Arnside, Cumbria, Summer
I hope everyone had a lovely Summer Solstice.
I hope everyone had a lovely Summer Solstice.
When it comes to nature and the Summer Solstice, Lisabet and I are fortunate to have a variety of options on our doorstep. With a clear and cloudless evening ahead we decided on the expansive views offered at Arnside.
Arnside is a proper bonny seaside village located on the banks of the Kent Estuary, which eventually spills out into Morecambe Bay. Arnside features a ½ km long viaduct that carries trains across the estuary, and Arnside Tower; a peel tower, built in the 14th/15th century. Another curiosity is the Arnside Bore, a very fast rising tidal bore that occurs most high tides. People often watch the bore from the shoreline, marvelling at the faster-than-walking speed of the tide as Morecambe Bay refills the Kent Estuary every high tide.
For our evening, we just took a gentle meandering stroll along the shoreline of Arnside, enjoying the light and scenes as the sun set on the longest day of the year.
All photos taken on my Sony α7ii using my Sony FE 28–70mm f3.5–5.6 OSS zoom and Rokinon 14mm f2.8 ED AS IF UMC prime lenses. RAWs were developed in Lightroom, processed in Photomatix, and finalised in Photoshop.
Arnside, Cumbria, Summer by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
The gentle curves of the Arnside shoreline catches the golden sunset light, serving as a leading line towards the Arnside Viaduct and the distant Lake District fells beyond.
Probably my favourite shot of the evening. A small channel in the sand provides a nice leading line towards the sunset as onlookers from the pier enjoying the solstice.
Beached buoys provide a nice foreground subject as the sun gently sinks behind the fells.
A tighter composition focusing on this tidal channel as it reflects the fiery sunset light.
Back on the road, I equip my ultra-wide for this composition in the dying light of the day.
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Arnside, Cumbria, Summer
I’ve been guilty of overlooking Arnside in the past.
I’ve been guilty of overlooking Arnside in the past.
Lisabet and I have visited Arnside many times, largely for its chippy, but also because it’s the nearest place for us to access the coastline. It’s at Arnside where the River Kent becomes the Kent estuary and drains into Morecambe Bay. Much of the coast around the village of Arnside is therefore mostly comprised of mudflats and quicksand.
But there is so much more to Arnside, once a busy port. For a start there’s Arnside Knott (159 m/522 ft), which Lisabet and I decided to hike up recently. In comparison to the Lakeland fells it’s really not that big, but Arnside Knott makes up for it with incredible panoramic views. The knott is made from limestone, like a lot of rocky outcrops around Morecambe Bay, and features windswept trees bent into weird and fantastic shapes.
Arnside Knott is also surrounded by dense woodland, which we explored. After enjoying the views from Arnside Knott we descended the steep tracks down to Far Arnside, then followed the coastal path back to Arnside courtesy of a narrow, winding, and undulating track with incredible views and amazing coastal woodlands.
All photos shot on a Fujifilm X-T2 with a 16–50mm f/3.5–5.6 lens using a customised Classic Chrome film simulation.
The way up to the summit of Arnside Knott.
Windswept trees looking like they’ve been blasted by a shockwave, shot from the near the summit of Arnside Knott and the views it enjoys.
Lisabet’s happy place: the sea. The shore at Far Arnside is made of smoothed limestone scree, which makes glittering and trickling sounds when the waves lap over it.
The start of the coastal path from Far Arnside back to Arnside. The views across Morecambe Bay get better and better.
Families enjoying the craggy shore near Far Arnside.
My lovely Lisabet, in her element.
A couple enjoy a swim in the sea of Morecambe Bay. In the distance, across the bay, you can make out Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria.
The woodland around the coastal path from Far Arnside to Arnside is largely made up of Ash (Fraxinus excelsior). However, these Ash trees are unusual in that they grow tall and skinny, rather than broad and spread out.
Gorgeous coastline that I never knew existed around Arnside.
Where we came from, looking back towards Lancaster and even making out the sloping hills of the Forest of Bowland.
Arnside Knott above the landscape.