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Grange-over-Sands

Grange, as it's known locally, is an attractive little town set in a natural suntrap on the north shore of Morecambe Bay. Much of its Victorian charm can be credited to the Furness Railway Company, which developed the town after building the Lancaster to Whitehaven line in 1857. At Grange, the company built an elegant mile-long promenade (now traffic free) and set out the colourful ornamental gardens. Prosperous merchants built grand country homes here and it wasn't long before local residents began referring to their town as the Torquay of the North.

The route to Grange, across the sands of Morecambe Bay, is a treacherous one, though it was used not only by the Romans but
also by the monks of Furness Abbey and, later, by stagecoaches looking to shorten their journey time. Avoiding the quicksands of the bay, which have taken many lives over the centuries, is a difficult task. Back in the 16th century, the Duchy of Lancaster appointed an official guide to escort travellers over the shifting sands and also provided him with a house at Grange. The town still has an official guide who takes groups on a three-hour walk across the bay. The sands are extremely dangerous since "the tide comes in with the merciless speed of a galloping horse". A crossing should never be attempted without the help of a qualified guide.

Away from the hotels, shops, and cafés of the town, there are some lovely walks and none is more pleasant than the path behind Grange, which climbs through magnificent limestone woodlands rich in wild flowers. The path finally leads to the 727 feet Hampsfell Summit and The Hospice, a little stone tower from which there are unforgettable views over the bay and, in the opposite direction, the craggy peaks of the Lake District.

Grange is also the starting point of the Cistercian Way, an exceptionally interesting 33-mile-long footpath through the Furness peninsula to Barrow, which takes in, naturally, many Cistercian sites.