A walk alongside a site of very special interest
Published at 15:40, Wednesday, 28 July 2010
NESTLING neatly between the more popular villages of Ravenglass to the south and Seascale to the north, Drigg is often overlooked by tourists and day-trippers alike.
The village itself stands about one mile inland from the coast and has no obvious village centre, the church, village hall and railway station being spread throughout the hamlet.
However, from the number of events frequently advertised on posters in and around the village, it certainly has a heart and is well worth a visit.
This is an ideal outing for those without motor transport as we start and finish today’s walk at the railway station.
Distance: 4½ miles approx.
Time: 3 hours approx.
The walk: We head along the A595 to Holmrook, then follow the signs for Drigg. After passing St Peter’s Church on our right, followed almost immediately by the village hall on our left, we begin to enter the village.
A mixture of new bungalows and old cottages line the road. Look out for a left-hand turn (although, as the road has an excess of ‘speed bumps’, we won’t be travelling very fast so shouldn’t miss it).
There are numerous areas to park by the railway station.
We leave our car and head over the level crossing, heading for the coast. The wire fence to our left marks the perimeter of the low level radioactive waste repository. The dunes are ahead of us and to our left are a SSSI site. What a paradox – a nuclear waste site on our right and a Site of Special Scientific Interest to our left.
After about 400 yards we turn left down a lane. Ahead of us we now have Black Combe and Muncaster Fell, whilst to our left we can see the towering peaks of the Scafell Massif.
Some 200 yards down this lane we reach a wooden gate on our right. There is an information board by the side of the gate outlining the area. Once through the gate we keep straight ahead – the path isn’t obvious, but if we keep the fence to our right and walk a few paces forward we will see a little way ahead of us a marker post, with what appears to be a white dot on it. The white dot is in fact all that remains of the once yellow arrow of the footpath sign. Before we reach the marker post we have to cross a very precarious looking footbridge. Despite its appearance it seems sturdy enough; it can be bypassed by jumping the narrow stream if you’re feeling energetic!
We continue straight ahead, keeping the wire fence on our right. The path gradually becomes more obvious and soon we come to the corner of the wire fence. We now skirt round to our right slightly, to follow the footpath as it cuts its way across the open scrubland.
Eventually we meet another wire fence, once again keeping this on our right we head towards the dunes along a narrow but by now obvious path. Some 100 yards after the corner of the fence we reach a broad grassy track. Take note of this junction, as this is where we will be returning to later, but from our left. Turn right here – a marker post can be seen a little way ahead of us.
We continue along this gently undulating track, a couple of paths go off left but we want to continue on this wide grassy path until we reach a kissing gate through which we pass to join the main road. We head left along the road, passing a parking area for the beach and a large compound on our right. Immediately after this we go through a gate leading us out onto the beach.
On reaching the beach we turn left. We now have a long but pleasant stroll along the beach. Eventually we come to a sign by the edge of the dunes stating that there should be ‘No motor vehicles beyond this point’. We take the path leading off the beach and up the dunes at this point.
As we make our way across the dunes, a derelict fence can be seen over to our right. Following what remains of the fence we continue on until we see a timber building ahead of us on the opposite side of the fence. This is the bird hide that we are heading for. The hide is usually locked but we can take a much-deserved rest on its porch and enjoy our picnic in relative luxury whilst watching a variety of wildlife.
This tranquil nature reserve is believed to be the largest nesting site for Black Headed Gulls in Europe and is supposedly home to the rare Natterjack Toad.
There are magnificent views inland from the hide, with Black Combe and Muncaster Fell over to our right and the Wasdale mountains ahead.
After a well-deserved rest we continue on our last leg of this charming walk. Not far now – we are about two thirds of the way through our walk so not too far to go.
On leaving the hide we cross to the other side of the redundant fence posts and head towards the estuary. This estuary is where three rivers meet: the Esk, the Irt and the Mite all discharge their clear water out into the Irish Sea here. We can see the coastal village of Ravenglass just across the estuary.
The footpath, a little indistinct in places, takes us round to our left heading away from the estuary and across a small sandy area edged by the dunes. We cross a small beck then continue straight ahead following the grassy path which soon becomes wider as we make our way northward.
We continue along this path to the point where we originally joined it earlier. When we spot the marker post ahead of us we need to keep a sharp lookout for our original path going off to our right, heading away from the dunes. We now retrace our steps back to the car, or railway station.
We can enjoy some refreshments after this little expedition, at either Spindlecraft Café or The Victoria Inn, before setting off on our return journey, either by car or train.
Published by http://www.whitehaven-news.co.uk
