I woke up in a grumpy mood for the third day in a row today. Turns out camping isn’t comfortable for a few days, then it is and then it isn’t again. Not sure what that’s all about.

So anyway, I left the campsite feeling rubbish and cold. This continued at Maryport where I was blown about looking at the lighthouse (an odd thing) on the end of the pier.

If the wind wasn’t bad enough, I then got to Whitehaven where, apparently, they were having a big old fair/carnival for the Jubilee. So, there I was weaving in and out of the revellers in my hunt for the four, yes four, lighthouses (including the one pictured, which I think looks like it belongs in a circus). They were fairly easy to find, being nicely positioned on the end of each pier.

While I was in Whitehaven I had a glance towards St Bees (just to the south) in the hope that I would have an amazingly clear view of the lighthouse on the headland, but no such luck. The reason I was, in fact, hoping for this was because I knew that to see it properly it was going to involve a walk (and a long one at that).

However, as only a lighthouse-obsessive does, I braved it, not knowing exactly how far it would be. It was somewhat steep to begin with as expected when you walk from a beach to a cliff top. After that it was mainly plain sailing with some good views. What worked in my favour this time though was that I could actually see the lighthouse from about two miles away so that spurred me on. As my avid followers may remember there have been a couple of cases where I have attempted to approach a lighthouse on foot and given up due to the lack of signs of said lighthouse after a certain distance. The lighthouse itself was somewhat unimpressive and, as is common in these parts, a bit rusty. It was worth it for the walk though, which also managed to shake my bad mood. Double success!

After a long walk I was ready for a fair old drive to Haverigg, which is where I now write to you from. I am currently walking back down the sea wall-esque feature from Hodbarrow Point lighthouse. Now, if I thought some of the others I’d seen today looked a bit weathered, then this one is going for full on erosion. It’s rusty and some of the glass panels have smashed. Needless to say, this one is no longer in operation. What surprised me though was that they had a display panel nearby telling you about the lighthouse and showing a picture of it looking somewhat chirpier in the not-so-distant past. Very odd!

Oops, should probably look where I’m going. Nearly stepped in a massive puddle.

Until tomorrow, my friends! 🙂