Lune Estuary sunset 29 December 2019 Good light and a mackerel sky on a mild late-December day. Whooper swans –the trumpeters, grazing in pastures. They arrive from Iceland in November, returning in March. Chevron of geese calling overhead. From the coastal path we hear the plaintive call of redshank and whistling widgeon. And the bubbling call of curlew I had thought to hear only in spring display flight.
Heysham Power Station appears through changing light, softened toward sunset. Plover Scar Lighthouse lies off the promontory where oystercatcher are roosting- oystercatcher that overwinter on the coast, feeding not on oysters but on cockles and mussels. All day they roost on the rocky spit of Plover Scar. We make out a few dunlin and widgeon amongst them.
Picnic in the sun on the sea wall by Cockersand Abbey, deep mud at the entrance to the 13th century Chapter House which is all that remains of the abbey although earthworks indicate the outline of extensive structures. Then the door is opened and we have the opportunity to look inside. There’s a display about Cockersand Abbey and we learn much more from a local man, Mr Parkinson. His father was a fisherman for salmon, cockles and mussels. He’s the last in a family of fisherfolk of over 300 years. They moved from Tomlinson Farm to Lighthouse Cottage when his father manned the lights. He took gasoline to the Plover Scar Lighthouse as soon as he could climb the ladder and pour in the gasoline as a boy of eight, twice a day at low tide before going to school and after school. In the massive wall of Lighthouse Cottage there’s a door through which he walked out to the Plover Scar Lighthouse. Within is a second light and vessels seeking the Lune Channel lined up the 2 lights to locate it precisely. There’s an upper window angled to look north and south, once his bedroom . It would be perfect for sunset-watch.
Glasson is the port for Lancaster. Grain now imported is mainly used for animal feed. Imported grain from Ireland, timber from the West Indies was used by Waring and Gillow whose furniture was re-exported to the USA. The first cotton bales coming to Glasson were ballast. With the realisation it could be spun it was sent to the Manchester cotton mills.
Cockersand was the mother abbey of Shap and one of the three richest abbeys in Lancashire. Dissolved in the second round of Henry V111 closures, with Mr Kitchen over-seeing the dissolution in 1539. The Dalton family acquired the land and buildings, renovating and reusing the Chapter House as their mausoleum . There were cloisters between the Chapter House and the sea. A perfect place for contemplation.
Masonry from the abbey was used in all the farms along the coast- the red sandstone we see below the sea wall. Farms are built on little clay islands, like Bank House Farm and Kendal Hill Farm. Cockersand Abbey would often have been an island itself and in medieval times it was known as Santa Maria de Marisco- Our Lady of the Marshes. There’s an account of an abbot of Shap requiring guidance through the marshes. Reaching the coast at the Lune Estuary we look down on tidal salt marsh threaded with inlets. The sea wall will keep out the tide that would once have flooded the salt marsh and channels about Bank House Farm indicate changes to hydrology Swans graze in pastures beyond the farm. We hope to find golden plover amongst the curlew and lapwing but the light is fading and it’s hard to be sure.
Glasson is the port for Lancaster. Grain now imported is mainly used for animal feed. Imported grain from Ireland, timber from the West Indies was used by Waring and Gillow whose furniture was re-exported to the USA. The first cotton bales coming to Glasson were ballast. With the realisation it could be spun it was sent to the Manchester cotton mills.
Cockersand was the mother abbey of Shap and one of the three richest abbeys in Lancashire. Dissolved in the second round of Henry V111 closures, with Mr Kitchen over-seeing the dissolution in 1539. The Dalton family acquired the land and buildings, renovating and reusing the Chapter House as their mausoleum . There were cloisters between the Chapter House and the sea. A perfect place for contemplation.
Masonry from the abbey was used in all the farms along the coast- the red sandstone we see below the sea wall. Farms are built on little clay islands, like Bank House Farm and Kendal Hill Farm. Cockersand Abbey would often have been an island itself and in medieval times it was known as Santa Maria de Marisco- Our Lady of the Marshes. There’s an account of an abbot of Shap requiring guidance through the marshes. Reaching the coast at the Lune Estuary we look down on tidal salt marsh threaded with inlets. The sea wall will keep out the tide that would once have flooded the salt marsh and channels about Bank House Farm indicate changes to hydrology Swans graze in pastures beyond the farm. We hope to find golden plover amongst the curlew and lapwing but the light is fading and it’s hard to be sure.
The tide is going out. A long, leisurely interlude for sunset-watch. Waders in flight low over the water. Redshank feeding in the shallows. The setting sun reflects in the Irish Sea so we retrace our steps toward Bank House Farm, looking south over Cockerham Sands and the salt marsh as warm light infuses sea and shore. Curlew fly in bubbling call as the sun is poised to sink below the horizon.
The exquisite bubbling song of the curlew is the display call of the male in the breeding season. It is heard infrequently during winter, as we discovered. Curlew- bubbling is males exclusively. ( Confirmed RSPB)
One night In March 2016 Plover Scar Lighthouse was struck by a cargo vessel bound for Glasson Dock. The impact caused substantial damage, destabilising the structure, necessitating a repair and reconstruction project for the 169 year old lighthouse. When we walked here on 27 December 2016 (see blog) Plover Scar Lighthouse was shrouded in scaffolding.
See blog 27 December 2016 for an earlier visit
One night In March 2016 Plover Scar Lighthouse was struck by a cargo vessel bound for Glasson Dock. The impact caused substantial damage, destabilising the structure, necessitating a repair and reconstruction project for the 169 year old lighthouse. When we walked here on 27 December 2016 (see blog) Plover Scar Lighthouse was shrouded in scaffolding.
See blog 27 December 2016 for an earlier visit
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