BARROW-IN-FURNESS

The western end of the W2W route at Sandy Gap on Walney Island is reached by bridge from Barrow-in-Furness, one of Cumbria’s larger industrial town’s which grew from a tiny 19th Century hamlet to the biggest iron and steel centre in the world, and a major ship-building force, in just 40 years.

Walney Island is ten miles long but less than a mile wide, and has two important nature reserves. The northern one has an area for preserving Britain's rarest amphibian, the Natterjack Toad, and the southern has the largest nesting ground of Herring Gulls and Lesser Black Backed Gulls in Europe. Cycling around the island can be very pleasant with great views across Morecambe Bay and of the Lakeland fells.

Between Walney Island and Barrow is tiny Piel Island with its 14th Century castle, built by the monks of Furness Abbey to protect their harbour from the Scots. It’s reached by a summer weekends only ferry from Roa Island a few miles south of Barrow (access details from the Tourist Information Centre), but the road to get there can be busy with fast moving traffic.