Heysham

The Government had announced a week earlier that the 'stay local' rule had been relaxed and we could now travel in our cars for our daily exercise. Maybe I had stretched the meaning of that a tad by having a day out in Heysham but I excused myself after having watched local people going out on six hour bike rides and half day walks for the past month whilst I stuck strictly to the one hour exercise rule.

I love Heysham because the old part of the town is totally unexpected with it's narrow streets, cottages and most beautifully situated church. The small High Street is very quaint and attractive with it's coffee shops and pub but it is The Church of Saint Peter and the ruined Saint Patrick Chapel which are the real jewels. Also, just off the main path through the churchyard was Glebe Garden, a previously overgrown and neglected area transformed into a peaceful and pretty corner by local volunteer gardeners, I have included some photos of the garden at the end of this blog as it was so pretty.

St Patrick's Chapel, which sits in the grounds of St Peter's Church, was founded on the site in the 7th or 8th century and near to the chapel is a group of six rock-cut tombs with a separate group of two near-by. St Peter's Church was recorded as being the location of an old Saxon church and some of the fabric of that church remains in the present church. It's a beautiful spot and sits on a headland looking out over Morecambe Bay. Unfortunately there is a slight blot on the landscape, namely the Ferry Terminal which has been here as long as I can remember but must bring work to the area so can be excused.

It was a beautiful sunny day so there were a few tourists and locals about but not too many to make it feel unsafe. I could clearly see the Coniston and Wasdale Fells of The Lake District across Morecambe Bay as I walked around Heysham Head which juts out in to the romantically called Half Moon Bay.

I had a nice quiet sit down on the rocks and reflected on the past six weeks of lock down which I had just about survived in one piece even though I hadn't had any human contact. I've always been a bit introverted so I'm one of those people who is quite happy to be on their own but only when it suits me and in lock down I had no choice on the matter. I still had the problem though of not being able to see Sal which didn't help things.

On my way back to the car I passed The Heritage Centre. On the wall of the right hand building was a large plaque, The Spirit of Heysham which was carved by a Michael Edwards to depict the village’s historic legacies including St. Peter’s Church and St. Patrick’s Chapel with its hilltop barrow graves. Each year in mid July the village holds a 2-day Viking festival which I would love to go to one year.

I drove through Morecambe on my way back and had intended stopping for a walk along the promenade but it was just too busy with very few of the people social distancing. I hope that people do not forget that we have had over 65,000 more deaths this year than we have had previous years and this has to be down to one thing and one thing only...the virus. Just simply returning back to our old ways and habits will certainly bring along a second spike and all the pain and deaths that will come with it.

Anyway, enough ranting from me. I really enjoyed my day, it was good to get away to somewhere different for a few hours.