially rewarding. Summer is the busiest time, with the greatest influx of human visitors. In winter vast flocks of birds can be seen in Morecambe Bay, and the weather is often good for walking here when the nearby Lake District is shrouded in mist and rain. The woods can also provide sheltered walking in strong winds.
Every season holds a special charm. Perhaps most rewarding is late spring, when the trees are bursting to life with delicate fresh green leaves, and flowers carpet the floor of the woodlands in a spray of colour – whether it is purple violets, white wood anemones, yellow primroses or daffodils or the pink of herb robert. Almost all year round the woodland carpet is dog’s mercury. Its early shoots accompany the earliest flowers, and its leaves hide the ground providing a backdrop for more colourful flowers during the rest of the year.
High summer is predominantly green. Most of the popular walks are on paths that are broad enough to be traversed comfortably even at the zenith of vegetation growth. Where the paths are slender the trails take on a jungle character, where you follow too closely at your peril or you may suffer the whip-lash of a punitive branch. Bracken can be troublesome on Hutton Roof Crags, where some of the paths become difficult to negotiate.
Autumn is another high point of the year when the blaze of colours is at its best, particularly in the abundant deciduous woodland. This is the time to seek out the stately beeches in Eaves Wood, although caution is necessary on the leaf-covered paths where slippery limestone lurks unseen. When winds blow too strongly for comfort on the shore, the woodlands can be pleasantly sheltered. Autumn is particularly good for fungi, and there are organised fungus forays throughout autumn to find elf cups, fairy clubs, earth stars, bird’s nest fungi and many more.
Bracken invades the paths on Hutton Roof Crags
Winter is not to be despised for the delicate tracery of stripped branches can be very attractive. There is a surprising amount of greenery still around. Limestone supports a large number of yew trees which, with the particularly abundant moss and ivy, become much more obvious in winter. The ivy wreaths around trunks, creeps over boulders and walls and sometimes seems to be devouring the long, low crags. Lattice patterns of branches capture sunlight like a stained glass window. Wands and branches weave in the wind as the trees rustle and creak in a never ending tune-up. On the limestone pavements, the micro-climate of the grikes provides a sheltered haven where ferns and small flowers still linger.
Walking on the shore
The shore is a place to visit in all seasons. Walking on the shore has become much rougher since the erosion of the salt-marsh, once a broad expanse of springy sea-washed turf dissected by narrow water-filled channels. Erosion started around the late 1970s and has continued since then, and now only a few remnants of grass remain. The channel of the River Kent swings backwards and forwards between the Grange and Silverdale sides of the estuary; in the 1840s Silverdale was a popular bathing beach, but the channel moved and salt-marsh developed. By 1915 the marsh had eroded to the low cliff line before building up again to its peak in the 1970s.
Where once you could stroll on sheep-cropped turf, now you need to scramble along a rocky foreshore. A coastal walk needs more careful planning as high tides sweep right up to the cliffs and the Kent channel reaches the Silverdale shore. On a receding tide it is great fun, especially for children who love to scramble on the rough limestone. Take special care, however, as wet or green seaweed-covered limestone is very slippery.
Be aware that the tide advances very rapidly – you don’t want to be trapped in a secluded cove! Take care not to wander onto the sands of the estuary as the channels can hide quicksands; these can occur close to the shoreline as well as further out. Along the bay there are warning notices which point out the dangers. A leaflet, Morecambe Bay Advice, is available locally and its advice should be heeded. Tide tables are readily available from local shops, and it is essential to know the times of tides. There is also a 24-hour telephone number 0151 931 3341 for information about tides run by the Coastguard service.
Walking in the woods and hills
The wonderful woodland walking contrasts pleasantly with that of the open bay. Several of the walks combine a bit of both. A general criticism levelled at forest walking is that the trees are all the same, the views restricted and the paths dull. Although this may be true of plantations, the more natural woodland walking in this area is completely different. The scene is constantly changing and there are beautiful clearings and dells. There are huge spreading yews, wand-like hazels, grand oaks and beeches, ashes and hornbeams and a smattering of larches and pines.
Yew trees are a feature on many walks
The paths are rarely dull, for they run over a thinly soiled limestone, where the craggy structure is constantly poking through. There are limestone pavements, where some of the crevices sprout prickly hawthorns, delightful in blossom time. Tiny crags, often clothed in rich mosses and trees, are either companions to the path or features to be crossed. Views are restricted at times, especially in the height of summer greenery, but the paths weave an intricate course amongst the rocks. Suddenly a clearing may reveal a glimpse of silvery Morecambe Bay or the surrounding hills. Where the woodland thins there are pleasant clearings, sometimes fringed by brambles which can be profitably visited in season.
Rock climbing
The limestone scars are used by rock climbers, both those living locally and those driven away from the Lake District in their search for dry rock. There are many small outcrops, some of which form valuable gymnasiums for dedicated unroped climbers to train on problems of great difficulty. (Note This brief résumé of the climbing in the area is intended to enlighten non-rock climbers using this guide. Climbing should only be done with proper equipment and the necessary knowhow.)
On the edge of Warton village there is a car park in a small quarry, where climbers can often be seen. On a terrace about half-way up the hill and almost directly above the Main Quarry is another little horizontal scar, the Pinnacle Crag, named after a small pinnacle at its foot. After playing here, climbers move on to the short open scar which crowns the top of the hill. This is Warton Upper Crag, the most popular for climbers of medium standard.
Warton Main Quarry is a complete contrast. Climbs here are up to 70m long on loose rock in very serious situations. Since the first climb was made in 1970 it has been networked with routes, the best of which are very impressive. Quarry climbing is a relatively recent development which caused concern on the part of quarry owners. It is a shame that in these days of increased leisure activities quarries are not recognized for what they are: valuable assets as a sporting facility for young people. Some councils spend thousands of pounds on creating climbing walls and bar access to natural facilities! Climbing is allowed at the quarry but access is restricted during the peregrine falcon nesting season from March to June.
The most popular climbing area is at Trowbarrow
