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" St Bees Lighthouse and South "

Date & start time: Saturday 27th April 2013, 4.40 pm start.

Location of Start : Tarnflatt Hall Farm, St Bees Head, Cumbria, Uk ( NX 948 146 )

Places visited : Tarnflatt Hall Farm, St Bees Lighthouse, South Head and back along the fields.

Walk details :   2.2 mls, 450 ft of ascent, 1 hour 50 mins.

Highest point : The Lighthouse 315 ft above sea level.

Walked with : Ann and the dogs, Harry and Bethan.

Weather : Gorgeous blue skies again . . . but some gloves would have been nice !

" St Bees Lighthouse and South " at EveryTrail
 

[ Alter the settings to zoom or change the Map, use Everytrail to download the Gps route ]

 

Another fine afternoon and another visit to St Bees to see what bird life was around. 

We had heard (unofficially) that there were puffins about so we live in hope.  This time we parked at the farm and

paid a reasonable parking fee of £2 to the farmer. From there it is an easy walk to the lighthouse and then the coastal path south to Fleswick Bay.

" Life down on the Farm " . . . Tarnflatt's style.

A four wheel drive John Dere Tractor stands ready with its animal trailer.

The animal crush we saw last week is in use as the farm team check out one of the cows.

St Bees Lighthouse . . . looking very similar to last week.

Friends have told us there was scaffolding on it recently . . . so yes . . . it is newly painted.

One for Russell Barnes . . . a closer look at the old Radar Transmitting Block.

[ No sign of the Interrogator Hut in the field behind by the way ]

This was the plan Russell forwarded me

after my last St Bees report.

 

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The reason for our return visit today . . .

. . . to see what birds were about.

The steep cliffs of red sandstone stand proud against the rigours of the Irish Sea

though today it has a calmness about it that allows the reflection of the clear blue skies.

From the lighthouse road our first stop was the cliff top observation area

seen here as a wooden fence to the left of the picture.

Out to sea . . . the Isle of Man . . . this time with a boat !

Kittiwakes sitting quietly on the ledges . . .

. . . some not so quietly.

A Herring Gull in full adult plumage.

The whiteness is the guano from the birds staining the cliff.

Reaching up and out there's a good view of the birds on the cliff face.

More Kittiwakes . . . so called because of the sound of their call.

There were plenty of birds about but most of them were flying en-mass up and down the cliffs.

Sometimes they landed on the water and changed their collective name to a "raft" of birds.

" Beware . . . low flying aircraft " . . . a rapid fly-past by a cormorant up here at cliff-top height.

Two of several Jackdaws ~ sleeker than rooks,  they are often seen singly or in pairs . . . as here today.

Sorry folks . . . no Puffins anywhere to be seen today !

Time to move on and enjoy the rest of the cliff scenery . . . here looking down on the sea-washed boulders at the base of the cliff.

One last observation point and then we walked on down to Fleswick Bay.

Harry takes the steps down . . .
. . . and so do I, cunningly disguised as a bit of cliff.

Today's little competition . . . try and find me on the second photo !

The gorse is out in the bright sunshine but the sweet coconut smell of summer hasn't developed yet.

The cliff top edge is being managed to encourage a heathland environment

in order to encourage cliff birds like the Chough to re-colonise the area.

Common Scurvey Grass on the cliff top.
This one, possibly a Sandwort, tucked in the shadows.
   
Fresh Primroses on the sunny bank opposite . . .
. . . and this broad-leafed Lesser Celandine.

With the tide out, we had chance to get down onto the beach.

Driftwood at the base of the cliffs makes a fine foreground.

I wonder over to the right hand cliffs to look at the large slabs that have fallen from the cliff over time.

Ann's photo catches the Isle of Man again way out to the left.

Wind, sea and sand weathering search out the softer rock.
Beautiful sculptures on the cliff face.

Down on the rock platform at the base of the cliffs.

The continual ebb and flow of the tide has caused runnels to form in the rock.

A colourful selection of pebbles, rounded off over time by that same movement of the sea.

A possible date of 1886 for Mr Feversfield's visit ?

Back up the muddy valley . . .
. . . and out onto the farmland.

Natural England, the conservation body, has arranged a permissive footpath back up to the road from the beach.

Time to close the gate on our walk.

A short road walk later and we were back at Tarnflatt Farm and the car.

On the way back up and over the hill, past the radio mast we parked at last week,

there is the opportunity to stop to enjoy an extensive panorama of the Western side of the Lake District Fells.

Click here or on the photo above for a Loweswatercam annotated panorama

Seven o'clock and we are back and passing Loweswater on what could be termed a glorious early spring evening.

- - - o o o - - -

 

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon Sureshot SX220, my Canon G10 or 1100D SLR digital cameras.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . a good pair of binoculars . . . and a few puffins !

Go to Top . . . © RmH . . . Email me here

Previous walk - 20th April 2013 - Red Pike and Pillar

A previous time here - 19th April 2013 - St Bees Colourful Coast ~ North

Next walk - 4th May2013 - Haystacks with Jen and Co