Today was the day. I started the Prom, Prom, Prom walks and did my first end-to-end walk of Morecambe prom. I’ve been itching to for a while, but I wanted to finish my first year of walking every day before I did and then Darren (my husband) was away over the weekend but today it all came together with availability and the weather was perfect for a first walk so after lunch I set out.

The Heysham end of the Prom is about half a mile or so from where I live and is accessed past a little outdoor cafe that was open and doing business today then down some steps to an octagonal building that I am sure I once looked up the use for. This is the prom proper, a footpath above the beach from Heysham village to the beginning of Hest Bank. I took a selfie as I started today because it seemed a good idea to do so at the start of something and it felt quite like starting an adventure.

I am used to walking a mile, sometimes two so I had no qualms at all about starting this. However, I rarely walk further than a couple of miles, and those days when I do tend to be days when I am on holiday, wandering around tourist places with lots of coffee stops and that is a bit different from walking straight for 4 to 5 miles. I hit the first mile as I approached Grosvenor breakwater, which was roughly as I expected. I already knew that the Battery to home was around 2 miles, and that the Battery up to the breakwater and back was about a mile. I decided to keep track of the mile marks to give me an idea for future walks and found that the second mile was at Aldi, the third at the Town Hall, and the fourth at Happy Mount Park.

The sky wasn’t bright blue, it wasn’t hot and sunny, but it wasn’t windy either. In fact, when I was first looking at the sea it was still, with just ripples showing the tide was moving. It was great for the Oystercatchers, who stand in long lines along the tideline, eating and occasionally all moving off together. There were lots of them to see in various places today, as well as crows, gulls (herring and black-headed I think) pied wagtails and of course, pigeons. It was quite quiet as well, midweek in term time, just a few walkers, shoppers, and dog walkers around.

As I passed the usual landmarks, The battery, the Midland, the Clock tower, the Sailing club I was quite surprised at how good timing I was making. The only drawback was that the cafe at the Clock Tower was shut, they look to be refurbishing it, and I had been intending on buying a drink there.

I was even strong enough not to leave the Prom and visit my favourite shop. Maybe a future walk will have to have a diversion that goes inside – with arrangements to pick up purchases on the way home!

As I got further up into Bare, past the third mile and approaching the fourth, I could tell that I was walking further than I usually do, but was also happy with how I was doing and determined not to slow down. I was however quite relieved to find that the snack place at HappyMount Park was, as usual, open. A bottle of apple juice was rather welcome. That was the start of the home stretch, along past the Mother and Child, the Welcome/Goodbye sign, the last of the railings, the sea defences and finally reaching the end of the walk, where the road turns inland to climb up into Hest Bank village, and the seafront ends. I seemed just as happy at the end, and the trajectory I took through all the wide areas and after the Midland led to a distance of 4.65 miles in an hour and forty minutes. I’ll be interested in how much that varies. I’m sure that today was ideal conditions and doubt that the time will get faster, indeed with diversions or different photos taken, I can see it being slower. What I was certain of is that I couldn’t (yet) turn round and do the return journey, but maybe before the 20 walks are up, who knows.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this first walk. I intend on making each write up different, so watch out for the next, and remember to keep your eyes open for the donation details if you want to support West End Impact, click the links to read why I am doing this and why I think they are worth supporting.