This cache is a micro placed on the old ruined Georgian pier at Hest Bank. Whilst it is less than 300 metres from the shoreline, it is submerged by the tide twice daily and can only be accessed when the tide is out. It is inaccessible from 3.5 hours before to 3.5 hours after high water (HW). It is VERY slippery and rocky underfoot especially when walking on seaweed and the terrain is difficult so great care must be taken. Proper walking boots are recommended. It is not necessary to go onto the mudflats to access the cache, which should be approached along the old causeway from the foreshore. DO NOT attempt this cache in the dark or in fog.
The sands at Morecambe Bay are a Nature Reserve and a SSSI and one of the most important habitats for migratory and wading birds in the UK. Permission has had to be sought to place caches in and around the Bay. Whilst visiting this cache, please enjoy the beautiful views, but please respect nature and do not venture onto the sands and disturb any wildlife. On your way back why not pick up a piece of litter off the foreshore and place it in the litter bins provided?
Unfortunately, despite its beauty Morecambe Bay also has a very treacherous and dangerous side to it. Tragically, on 5th February 2004 23 Chinese cockle pickers perished in the rising tides far out in the Bay. Under no circumstances should anybody attempt to cross or venture out onto the mudflats! As well as the ever shifting channels there is also the extreme danger of quick sands! Regular cross bay walks are organised, BUT crossing is only possible at low tides and with the leadership of a professional guide. Guides have been employed by the Duchy of Lancaster since 1536 and the latest in a long line is Cedric Robinson, official Queen’s Guide.
DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS CACHE BEFORE CHECKING THE TIDE FORECASTS. Tidal information for Morecambe Bay can be found here:-
http://www.easytide.com/EasyTide/EasyTide/SelectPrediction.aspx?PortID=0440B
Hest Bank Pier
This is all that remains of a wharf built at Hest Bank by the Hest Bank Canal Company as part of an intended thriving business. In September 1820 Mr Robert Greene Bradley of Slyne, laid the foundation stone of the pier. Its purpose was to facilitate the transfer of goods out of ships from Liverpool and Glasgow up to the canal warehouse in Hest Bank village and then on to barges on the Lancaster canal. The canal warehouse was completed in 1819, and bears the date stone 1820. The large trade that was expected never materialised, largely due to the shallowness of the bay which did not attract shipping.
Hest Bank Canal Warehouse
With the building of the Furness Railway the pier finally fell into disuse only 30 years after completion. Due to the silting up of Morecambe Bay, it was submerged under meters of mud and was lost for over 150 years. Miraculously it began to re-emerge from under the sands in 2001, when the River Keer channel changed its course in the bay closer to the coastline, which resulted in the mud being washed away exposing the pier once more.
