Arnside and Silverdale, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England, straddles the border between Lancashire and Cumbria, adjoining Morecambe Bay. One of the smallest AONBs, It covers just 29 square miles between the Kent Estuary, the River Keer and hemmed by the A6 road to the East.


The area is characterised by low hills of Carboniferous Limestone, including Arnside Knott (522 feet) and Warton Crag (535 feet), interspersed with grassland. Much of the area is covered by deciduous woodland, in which ash, oak, and hazel predominate. The coastal area contains large extents of salt marsh, although these are under threat from the shifting channel of the Kent Estuary which witnesses a small bore at high tide.

Herein lies the birthplace of 'tarmac', the large RSPB reserve of Leighton Moss and a growing artist colony... enough to tempt the walker further to discover the delights of this compact region.