Cross Bay Walk

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Annual Cross Morecambe Bay sponsored/fundraising walk - 15th July 2012 from Arnside to Kents Bank

Why not join us with your family and friends for a unique day out in the fresh air on Morecambe Bay. Your participation by gaining sponsors to do this will help raise vital funds for the Bay Search and Rescue Team which as an independent charity relies on annual events like this to survive. The team which is made up of volunteers do not get any Government funding and this is our major fundraising event of the year.

The walk as always will be led by Cedric Robinson, the Official Queens Guide to the Sands and supported by team members from Bay Search and Rescue. Some of the team will be walking with you and will be happy to discuss our role on the Bay, and some will follow in our amphibious and all-terrain Hagglund rescue vehicles which you will have an opportunity to look around - and maybe a ride in if all that fresh air proves too much!

We depart from Arnside promenade at 3.15pm and will walk across to Kents Bank Train Station near Grange-over-Sands, arriving a few hours or so later.

The length of the walk varies from 6-8 miles depending on the route Cedric takes on the day through the channels (and around any quicksand obviously - which is why he is the Queens guide!). Children and anyone comfortable walking for approximately 3-4 plus hours are welcome. There are usually some channels to wade through so be prepared to get wet to your knees or so. Anyone not happy to wade or who gets tired can always take a ride in the Hagglund. Dogs are more than welcome if kept under control, especially as other dogs will be there too!

This is an ideal day out - some gentle exercise all the family can join in with, lots of fresh air and a chance to say you have done something unique - we look forward to seeing you. 

You can also help us promote the event by downloading our Walk poster, and putting this up somewhere people may see it. This will be posted here when its available.

Previous Walk photos: 2011 | 2010 |  2009 | 2008a | 2008b | 2007 | 2006 | 

 

Book your place on the walk

Our simple online system allows you to register for the walk, and will provide a link to a downloadable sponsor form and also your own online fundraising page (and even a smartphone app!) where people can sponsor you and pay online, this also reclaims GiftAid for us at the same time and saves you handling money or chasing people. You are registering for a sponsored walk, and as this is our main fundraising event each year and is always very popular we will only accept a very limited number of non-sponsored registrations. If you do wish to walk without raising sponsorship we would suggest a donation to the charity instead.

Groups are welcome
 If you wish to bring a large group you will be more than welcome. Ideally it is a great help (and saves us admin, as we are all volunteers here) if you can get the members to register individually, or register for them. 

What do I need for the walk?
We always order warm sunshine a light inshore breeze and the gentle song of a sea bird to accompany our walk. But just on the off chance that our request is denied (it poured down in 2010) then bring some light waterproofs. The walk is suitable for anyone who can walk for three or four hours, including children from around five years old. You will need some old footwear (trainers for instance, wellies are OK but fill up with water!!) for the first part of the walk, and then once onto the sand you can you can whip your footwear off and go barefoot, its great!!

You can bring along the family dog but we ask you to please keep them under control at all times. You will be walking on a route that is well planned and Cedric Robinson MBE the Queens Guide will be leading the walk. There will be a couple of channels to cross and you may get wet up to your knees, so shorts might be a good idea depending on the weather. At the Kents bank end there are a number of gullies to clamber through (or jump for the kids!). There are no toilets and no cafe's out on the sands so bring a drink and maybe a snack to eat. When the sun does come out there’s no shade, so a hat and sun cream is a good idea, especially for the little one's. Just in case it is not obvious - the Bay is NOT a suitable place for prams or buggies! (Yes this has happened)

Where does it start and finish?
Start will be from Arnside at 3.15pm on the promenade opposite and further down past the Albion Pub.

Finish is at Kents Bank Railway Station a good few hours later depending on the walk route and progress.

To get to Arnside leave the M6 at Junction 35 from the south or 36 from the North and follow the sign's for Milnthorpe along the A6. At Milnthorpe traffic light's follow the sign’s for Arnside. As you approach Arnside turn right under the railway bridge, past the Railway Station on your right, then follow the road round and along Arnside 'seafront'. Find a parking spot anywhere along the front, you are now only a few hundred yards from the start which is directly across from the Albion Pub on the corner.

The finish is at Kents Bank (Near Grange over Sands) at the Railway station. There are trains from here back to Arnside every hour or so.  There are works going on at Arnside viaduct which stops the trains running but these are scheduled to have been finished by the day of our walk. However if the works are still in progress the train company will have coaches running instead of the trains. 

As there is limited parking at Arnside and at Kents Bank recommended advice is to park your car at Berners Car Park in Grange over Sands and follow the promenade/shoreline footpath to Kents Bank Railway Station to your right, or Grange over Sand Railway Station to your left, so you can catch the train across to Arnside before the walk starts. You will then have a car waiting for you when you finish. It also means you will not have to wait around (in the worst case for maybe up to an hour) for a train back to Arnside. 

Or as many people do, you can arrange a car share to leave one car at the finish at Kents Banks or Berners in Grange, and then take another to the start at Arnside.

We look forward to seeing and would like to thank you for helping us.

 

If you have any questions please email; Paul Calland, Deputy Station Officer paul@baysearchandrescue.org.uk

Please bear in mind we are a volunteer team and have full time day jobs as well as being in a busy rescue team, so please be patient waiting for replies.