We left Denby at 0630 yesterday. A little sorry to leave our cosy ex-farm complex, which had offered pretty much perfect accommodation:



We were heading up to Heysham to catch the ferry to the Isle of Man. And it wasn't the most promising of travel days. In fact, if I said we had five minutes without rain during the whole day, I'd probably be stretching the truth. It was more like two minutes...


The route was odd. Whether this was one of Ms G. Maps's weirdo specials, or a perfectly sensible way to get from Denby to Heysham, I don't know. But we started out on byways that were ultra-scenic (well, they would have been ultra-scenic, if they hadn't been mostly blotted out by rain clouds), but slightly slow-going, and ended up in rain-clogged queues on motorways.

The trip took five hours, but then we did have a fairly lengthy breakfast stop (a picnic in the car followed by coffee at Costa), and we also added a detour to Mrs Kirkham's to buy cheese (this has become a traditional stop on the way to the ferry, regardless of where we're coming from).


We were due to sail at 1415. At 1130, just before reaching the port, we checked the app again, and found the sailing had been delayed until 1515.

Aghhh, too long to spend camped in a cafe, plus too wet to want to do much walking. We generally just get on and walk, in defiance of the weather, but there's a limit to how wet you want to get when you have nearly four hours on a boat to look forward to... Unsure, we headed up the coast to Morecambe, and after disconsolately viewing the weather through the windscreen for a while, we steeled ourselves for a drippy walk.









You're not five minutes in Morecambe before you're aware of LOTS of bird art. And it's all down to the TERN Art Project:


Anything tern-related is by definition good, of course: "Celebrating the birds and other diverse wildlife of Morecambe Bay, the TERN project is a stunning series of various award-winning sculptures situated along Morecambe’s seafront and promenade. Steel cormorants, gannets and razorbills sit proudly on the roundabouts on Central Drive and on the top of bollards in the sea railings."

A few examples:







After this, back to Heysham.

There was a further delay on the ferry, and we weren't under way until 1545. The crossing also seemed to take an unusually long time (a full four hours instead of the more usual three and a half). And since yesterday's sailing had been cancelled on account of bad weather, the boat was fuller than we'd seen it in a while. Still, we snagged some unreserved seats in the lounge; the cafe was functioning; the crossing was pretty smooth. Could have been much worse.

Then the dark drive to The Lhen, in the north of the Island. You head along the main east-west route; then you turn off, and wind your way along quiet roads; finally, you turn off onto the lane, and onto the grassy area, and there's your house: Thatched, gorgeous, and warm and cosy inside.




Not the easiest day's travel, but -- good to arrive...

There are a couple of other cottages nearby, but it's dark here at night, and very quiet.

It wasn't until this morning that we realized how totally lovely this place is. When we looked out of the window, we spotted rabbits in the garden. When we opened the door, we heard nothing but birdsong, and the sea just down the lane. Idyllic:




My favourite Island. So glad to be back...