Arnside

Arnside
Westmorland
Arnside on the River Kent
Location
Grid reference:	SD457784
Location:	54°11’56"N, 2°49’55"W
Data
Population:	2,301  (2001)
Post town:	Carnforth
Postcode:	LA5
Dialling code:	01524
Local Government
Council:	Westmorland & Furness
Parliamentary constituency:	Westmorland and Lonsdale

Arnside is a village in the very south of Westmorland. It stands on the estuary of the River Kent on the north-eastern corner of Morecambe Bay, within the spur of Westmorland that separates Lancashire into its two parts, north and south of the sands. The whole village is within the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The village lies on the Furness Line, the railway line which runs from Lancaster across the estuary into Furness and on to the Cumberland coast, a line which passes over the River Kent on the Arnside viaduct. Up to the 19th century, the village had been used as a local port, but the building of the viaduct caused the estuary to silt up.

The oldest building in the parish is Arnside Tower, a Peel tower built in the 14th/15th century as a refuge against raids from Border Reivers.

Arnside is overlooked by Arnside Knott, a hill that rises out of the estuary.

The Railway

Railway viaduct over the Kent estuary near Arnside

Arnside railway station is on the Furness Line giving connections to Barrow-in-Furness, Ulverston, Grange-over-Sands, Carnforth and Lancaster.

The line was opened in 1857 by the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway, which was taken over by the Furness Railway on 26 May 1862. The Furness Railway's Hincaster Branch ran from 26 June 1876, connecting to the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway at Hincaster until 4 May 1942.

Footpath over the Sands

The Kent Estuary

The two parts of Lancashire are joined by the sands, though at high tide the Irish Sea beats between them and to landward Westmorland separates them at Arnside. The estuary has a wide tidal range and at the flood the Kent estuary is over a mile and a half wide.

Two ancient footpaths across the sands, public rights of way still marked on the maps of which one route runs the 8 miles over the sands between Arnside and Grange-over-Sands in Lancashire. The other, from Hest Bank on the other side of Morecombe Bay, is yet longer.

Only at the ebb is it possible to walk across the sands, but even then the sands are treacherous and the tide swift, and without an experienced guide, setting forth on the footpath will often be a fatal undertaking.

Before the railway these routes were the main land route to Furness, but it was always hazardous. The King's Guide to the Sands was first employed by King Henry VIII to lead travellers across the treacherous sands, and the position is still maintained; the Queen's Guide to the Sands will still lead the intrepid across the bay from Arnside, or once a year from Hest Bank, testing the ever-changing surface, watching for the quicksands, placing hazel trigs in the sand as he goes to mark the way.

Tides

With each high tide Arnside is subjected to a very fast rising tide. Because of the potential danger warning notices are posted at the pier, and an audible warning is sounded before every high tide (in daylight). The sequence of warnings is:

1. Eight sounds on the Siren - around 2.25 hours before high tide
2. Eight sounds on the Siren - around 1.75 hours before high tide
3. Twelve sounds on the Siren - around 1.25 hours before high tide when the incoming tide is just visible from the Coastguard station

The cause of this fast tide is a combination of the large area of Morecambe Bay, narrowing rapidly at Arnside, plus the second highest tidal range (at Barrow, which can be as much as 32 feet on a spring tide nearest the Spring and Autumn equinox, and these typically give rise to a tidal bore, which may be as high as 12 inches, and is often ridden by canoeists.

References

Arnside Pele Tower

Outside links

• Arnside Gateway - local on-line resources
• Arnside Photos Photos of Arnside
• Arnside Online Arnside Online
• Arnside Parish Council
• Guide to the Walk over the Sands
• Panoramic Photo from Arnside promenade
• The Hincaster Branch Line