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The area of South Cumbria bordered by the River Winster to the east, the River Duddon to the west and the Wrynose pass and River Brathay to the north was formerly the part of the county of Lancashire "North of the Sands". Now usually referred to as the Lake District Peninsulas, it offers beautiful landscape of every description - mountain, hill, lake, tarn, river, coastal bay, sand dune, limestone pavement, ancient woodland, modern forest, raised bogs and much more.

NORTH WALNEY NNR - The northern tip of Walney Island is a delightful spot with several ponds amidst the dunes. On a summer day it is a treasure trove of birds, butterflies, dragonflies and plants, while the distant view takes in Scafell Pike, Bowfell and the Conistons.


FELL FOOT, LAKE WINDERMERE - In summer this spot is often crowded, but before 9 a.m. you can sometimes have the place to yourself - especially in November when this was taken!
CONISTON OLD MAN & COPPERMINES Coniston Old Man is the highest point in High Furness, the Old Man referring to standing stones on the summit. Copper ore was mined for several centuries and transported down Coniston Water to Nibthwaite. The white building formerly housed miners but is now the Youth Hostel.

TIDAL BORE, MORECAMBE BAY- On a summer's day many people find it hard to believe that Morecambe Bay can be treacherous. You only need to witness the tidal bore on the Leven channel to realise just how fast the tide can come in. The speed and noise in the channel is quite amazing and within a matter of a few minutes what was open dry sand all around is covered in water. The best tidal bores occur on the highest tides (9 metres or more).
The restriction caused by the narrow Leven channel and outflowing river water cause the waves of water to compress - the leading front wave is slowed down, while the faster waves from behind are forced to move upward to pass over the slower moving water below. A water wall builds and quickly spills over into the tumbling, churning wave front referred to as "the bore" (from the Norse "bara" or wave). The appearance of the bore therefore differs every day depending on the prevailing conditions of channel position and depth, height of tide and weather (see below).
At Priory Crossing, Ulverston, the bore usually occurs about 2 hours10 minutes - give or take 5 mins - BEFORE the published high tide in calm conditions.
Be patient......you can hear it coming 2 or 3 minutes before it arrives but when it does it will pass you by in seconds!
TIDAL BORE, MORECAMBE BAY (2). On another day the bore may take on a different appearance and be a frothing foaming mass of water. The sheer power of it is breath-taking. Despite the huge number of rivers and estuaries in the world, tidal bores are relatively rare - the Leven and Kent estuary bore is one of only about 40 that occur world-wide! The Leven bore rarely exceeds about half a metre in height, unlike the Severn bore which has a much longer funnel created by the Devon and Welsh coasts, but it is well worth making the effort to see - but choose your time (see below).
TIDAL BORE, MORECAMBE BAY (3). The best conditions are when the Leven flows in a single clearly defined channel near to the shore. After days of heavy rain the volume of water coming down the Leven may open new channels down the middle. The bore then takes a multi-channel route and will be disappointing to watch........at least you haven't built a one mile canal to the shore only to find that the channel moves to the other side of Chapel Island (as happened in 1803, seven years after Ulverston canal opened)!!