My short stay in silloth was epic. But the time soon came for me to put on my pack and say goodbye to my trusty tarp. Iain had sent down a new tent and sleeping mat for my birthday. Now back in England these would be essential pieces of kit. With less trees and the restrictive wild camping laws the use of a tarp would be too challenging and i still had a long way to go.
Having been escorted from the boathouse around the port and pointed in the right direction along the beach i set off towards Allonby where I'd been told to look out for a surf bar. Being a surf bar i felt fairly confident it would be situated near to the coast and I'd at some point bump into it.
The hike from silloth along the beach was easy going and it didn't take me long to reach the small coastal village of Allonby. As I'd suspected the surf bar was next to the coast and very easy to spot. It was now around lunch time and i was feeling a little peckish. I'd been told to ask for peter blake the owner who would take care of me. Not only did peter offer me a room, which i decided to decline as it wss still too early to stop, but i was also given a delicious roast turkey dinner with strawberry cheesecake desert. Peter is quite the character, larger than life, a bit like alison.
While sat at the bar chatting away and sipping my orange juice and lemonade in walked a young lady. She came straight over to me and in a very confident voice said "are you doing the coast to coast?". "Yes" i replied "I'm following the coast so i suppose you could say I'm doing 'the coast'!". Claire had decided the day before quite spontaneously that she would cycle the coast to coast route. Its people like that who really interest me. It was a shame she couldn't stop longer as i felt she had a few interesting stories to spout. I asked if she was on Facebook so i could follow her exploits, "sure, search for Nige migel!" She replied. I wanted to find out more about this nige migel but before I could ask lunch was served and claire / nige had hopped onto her bike and like the wind was gone.
Fully refueled i left the surf bar and headed back to the beach. It was a fair old hike and with the tide out i was able to keep to the shore all the way to the harbour walls. Arriving in Maryport during the twilight hours i headed to the local Maryport rescue boathouse to meet some of the crew. The Maryport lifeboat is not associated with the rnli but as with all the community run rescue services i was welcomed with a coffee and biscuit before being shown round and told about the services history.
The boathouse had once been used by the rnli during the mid 1800's and later moved to Workington where the water was much deeper allowing for a larger all weather boat. The dedication of all the crews I'd met on my trip were exceptionally inspiring. As i was about to set off to find somewhere to pitch my new tent i was informed that a room in a b n b had been arranged for me at the sailors return, a big supporter of the local lifeboat. Living a humble existence is always enlightened by the generosity and random acts of kindness by strangers.
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