Day 143 Barrow in Furness to Grange over Sands

 

Date: Sunday 18^th August 2013   Distance: 33.13 Miles

 

We left our son’s house but it was bucketing down with rain again as it had been when we arrived the night before. We would catch the 10.52 train from Grange over Sands (with bike) and we arrived there in sun, a pretty place with a park and hanging baskets everywhere. The journey back to Barrow was lovely right on the coast and we arrived by 11.30 again in bright sunshine. The wind was behind us when we set off on the bike and for most of the way to Ulverston.

 

We soon had the sea on our right and we could see Piel Island off Barrow, that Bob hopes to visit, as the pub landlord, by tradition, is crowned King of the Island. We could see across the estuary to the power stations at Heysham. There are warnings all the way along the coast of tides and quicksands.

We cycled 10 miles along mudflats. Sun and the views made up for the fairly busy traffic with cars overtaking us on bends so any chance to get off the main road we took so long as we were by the coast that is until Ulverston.

 

We passed the beautiful  modern Temple for World Peace  on the coast road before Ulverston. It was once Conishead Priory and within view of the road is an enormous Buddhist Temple which is free to enter except for guided tours which are £3.50 or free for children. The Priory now belongs to Tibetan Mahayana Buddist Monks who have restored the 1820s Gothic revival building. It and the temple seem to be a place for anybody of any faith to visit and is open till 5 in the summer from late morning and till 4 in the winter.

 

The approach to Ulverston was headed by Hoad Hill with its monument in the form of a lighthouse commemorating Sir John Barrow, geographer, explorer and Secretary to the Admiralty who was born here in 1764. It is 435 feet to the summit and leaving Ulverston we were on a road right up by the top of it. We had a lunch break at Booths but the town might have been better, full of cobbled streets frustratingly one way but with many interesting little shops.

 

As we climbed out of Ulverston the views of the Lake District were lovely and we left the sea for a bit, taking the quieter high road. This is the cycle route to take us eventually over the river Crake and Leven which joined roughly where we crossed over. We liked the pretty lanes with glimpses of the sea at odd times. Then it was off road through open land and then woodland. A road used by walkers and cyclists took us down to the B road going round the bottom of the peninsula taking us to Grange over Sands. Then it was winding and busy so not a lot of fun. We took a diversion at the end along another country lane and met with a long, long ford caused by the heavy rain. Again we managed to get through before the wheels stopped turning with our feet high above the pedals but even so mud splattered over my helmet. It was with some relief we came into the Victorian town of Grange over Sands in sunshine yet again. It had been 33 miles.