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Our overnight stopover at YHA Arnside, on the way home from Scotland, was a relief between two long hot car journeys; though thanks to a hold-up on the M6 shortly before our turn off, I just missed the tidal bore running up Morecambe Bay into the Kent estuary here. As we passed the pier at Arnside in the car just before 3pm, it was very crowded; beachgoers watching the water, as if in anticipation. While my Munros Man cowered in the shade, in the YHA garden, I walked down the nearby path to the shore. The tide was now coming in, so the estuary was looking much fuller. I'm not sure there whether they'd have been an obvious tidal bore wave here today; the tidal cycle coming down to neap tide early the next week; but I got a pretty good look last year, during a higher tide. According to the tide table on the pier, high tide today was 15:49 BST. If, as it said on the table, it began flooding in two and half hours before highwater, it was a bit late; though perhaps that meant spring tides. As I strolled along the beach the current seemed to be winding down now, and the water didn't come up as far as it did when I saw the tide flood in here last year.
After dinner at the YHA, we came back down to the shore in the evening, the tide now going out. I sketched, then we wandered to the pier and enjoyed the sunset behind the hills on the far side of the estuary, just after 9.00pm. In contrast to the car journey, I now felt a good summer vibe; even the music playing from the lads' radio on the pier blended into it. Strangely, found myself gazing up through the windows above the shop which sold expensive gifts but good ice creams; the low light showing up the interiors.
