| Arnside
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Situated on the Kent Estuary in Morecambe Bay in Cumbria Arnside is a simply fabulous place for outdoor photography, with wonderful sunsets and excellent views (when it isn't raining, of course).
Arnside Sunset SU01 |
Let's
start at the very beginning ("That's a very good place to start..etc."
- for "Sound of Music" fans). Joan
Lee reports that an early form (1208) of the name "Arnside", was "Arnuluesheved",
which apparently meant Earnwulf's headland (Old English name and word).
By the 16th century the name had changed to Arnesyd (1535) and "Ernesyden"
(1537). These are closer to the modern "Arnside" and are a good example
of how the spoken word can gradually change place names over the years.
However William Rollinson has a competing theory, which is that "Arnside" is derived from "Arni's saeter". Here the words are Old Norse, "Arni" being a personal name (maybe he was a friend of Earnwulf?) and "saeter" meaning "summer pasture". Whatever - the name in 2007 is definitely "Arnside" |
| Although perilously close
to Lancashire, Arnside managed to stay within the old county of Westmorland,
before becoming a part of Cumbria. In Wainwright's wonderful map of "The
County of Westmorland as it was on the 31st March 1974" he describes Arnside
as "Westmorland's only seaside resort" - presumably dismissing little Sandside's
claims because it lies on the wrong side (upstream) of the railway viaduct.
You can see the viaduct in the picture to the right and also in photo TR52. Its construction in 1857 was the final blow to Westmorland's only port - a short distance up the river Kent at Milnthorpe. Already in serious decline because of the opening of the Kendal to Lancaster canal in 1819 the viaduct finally closed the door - ships could not navigate beneath it. The jetty in the picture to the right suggests ships, or at least large boats, and there does seem to be plenty of water. And there is a good cover when the tide is in. But the viaduct caused the bay at Arnside to silt up and soon the waters at Arnside were no longer navigable for commercial vessels. |
Arnside Jetty (& viaduct) SE17 |
Fishing PE09 |
As a boy I used to fish
at Arnside, particularly for dabs (a type of flatfish). In those days other
fisher folk were an unusual sight. Now I'm a vegetarian and no longer fish,
but very many other people have since taken up the sport, and it can be
quite difficult to avoid other fishermen (should that be fisherpersons,
people? My mother used to fish). They will even do this in the worst of
weather conditions - see PE16.
Today I go to the dentist there ("I left my heart in San Francisco, I left my teeth in Arn...." but it doesn't scan), but above all I go for the beauty. The town itself is built of the (nice grey) limestone that forms the bulk of the exquisite Arnside Knott behind the town, and which always reminds me of Kendal (the "Auld Grey Town") where I was born. Before the nineteenth century it was very small and a part of the parish of nearby Beetham (which today we would call "very small"). The entry for Arnside in the "Cumbria Village Book" notes that in the nineteenth century it became a holiday resort, with regular visits from pleasure boats from Morecambe and Fleetwood. These landed at the jetty which was also used to land coal and to ship out (nice grey) limestone. |
| The opening of the railway
in 1857 (which runs from Carnforth to Grange-over-Sands and then to Barrow-in
Furness) made Arnside even more accessible, so the loss of navigable water
was not quite so badly felt on this side of the viaduct!
This is rightly designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and there are many lovely wooded and open limestone paths to explore. From Arnside itself you can climb Arnside Knott (fabulous views of Morecambe Bay and the Lake District mountains) and also walk along the beautiful coast. The photo on the right is of Far Arnside, close to Silverdale. |
Far Arnside SE12 |
For more examples of sunlight
at Arnside see "Arnside
Sunset" SU02, "Evening
Light" SU12, and "Evening
Light" SU13.,
and for more images from
the beautiful Arnside area see "Far
Arnside" SE12 and "Arnside
Jetty" SE17.
