Untitled Document

In Search of Ramsons.

Start. Silverdale (Shore Road).

Route. Silverdale (Shore Road) - Lindeth Road - Wolf House Cottages - Gibraltar Farm - Jack Scout - Jenny Brown's Point - Fleagarth Wood - Hollins Lane - The Chase - Silverdale Green - Emesgate Lane - Shore Road.

Notes. This isn’t something you have to search too hard to find, it isn’t something hidden under a rock on the high fells somewhere, we’re not geocaching here, you may know it as Wild Garlic. A pleasing sight of old, also known as Ramsons or Crow Garlic it thrives in damp conditions, shady woodland coating the forest floor in spring, a delightful sight flowing down the hillside producing a haze of brilliant white flowers between April and May.

This was a repeat of a short outing we did a month ago, a ramble I christened A Short Loop from Silverdale, but now the Wild Garlic should be in full bloom, the smell will be intence. The route may be the same, the tide was also in but spring is well under way with everything coming to life, a good time to be out and about.

After parking on Shore Road near Silverdale Hotel a narrow trod next to Beach Garage ushered me behind the buildings in Shore Gardens depositing me on Lindeth Road, I turned right before following the road to the Wolf House, here I joined the lane leading to Jenny Brown’s Point. I wandered passed Gibraltar Farm and Lindeth Tower soon reaching the access point to Jack Scout, the short loop round Jack Scout lead me above the highest sea cliffs in Lancashire, passed limestone scars and hidden coves, eventually depositing me back on the lane at Jenny Brown’s Point. I then picked my way around the point, passed the Brown’s Houses, thought to have started life as warehouses, followed by the Smelt Mill Chimney, a memorial to a short lived copper mining and smelting business.

Leaving the coast the path continued over the salt marsh to reach a finger-post promising passage to Fleagarth Wood, this was the route for me, this was where the woodland floor should be painted a haze of brilliant white. You find Wild Garlic all over the British Isles but this wood in a tiny corner of Lancashire for me is the place to come, I slowly wandered over the path, soaking in the atmosphere and sniffing in the wonderful aroma.

The path ended at Hollins Lane, I turned left letting the tarmac surface guide me to a finger-post inviting me to Silverdale Green. Through small meadows I wandered, through woodland above low limestone cliffs, along the fenced edge of a field, passed The Chase to access Silverdale Green. My route then dog legged right then immediately left at a sign for the church, passed a row of quaint cottages I walked, then to the left of a grand house to enter a large field, field paths in turn guided me behind bungalows followed by St Johns Church to a track accessing Emesgate Lane. Emesgate Lane then guided me back into Silverdale village where I grabbed some lunch before heading back to the car.

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