A Day in the Duddon

As the overnight rains cleared away, we went west to near Millom and the mouth of the Duddon Estuary. By chance, we came across a lovely swimming spot, but neither of us quite fancied getting in. 

Instead, we made a six kilometre hike around the RSPB Bird Reserve at Hodbarrow, which was alive with terns, geese, swans and a few lapwings too.

We'd missed the high tide, but the views were still good as the clouds moved inland and the blue sky battled to take over. 

In the afternoon, we ventured further up the Duddon Valley to find a gorge that I had visited years ago. The long and winding road eventually got us to where I was hoping it would!

The deep water under Birks Bridge is both alluring and scary looking.

There was no one around, so we got the blanket out and just chilled for a bit, listening to a book and watching fish jump from the water.

Then, before we lost the psych, it was time to get in!

We swam right up the gorge and under the bridge. I was going to bring the snorkels from the van, but you could actually see all the way to the bottom in the crystal clear water.

I thought that it felt like the warmest river I'd been in, but that might just be because the sun wasn't out and I already felt a bit nippy!

Under the bridge, there was a natural rick arch, which we swam under and also tried to swim upstream against the rapids until the water was too strong to go against. 

Magical to have the whole gorge (and seemingly the whole valley) to ourselves. We got out, just before the shivering took over entirely, then made our way back to the bench outside the house, which was still bathed in warm evening sunshine