The ‘Needs to Know’
Distance: 4 miles (10.5km)
Time to walk: This walk can easily be done in under a couple of hours, but it’s not one to be rushed as there’s plenty of places to explore &….you get to sit on a Giant’s Seat with an amazing view!!!
Difficulty: A mixture of hard surface & off-road tracks, plus some shore walking (beware when tides are high)
Parking: Carefully on road in Silverdale
Public toilets: Silverdale
Map of the route:
This is our third written walk in the beautiful Silverdale area which stands on Morecambe Bay. Silverdale forms part of the Arnside & Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The RSPB’s Leighton Moss nature reserve is close to the village train station
Believed to date to around 900AD, the famous ‘Viking Hoard’ was found near Silverdale & is one of the largest Viking hoards ever discovered in the UK. The late Victoria Wood also lived in the village
We love it there
Let’s Walk!
1. This walk starts in the centre of Silverdale outside ‘The Royal’ which also has two holiday cottages…
With your back to the pub turn right & follow the path past the cafe & the magnificent Millenium Clock
2. At the bend bear left & then almost immediate turn right down the lane with a footpath sign to Woodwell…
The path soon narrows, as it passes a house & goes through a gap. This whole area is full of little paths like this one…
3. Continue up the narrow track…
…until it reaches a crossroads with a drive. Pass straight over through the two stones
4. This really is terrific walking beside wonderful dry stone walls. Shortly the path arrives at more stones…
…& now opens up into an interesting area with lots of little rope swings etc
5. The route continues ahead through a wooded area with a large wooden fence on your right…
At the end bear right past a house…
6. Ignore the entrance into National Trust’s ‘Bottoms Wood’ & carry on with the wall on your left…
At the end of the path carefully squeeze through the gap in the wall to arrive at a narrow lane
7. Bear right along this quiet lane & follow it down to a T-junction…
Turn left & carefully follow the road. This is a quiet road, but be prepared to stand to one side if traffic does approach
8. The lane shortly arrives at a crossroads. The house on your left was originally called Lindeth Lodge, but to all the locals it was ” The Wolf House” owing to a legend that the last wolf in England was slain at Humphrey Head, just across the bay…
Look at the coat of arms above the door which shows a wolf with the Latin inscription “homo homini lupas” which means ‘man is wolf to man’. This is the motto of the Fleetwood- Hesketh family (Peter Fleetwood Hesketh founded the town of Fleetwood)
9. Walk around the corner of the house to find the art gallery & cafe…
Come back down to the crossroads & take a moment to admire the wonderful view down the pastures to Morecambe Bay
10. This is Gibraltar Farm & many “goodies” are to be had here…
Continue along the lane past the farm where more purchases can be made. Firstly there’s the farm’s Free Range Raw Milk…
…but we really recommend walking into the farmyard where hopefully you’ll find jars of home-made preserves. I can honestly say it’s the best marmalade I’ve ever tasted
11. Attached to the farm is Lindeth Tower the top of which can be seen over the gate. The tower was built by Hesketh Fleetwood in 1842…
It’s associated with the great Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell who stayed here & at the Wolf House on several occasions. The village hall in Silverdale is called ‘Gaskell Hall’ & is named after Elizabeth Gaskell
12. Continue up the lane looking for a large white gate (see picture below) leading into a property…
Ignore it, instead going through the small gate in the wall opposite…
13. Welcome to the National Trust’s Nature Reserve which is the wonderful ‘Jack Scout’, home to over 230 different types of plants & numerous wildlife in such a small area. There are numerous small grass paths to explore, so I suggest you mostly just follow your nose…
However look to your left to see what’s left of an old lime kiln…
There’s a great information board showing what it would have looked like when it was in operation. The kiln would have been used to produce lime to spread on the local agricultural land. It was filled from above with limestone & charcoal from the area
14. The name ‘Jack Scout’ is actually thought to come from old English or Norse meaning a high point with oak trees on it
Now we set you a challenge….find the Giant’s Seat! To help you..with your back to the lime kiln follow the path straight ahead though the ferns…
…to arrive at a rocky area
Now bear diagonally up to the left & there’ll you’ll find the back of what you’re looking for overlooking the Bay & one of the most popular places to watch a sunset
