The Wild Isle

I paid a visit with my family on Saturday to Barrow-in-Furness, to see my beloved auntie. My family on my dad’s side hail from Barrow and it always feels like going home whenever I visit the area.

Barrow gets a bad press but it’s surrounded by beautiful beaches and coastline and is a short drive to the Lake District.

No visit to Barrow would be complete without nipping over to the beautiful Walney Island.

Walney is special to me for many reasons and I want to share some amazing facts with you with the aim of giving you a flavour as to why this unique place means so much to me.

I have been visiting Walney since my earliest childhood memories, my auntie had a caravan on the island and we spent many family holidays there, I have such happy recollections of my brother and I playing with my dog Korky on the beach and picnics with family.

Despite its proximity to Barrow and quite a large built up area towards the north of the island, Walney is fairly remote, particularly the far southern and northern tips of the island. I love how you can be in Barrow town centre and then within a 10 minutes drive you are staring across the Irish Sea with, on a clear day, views across as far as the Isle of Man, north Wales and even the Galloway hills in Scotland.

Walney is where Morecambe Bay opens into the Irish Sea at its southern tip and the northern tip of the island forms part of the southern edge of the Duddon Estuary. All these bodies of waters are important breeding and feeding grounds for sea birds, including a herring and lesser black-back gull colony at South Walney Nature Reserve, which is of national importance. Arctic, little and sandwich terns are also summer visitors to the reserve. Over 250 species of birds have been recorded at the reserve. The Reserve is also home to the only grey seal breeding colony in Cumbria. I have spent many solitary moments watching the wildlife here without a care in the world.

A further nature reserve lies at the northern tip of the island, and unlike the salt marsh found at the south of the island, north Walney is sand dune rich and home to the nationally rare natterjack toad. The reserve is estimated to contain one-fifth of the national population of this rare amphibian.

Walney is also the only place in the world where you will find the Geranium ‘sanguineum var. striatu’ which is otherwise known as the Walney Geranium.

Walney is also one of the best places to see amazing sunsets, I've captured some fabulous scenes over the years, especially when the tide is out and the sunset reflects off the rocks and pebbles.

Despite only being 11 miles in length and 1 mile across from East to West, the abundance of wildlife is truly remarkable and you really can lose yourself in some of the island’s more remote places. I’ve walked along its shores on numerous occasions and not seen another soul. It really is the ideal place to repair yourself, collect your thoughts and feel truly invigorated, I highly recommend a visit.

Next time you find yourself in the area, pay a visit, in my opinion, to south Cumbria’s best kept secret and to experience the magic of this unique place.