| Name of walk | The Cliff Path from St. Bees to Whitehaven |
| Date of walk | 2011-02-07 |
Today I took the train up the coast to St. Bees to walk the cliff path over St. Bees Head to Whitehaven, a walk of just over seven miles.
The route is shown below in a plaque I found in Whitehaven at the end of the walk, typical! It states that the walk would take 4 hours and forty five minutes. Must be for those with zimmer frames, I did it in three whilst fighting a gale, rain and mud!
The beach at St.Bees. The weather was not so hot. It was blowing a gale! The route I was to take is also the start of Wainwright`s Coast to Coast walk.
Not so clear either as I look back to St. Bees. The weather is due to improve later.
Standing upright was causing some difficulty. I got blown over twice! Thankfully the wind was blowing me away from the edge! It was now raining too! I head on down into Fleswick Bay.
Foam anyone? The tide was right in, so no beach to see. I head up the other side.
No one was lying when they said it was a "cliff path"! Some bits were right on the edge.
St. Bees Lighthouse. The current tower was built in 1822.
Whitehaven harbour on the far left.
The path goes very close to the edge again!
It was so windy here I took this photo looking back to the lighthouse hanging on to a post!
Walking through Birkhams Quarry.
I would take the path below the cliff edge seen on the right.
Looking back. The Coast to Coast path detours to Sandwith at the cliff houses. There is a path down to the sea just to my right.
Heading for civilisation. The Scottish Mountains are about 20 miles ahead.
Looking back to the headland.
Looking down on Saltom Pit Head, the first undersea coal mine in the world. Built in 1729 and worked until 1848. It was 146m deep and went out 2km under the sea.
I took a detour to sea level to look at it.
Finally, blue skies!
On the final section to Whitehaven. This shaft was once the deepest in the world.
Looking to the outer harbour and the Candlestick (an old chimney connected to the Wellington Pit).
The inner harbour and marina.
The photo explains why I chose not to take a walk around the outer harbour!!
Candlestick Mosaic.
I avoided the edge of this too!
John Paul Jones led a naval raid upon Whitehaven in 1778 during the American War of Independence; it was the last invasion of England! Mildred Gale, grandmother of George Washington is also buried here in the grounds of St. Nicholas` church. I took a walk around the inner harbour seen on the left.
Looking at some of the boats in the marina.
The Beacon is a museum. I went in the last time I was here.
