Railway journeys: the Furness Line

Sketch map: Morecmabe Bay and the Furness Line

Travelling around a lot by train as I do (or did before the current unpleasantness) I've learned that I can see a lot of birdlife from through the window as we move along. In fact it's easier than by car or bus because there tends to be more open space around the line and chugging along on local lines involves a lot of stopping for points and stations and a leisurely pace between them. Mind you, as I get older my reaction times and eyesight aren't what they used to be so a lot of small brown jobs have to remain small brown jobs these days. Even if the balances are tilted towards larger birds it can still be very rewarding. Travelling on the Furness Line to Barrow is a case in point. I'd spotted the potential travelling to Millom to visit Hodbarrow Reserve and since I found out about the old man's cheap day explorer I've taken to tagging this onto a visit to Leighton Moss.

I'll only be mentioning these key birdwatching sites in passing in this post:

• Pine Lake (a mile from Carnforth Station)
• Leighton Moss (five minutes' walk from Silverdale Station)
• South Walney (about two and a half miles from Barrow-in-Furness Station, I've not done this yet)
• Hodbarrow (about twenty minutes' walk from Millom Station)

Starting from Lancaster make sure you've got a window seat on the left-hand side. These are a few highlights:

• Just after you leave Lancaster the line goes over the River Lune. There are always gulls kicking about, keep an eye out for waders at low tide. The ducks always seem to be mallard.

• Just after the junction with the line to Bare Lane and Morecambe the line comes close to the shore at Hest Bank. You've a fleeting chance of seeing much but there may be curlews, oystercatchers or little egrets in the fields between here and Carnforth,

• Leaving Carnforth the train passes by a stretch of salt marsh which opens up into the pools that you can see from the Eric Morecambe Hide at Leighton Moss. You can get a fair view of these pools as the train slows for the level crossing and Silverdale Station. Shelduck, greylags and little egrets are the most obvious birds along this stretch and pied wagtails can be surprisingly easy to spot. Anything much smaller than a lapwing or redshank will be a challenge. Wigeon, teal and pintail can be seen in the Winter, in the Summer you may find an avocet or two though these are usually on the Allen pool which is a bit further out from the line with a line of trees in the way. You may strike lucky with a great white egret or even one of the Foulshaw opsreys on its way out for a fishing expedition.

• As you leave Arnside the line crosses the Kent Estuary then runs along the salt marsh into Grange over Sands. Gulls, shelduck and little egrets tend to be the easiest to see from the train. The views can be rather nice, too.

Arnside

Approaching Grange-over-Sands

• The line carries on besides the salt marsh between Grange and Kents Bank then runs inland over to Cark. Not long after Cark you return to a long stretch of salt marsh then the long bridge over the River Leven. Most of the waders will be redshanks and oystercatchers, if it's low tide check the muddy creeks close to the line just in case. You might find a couple of red-breasted mergansers in the deeper channels and you may also see the odd group of eiders.

Leven Estuary

From here on in it's inland through farmland and small towns to Barrrow in Furness. If the train times are kind you may be able to make a connection for the Cumbrian Coast Line to Carlisle. It's a short hop on here to Millom where in Summer you can spend a couple of hours walking round Hodbarrow for the little terns that nest in the mixed tern colony.