Follow the Line by Dave Rigby
Carlisle. 61 minutes by bus to Silloth, over the flatlands, No line to follow. Closed in ‘64. Fine buildings, wide streets, docks and a promenade, A morning coffee, early, they’ve just started serving. A cheese scone from the bakers to fuel the morning walk, That and the breakfast porridge. No footpath signs! No line to follow. Follow my nose, passing golf course and convalescent home To the dunes. Follow the shoreline. Sea to my right, wind in my face, sand underfoot. Oyster catchers in packs calling noisily, keeping their distance From the gulls. The slap of waves on the shore, grey skies, no rain. Follow the shoreline. Solway Firth to the right, Criffel beyond, Lakeland fells to the left, Fields, farms and open skies. A coffee shop, unexpected, in the middle of nowhere. Well, perhaps not nowhere. Fried egg in a sour dough roll, more coffee. An overheard conversation. A landslip, road and path closed. Best divert along here , he says, poi...