Looking at the map beforehand I anticipated quiet and not particularly interesting country lanes and a tad of disappointment at not being able to be nearer the sea without tramping down a main A road.
Diversification from traditional farming proved me wrong.
After a quick look at Cockerham church outside the village I followed a short stretch with a walk-way down the A588 then turned off down those lanes.
At recent visits to my friend "Gimmer" who comments here I have learned of his predilection for goat's milk. Well I was not far down the lane before I came accross The Cockerham Herd, a farm established for twenty years selling goat's meat. They have an interesting website which is worth a look and it is also quite persuasive about their product. I have no vested interest in this enterprise - I just found it notable and thought others may also. I will be interested to find what is served up for supper next time I visit Gimmer.
Sharon & Chris Peacock
info@goat-meat.co.uk
07962812528
or 07947026849
info@goat-meat.co.uk
07962812528
or 07947026849
Another mile further on and yet another new development by a five generations farming family:
Farm Yard Ales and a jolly website worth a look:
That brings me to an interesting point. I have speculated about the profusion of littered Lucozade bottles on the roadside recently, but all the way along these lanes were not Lucozade plastic but jettisoned Carlsberg Special Brew cans. There were so many and at such relatively short intervals I could only deduce that there must be a regular alcoholic traveller along this road - that stuff is the go-to drink for dipsos. But if that was the case I would have expected the odd one of the cans to have landed in the same place as one of its predecessors? Then again if the perpetrator was walking with a rucksack full of Special Brew an accomplished binge drinker may have discarded each one at those kind of intervals. But it could also have been a passing coach of hooligans all ditching their cans randomly? I hope there is no connection between all that and the enterprising Farm Yard Ales.
North of Pilling, and after taking a wrong turn putting on half a mile for the there and back I was onto the sea banking all the way to Knott-end-on-Sea. Storm Criac was still going strong. I battled snugly through a high cross-wind with hat tightly jammed covered by my fully zipped up hood on my Paramo jacket and clad in my Rohan Barricade trousers. I enjoy being in harsh conditions when I have good gear. A hundred yards ahead of me several hundred Oystercatchers suddenly rose from the banking taking flight en-masse upwind over the sea in a massive cloud, then wheeling back to settle again on the banking another hundred yards down. That cycle was repeated half a dozen times as I continued in their direction. That was a magnificent sight and coupled with the earlier attractions this walk had produced much of interest and delight.
At Knott End I joined up with the Wyre Way walk I did in November 2016 which took me across the ferry to Fleetwood and round the Fylde to Rossall School where I hope to resume shortly.
I waited half an hour for a bus back to Cockerham and my car.
North of Pilling, and after taking a wrong turn putting on half a mile for the there and back I was onto the sea banking all the way to Knott-end-on-Sea. Storm Criac was still going strong. I battled snugly through a high cross-wind with hat tightly jammed covered by my fully zipped up hood on my Paramo jacket and clad in my Rohan Barricade trousers. I enjoy being in harsh conditions when I have good gear. A hundred yards ahead of me several hundred Oystercatchers suddenly rose from the banking taking flight en-masse upwind over the sea in a massive cloud, then wheeling back to settle again on the banking another hundred yards down. That cycle was repeated half a dozen times as I continued in their direction. That was a magnificent sight and coupled with the earlier attractions this walk had produced much of interest and delight.
At Knott End I joined up with the Wyre Way walk I did in November 2016 which took me across the ferry to Fleetwood and round the Fylde to Rossall School where I hope to resume shortly.
I waited half an hour for a bus back to Cockerham and my car.
Worth clicking first photo to see rest as a slideshow, especially the oystercatchers
 |
| Cockerham church. It is isolated on a footpath outside the village which conveniently lead me to the A588 |
 |
| The goat farm - Photoshop struggled with the colour and lighting |
 |
| No. I didn't have time to stop off and sample |
 |
| Another "one for the road" |
 |
| First sight of the sea - onto the banking all the way to Knott End |
 |
| Zoom to Heysham power station. Six miles in a straight line |
 |
| Oystercatchers ahead just about to take off and... |
 |
| ...there they go |
 |
| Wild water as the bay opens out |
 |
| Looking back towards Pilling |
 |
| Knott End-on-Sea |
 |
| East to west. The little blue route is where I took a wrong turning |
That walk blew the cobwebs away.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite cafes is the one at Knott End next to the ferry jetty.
Don't think I've ever seen so many Oystercatchers.
Did you come across the Pilling Pig?
ReplyDeleteBC - I went into the café at 3:00 pm only to be told they were closing. My bus was at 3:31pm. My last visit to Knott End was on 4th December 2016 walking the Wyre Way and I caught the ferry just in time so I could say I had made that journey. I then had to wait in Fleetwood for the return and visited The Ferry Café there.
I didn't actually walk through Pilling - I was on the embankment so the Pilling Pig may have to wait a long time for my visit. I may be going back to the goat farm to give it a try?
The Oystercatchers were my "catch" of the month (so far.)
I remember walking a section of road somewhere in the Borders which was heavily littered with Diet Coke cans, all of them with a 'multipack - not for resale' banner. We went through a similar thought process to you, coming to the conclusion that it was all the work of one car. Given the area they covered, they must have started the drink at the same point every day (presumably at the start of their journey to or from work), drunk at roughly the same rate every day, and jetisoned the can out of the window as soon as they had finished.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting for some Phd student to compile a socio/educational analysis comparing Coke/Lucozade/Carlsberg Special drinkers. Some of life's mysteries are best left unsolved but on a more serious note this littering from cars isn't one of them, but how it could be effectively policed I do not know.
ReplyDeletemy RFID system would solve all such issues - particularly on the case of car-borne littering
ReplyDelete