Читать книгу Walks in Silverdale and Arnside. 21 easy walks exploring the AONB онлайн

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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.