Arnside

Arnside
Arnside on the River Kent
Population	2,301 (2001)
OS grid reference	SD4578
Civil parish	Arnside
District	South Lakeland
Shire county	Cumbria
Region	North West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CARNFORTH
Postcode district	LA5
Dialling code	01524
Police	Cumbria
Fire	Cumbria
Ambulance	North West
UK Parliament	Westmorland and Lonsdale

Arnside is a village and civil parish in Cumbria, England. It faces the estuary of the River Kent on the north eastern corner of Morecambe Bay, within the Arnside and Silverdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It lies within the historic county of Westmorland, near the border with Lancashire, and has a population of 2,301.

The village lies on the railway line to West Cumbria, which passes over the River Kent via the Arnside viaduct. Up to the 19th century, the village had been used as a local port, but the building of the viaduct caused the estuary to silt up.

The oldest building in the parish is Arnside Tower, a Peel tower built in the 14th/15th century as a refuge against raids from Scots and the Border Reivers. The town is overlooked by Arnside Knott, a hill that rises out of the estuary.

Transport

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View of the Kent Estuary from Arnside Knott

Arnside railway station, which serves the village, is located on the Furness Line giving connections to Barrow-in-Furness, Ulverston, Grange-over-Sands, Carnforth and Lancaster.

The line was opened in 1857 by the Ulverston and Lancaster Railway, which was taken over by the Furness Railway 26 May 1862. The Furness Railway's Hincaster Branch ran from 26 June 1876, connecting to the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway at Hincaster, which is now part of the West Coast Main Line (WCML). Passenger services ended on the branch on 4 May 1942 and the lines were removed in 1966.

There are a few bus services which run through the village including the 552 and 553.

Tides

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With each high tide Arnside is subjected to a very fast rising tide. Because of the potential danger warning notices are posted at the pier, and an audible warning is sounded before every high tide (in daylight). The sequence of warnings is:-

1. Eight sounds on the Siren - around 2.25 h before high tide
2. Eight sounds on the Siren - around 1.75 h before high tide
3. Twelve sounds on the Siren - around 1.25 h before high tide when the incoming tide is just visible from the Coastguard station (location of the Siren 54.199°N 2.841°W / 54.199; -2.841 )

The cause of this fast tide is a combination of the large area of Morecambe Bay, narrowing rapidly at Arnside, plus the second highest tidal range (at Barrow-in-Furness, which can be as much as 32 feet (9.8 m) on a spring tide nearest the Spring and Autumn equinox: these typically give rise to a tidal bore, which may be as high as 12 inches (30 cm), and are often used by canoeists.

Image gallery

• Railway viaduct over the Kent estuary near Arnside
  Railway viaduct over the Kent estuary near Arnside

External links

• Arnside Gateway - local on-line resources
• Arnside Photos Photos of Arnside
• Arnside Online Arnside Online
• Arnside Parish Council
• On an 1862 "6 inch" map. This is from the Ordnance Survey of Westmorland. (The view on the 1848-1850 map of Lancashire and Furness is misleading - it was outside the surveyors' area and they have left it as an outline only.)
• Arnside - on-line resource
• Panoramic Photo from Arnside promenade
• http://www.railscot.co.uk/Hincaster_Branch/frame.htm
• I Love Arnside & Silverdale Blog