The Border Is Close

Quintin Lake faces a testing few days as he approaches the Scottish border in his coastal walk

IT’S six days’ walk before I cross the border, but I’ve just had the first glimpse of Scotland across the Solway Firth, misty and undulating in the distance. I wasn’t expecting this first view to stir my soul.

Whitehaven was once the third largest trading port in the UK, exporting coal worldwide. The impressive scale and handsome engineering of the harbour only accentuate the melancholy feeling now its whole purpose is redundant.