Arnside Dog Walk

		Arnside Dog Walk

There are a myriad of Reasons to be here, ‘up North’, but today they were: clear skies, sunshine, a man fishing in a pink tutu and a robin which allowed me to watch his brunch from incredibly close quarters.

This was a regular Arnside dog walk after chores in the village. Arnside features a lot in my life. The walks always change and there is the contrast of the sea and a hill, The Knot, which has views from Heysham Power Station in the south and over to the Northern peaks of Cumbria. It was totally beautiful again today and was enhanced by all the above but also, while grappling with the dog lead (see next paragraph) and trying not to slip in the mud, I heard a mixture between a rumble and a wave and notice that the tidal bore was fast coming towards me. Being absent from the area for so long I was, at the beginning of the year, unable to remember how dramatic this was, but this is third time I have been around as this particular phenomenon was forced in through the narrow end of Morecambe Bay, spreading over the estuary in spectacular abandon.

The only mar was the massacre of pheasants which could be heard loud and clear all across the estuary. I am pretty ambivalent of this practice as it does bring in industry and I do eat meat but it drives my dog demented. She is absolutely and totally petrified of gunshot and fireworks. She turns from a well behaved individual into a quivering wreck who pulls away from whatever direction the gun sounds come from.