Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: June 2021

Question...where can you go in Cumbria for some quiet photography on a sunny day when The Lake District is full to bursting? Answer...Maryport beach when the tide is out.

The rocks on Maryport's North Beach are from the Sherwood Sandstone group. The Sherwood Sandstone Group, formerly known as the Bunter Sandstone, predominantly consists of sandstone and pebbly sandstone with lesser amounts of conglomerate and minor amounts of mudstone and siltstone and was deposited between 230 and 260 million years ago in the late Permian and Triassic periods. They are found in northwest England as far north as Carlisle (and extending just into Scotland around Annan and Gretna) and in the Vale of Eden and then extending down the Cumbrian coast into Lancashire and Cheshire. There is also a band running from Nottinghamshire up to Durham and the North East Coast.

Erosion by the sea has made the rocks form into lots of weird and wonderful shapes with many channels cutting through them, plus it's many pools have become a haven from small crabs and other shellfish. You can always see people on the beach collecting shellfish when the tide is out.

I'm always drawn to the coast though; the North West Coast of Scotland is an area I truly connect with but it's just a pity that I found it late on in my life. The stretch of coast and countryside between Gairloch and Lochinver is my idea of heaven, and I feel so privileged to be able to visit it every year. Also, I love my local Yorkshire coast, especially the Whitby area and then just a bit further northwards, the Northumberland Coast with its long sandy beaches and castles.

The Solway is just as beautiful though but maybe in a more rugged and industrial way, both on the Cumbrian side and across the Firth on The Galloway side, where Southerness and Kippford are both firm favourites. My star sign is Pisces, so maybe that has something to do with it.