The Giant’s Seat is a massive slab of limestone with a walled back
15. After spending some time sitting & admiring the incredible view follow the path down to the left & then bear left, keeping your back to the Bay, to eventually arrive back at another small gate leading back onto the lane you left to enter the reserve
Bear right & continue along the lane as it now starts to descend to Jenny Brown’s Point…
The point has also been known as Brown’s Point (1812), Silverdale Point (1818) and Lindeth Point (1828). The name Jenny Brown Point was in use on an 1829 estate plan & was used by the Ordnance Survey from 1848
The identity of Jenny Brown is uncertain, though a daughter Jennet was born in 1628 to Robert Walling of Dikehouse, the farm at the point, & married Robert Brown (or Browen or Browne). One of their daughters was Jennet (born 1665), named Jennye in her father’s will. It has been said that Jenny was a lover waiting for her lost sailor to return, a nanny who saved her charges from the tide, a lodging-house keeper, or a steam engine (or “jenny”) sent to Brown’s Point
16. Look to see the spit to the right…
This is the remnants of an old sea wall, a project to reclaim Silverdale Sands from the sea. It was built in 1874, but was abandoned after it became too expensive & didn’t work. The sea kept winning the sands back
From the wall you really get an appreciation of the sheer expanse of Morecambe Bay…
17. Continue around the corner & through the gate by the cattle grid…
The sign here gives you an indication of some of the dangers of the Bay
18. Slightly further on go through the gate & pass infront of Brown’s Cottages…
…& then turn right through the gate onto the shoreline. Please note that in times of very high tides this next stretch may prove difficult & the rocks will be slippery
19. Follow the shoreline round to an old chimney…
The chimney is all that remains of the copper smelting mill. The works were supposedly established in the early 1790s at the start of the French Revolution & Napoleonic Wars. Copper was in great demand to mix with other metals to make bronze for cannon balls & the like. Copper was mined at nearby Heald Brow & Crag Foot
20. The rocks soon give way to soft-underfoot grassy marshland. Keep following the shoreline, being careful of holes & drops…
Eventually the track arrives at a crossroads
21. Our route continues straight ahead & begins to climb steadily up the hill. Look across to the right to spot another chimney on the flanks of Warton Crag. This was part of a pumping station which helped drain the flat land around Leighton Moss…
The path rises to a gate into Fleagarth Wood. Look for the stone stile on the right…
22. This is a beautiful wood & full of wild garlic in the spring…
The path’s easy to follow so continue ahead to finally emerge onto a road…
23. Turn left along the road, being careful as there may be some traffic & it’s quite bendy so switch to whichever side’s the safest so you can be seen
Pass the entrance to Hazelwood Hall…
A planning application in 2009 stated that the house was built “in the first half of the 19th century. Over the years it’s been a nursing home, convent & in 2006 was turned into holiday flats
24. Just after the Hall go through the gate on the right into Sharp’s Lots…
This is a wonderful little limestone area belonging to the National Trust. Look out for all the different flowers that grow here
25. Exit the Lots through the kissing gate in the stone wall…
Turn right & cross the road bearing left down the lane at the noticeboard & footpath sign…
26. Continue past some rather lovely cottages. Just when the hard road bears right, walk straight on along the grass track…
On arriving at the gate go through the squeeze to the left of it
27. Now follow the stone wall on your left all the way down to the bottom of the field. There’s some magnificent views along here…
If you look closely ahead to Eaves Wood you can see the Pepperpot which we visited on a previous walk
28. Exit the field through the gate at the bottom of the field…
Turn left at the telegraph pole & walk up the track with the large wooden fence
29. On reaching the road, cross over & head along the small track through some stones…
Follow the narrow alley to the footpath sign & bear left
30. At the top turn right & follow the lane as it bends left & then runs straight to the main road…
Turn right & follow the road back down into the village turning right to arrive back at The Royal
So that’s it…the end of our third walk around this beautiful part of the country. And there’s still so many paths here we haven’t touched.
This is a walk I’d do again & again & I look forward to it on my next visit
Go Walk!