transformed<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen the tide is out, it is tempting to walk out across the beaches left behind, and you could almost imagine being able to walk all the way across from Cumbria to Scotland (or vice versa).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the beautiful Solway is also potentially incredibly dangerous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first clue to the Solway dangers lies in the frequent signs along the road through from Burgh, warning you the road ahead can sometimes flood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And those salt marshes are boggy \u2013 it’s easy to get a boot full of cold water.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the big twin dangers are the sands and the tide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strong currents mean the sands are ever-shifting; there are hidden trenches. And when the tide sweeps in, it does so fast. You can out-run it, but if you are on a sand \u2018island\u2019, and it sweeps in between you and the shore\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are just a few reports from times past of tragedies in the Solway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Solway dangers 1790-1830<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1790.<\/strong> Joseph Jackson, a Whitehaven tide waiter, was buried at Bowness on November 29. He had drowned three months before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n1819<\/strong>. June. A \u2018great number\u2019 of farmers, cattle dealers and others had safely crossed the Solway from Scotland \u2013 under the direction of a guide from Bowness \u2013 to attend a fair. But some of them deviated from the safe route and fell into a deep creek, called the Stonepits. Four men drowned: W Graham, innkeeper, Dumfries; J Ferguson, farmer, Oakshill; J Frood, farmer at Robbiewhat, and his servant (not named in the news report).<\/p>\n\n\n\n1820.<\/strong> Four fishemen drowned while coming ashore with their nets in an open boat near Bowness on Solway. It sank about half a mile from the shore, overladen and with the tide flowing in upon them. Cries for help were heard, but no assistance could be rendered.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTheir names were John Pattinson, Richard Pattinson (brothers). Jacob Bell, and unrelated William Bell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1830, November.<\/strong> William Coile drowned while attempting to cross the Solway with an ass and cart. He was heading to Carlisle, to buy earthenware.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nSolway dangers \u2013 Joseph Brough<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1836, September.<\/strong> Mrs Isabella Irving, 40, of Wigton, and Sarah Ann Miller, 22 (daughter of Mr Haines, one of the Preventive Officers stationed at Bowness) lost their lives in the Solway. A seasoned guide and ferryman called Joseph Brough of Battlehill had refused to take them back across from Scotland, as the wind was easterly and tide too strong to be safe. But two men who worked for someone else who kept passenger boats, agreed to take them. One was a weaver by trade, the other a farm servant. The current swept the boat against fishermen\u2019s stakes and nets, it overturned and soon sank. Hannah Haines (Sarah\u2019s sister) and a little girl called Eliza Bragg were saved, after clinging to the nets and stakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n1839, June.<\/strong> Robert Taylor, a \u2018young man from Wigton,\u2019 who had accompanied a marriage party to Gretna drowned trying to cross the Solway opposite Bowness on his way home.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe 1836 report tells us Joseph Brough knew the dangers of the Solway, and the hazards posed by stakes and nets. By 1851, he\u2019d been ferrying people from the Scottish side to Port Carlisle and back for a good 40+ years. But the Solway dangers remain even for the most experienced locals<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1851.<\/strong> In August that year, Joseph Brough’s boat collided with nets and capsized as he was taking five passengers from the Cumbrian side. Two of the party \u2013 Annan draper Walter Park and Port Carlisle draper Anthony Nelson \u2013 survived by clinging to the nets. But an Annan draper called John Scott and his wife drowned, along with an agricultural servant called John Beck. The body of Joseph Brough was found in the Newby nets two days after the tragedy. He\u2019d made the crossing safely many thousands of times over the decades, but for some reason took the chance this one day of leaving later than they should.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSolway dangers 1856-79<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1856.<\/strong> Three girls drowned in the Solway, in the stretch between Port Carlisle and Kirkland House. Margaret Hinde, 15, and Jane Hodgson, 14, fell into deep water while out paddling, and Isabella Hinde, 13, who tried to help them, met the same fate. Several people ran to help, but were too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n1872, July.<\/strong> A group of 15 haaf-net fishermen were out off Port Carlisle when one of them stepped off the sand into deep water and was swept away by the tide. John Thompson, a blacksmith from Port Carlisle, was a good swimmer, but the tide was too strong and his companions unable to do anything to save him. He was just 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n1879.<\/strong> David Ward, 31, of Bowness, got out of his depth and drowned while out haaf-net fishing. He\u2019d gone out alone, and had only been working as a fisherman for a week so didn\u2019t know the estuary well enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nWith that in mind…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Enjoy your visit. If you simply respect the sands and tides, it is an amazing place to go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Solway dangers. The Solway firth \u2013 or frith, on old maps \u2013 is a beautiful waterway, with stunning views from both sides and a great place to watch wading birds foraging for food. Or to forage for mushrooms yourself on the salt marsh. A huge area on the Cumbrian side is a designated Area of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2643,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[251,78,84],"class_list":["post-2642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cumbria-history","tag-bowness-on-solway","tag-port-carlisle","tag-solway"],"yoast_head":"\n
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