Yorkshire Walks

Silverdale

Map based on Ordnance Survey mapping by permission of Ordnance Survey on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. © Crown Copyright.

Distance 3.5 miles (6km)
Allow 1.5-2 hours
Terrain saltmarsh, woodland and country lanes
Map OS Pathfinder 636
Public Transport Bus services to Silverdale. Rail to Silverdale station (1 mile away)
Parking Silverdale

Little imagination is required to understand why this corner of Lancashire has long been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Silverdale Hotel along Shore Road has a large beer garden, especially pleasant on warm days. It is a popular hotel both with locals and visitors, and welcomes walkers, children, and dogs (in certain areas only). Bar meals, including many 'specials' are served daily, and include selections suitable for vegetarians. Tel 01524 701206.

From the hotel turn right and walk down Shore Road to reach the foreshore, which quite often floods. Go forward along the saltmarsh (signposted: Lancashire Coastal Way: The Cove), keeping close to projecting rock outcrops, to reach The Cove, conspicuous by a cave low down in a cliff directly ahead. When you reach The Cove, branch right on a broad track leaving the foreshore, and go through a double gate up Cove Road (signposted: Silverdale Station). At the top of the road, at a T-junction, bear left (signposted: Arnside) and walk along the road for about 200yds/m, and then leave it at a bend, on a footpath signposted for Arnside Tower. Through an iron gate go forward to reach the edge of a caravan park, where you meet a surfaced lane. Head along the lane, and soon branch left along Elm Grove. Keep following the lane until, at a junction near a waymark, you can leave the caravan site along a path flanked by hazel, hawthorn, holly and bramble. Pass through a gate and keep forward, with Arnside Knott directly ahead, following a path that soon leads to Arnside Tower.

Arnside Tower; thought to have been built in the 15th century, amply testifies to the need in those days to maintain defensive strongholds against marauding Scots. It is a large, oblong pele tower and stands in a splendid position, and though it is now in ruins, part of its corbelled parapet can still be seen, and some idea gained of its former stature.

As you approach the tower go through a gap beside a gate, and bear left following a wall going down to Arnside Tower Farm. On reaching the farm, turn right in front of it, initially on a concrete surface, following a footpath/track signposted to Middlebarrow. The track leads straight to the edge of Middlebarrow Wood, where another gap gives access to the woodland. Enter the wood on a track (signposted: Middlebarrow and Black Dyke) initially descending. At a junction, keep forward (still signposted for Middlebarrow), and soon walking parallel with the railway. As you leave the woodland, near a quarry, bear left to cross the railway line, with care. Follow the on-going road which soon bends right, bound for Waterslack.

After about a quarter of a mile, when the opportunity arises, leave this quiet back lane, on the right, to recross the railway line (signposted: Waterslack and Eaves Wood). Go up the lane opposite, passing through a gate to reach Eaves Lee Farm, and on leaving the farm turn right into the National Trust Eaves Wood (signposted) at a gap beside a gate. Take either of the paths that lead into the wood, and shortly turn left at a path junction. When the path forks once more, ignore the left branch through a wide gap in a wall, and bear right instead climbing easily beside a wall. Pass through the wall at an old gateway and then keep forward ignoring turnings right and left.

When the track forks once more, branch left (yellow waymark), and a short way on leave the main track for a path descending on the left to a wall corner, from where a path, fenced on the left, runs down the edge of a large open pasture to a road. Cross the road and go down Bottoms Lane, and after about 300yds/m leave the road, on the right, at a footpath (signposted: To St John's Church). Go forward along the field edge, beside a drystone wall. The path goes through a gate in the wall and then continues in the same direction to a stile giving onto a narrow path between and wall and a hedgerow. At the end of the path, turn right on a track (signposted: Emesgate Lane), and follow this out to reach the main road. Turn left up the road towards the village centre. Go through the village and on the other side turn right on a road signposted to the shore, and follow this back to the Silverdale Hotel.

From 'Pub Walks in Lancashire' by Terry Marsh

The information given in this walk has been provided in good faith and is intended only as a general guide. Whilst all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that details were correct at the time of publication, the author and Country Publications Ltd cannot accept any responsibility for inaccuracies. It is the responsibility of individuals undertaking outdoor activities to approach the activity with caution and, especially if inexperienced, to do so under appropriate supervision. The activity described in this walk is strenuous and individuals should ensure that they are suitably fit before embarking upon it. They should carry the appropriate equipment and maps, be properly clothed and have adequate footwear. They should also take note of weather conditions and forecasts, and leave notice of their intended route and estimated time of return.