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BB2527
: The Crocs
Bay Walk
Sunday
20th July 2025
“Crocs” said Ian. “
Don’t be silly, “I replied. “There are
no crocodiles in the Kent Estuary.” “No,
you dummock,” was his response. “Crocs. Plastic clogs. That’s what you need
for the Cross Bay Walk”. Now I
understood. He went
on to explain that
rather than pay a fortune for the real thing, actually he had bought some
Croc-alikes from ASDA at the huge sum of £8.
“I can afford that,” I thought,
so hared off but found that ASDA had
sold out. However, I was able to find a,
presumably superior, pair from Sainsburys for a whole £10. So, suitably dressed, I was prepared for the
adventure.
Martin
and I had hoped other BOOTboys
would be able to join us but sadly none were available. We were, however, accompanied by my nephew
Ian (not for the first time) and his wife, Sharon, and about 500 other people.
The
walk was in aid of Cancer Care. Assembly
was at Arnside slipway where a paddle boarder
was entertaining us.
The briefing by
The King's Guide to the Sands, Michael Wilson,
was simple with just a few rules to survive the
quicksands.
- “If you are walking and I blow my
whistle, STOP.”
- “If you are stopped and I blow my
whistle, START."
- “DO
NOT STRAY from the marker twigs.”
- “If your companion gets stuck in the
sand- DO NOT TRY TO HELP THEM.”
Presumably so they don’t have to deal with more than one body
at a time.
The whistle blew so, crocked-up, we set off
for our target: Grange-over-Sands.
First
we had to negotiate the foreshore
for about a mile, skidding on rocks and slippery sand.
I managed at least one 10 point recovery but
lost 5 points for grounding a knee and scrawping my leg.
At last we reached the place for us to head off across the
bay and for the rain to set in.
Fortunately the river water was quite warm and the air temperature
around 20 degrees so that even when soaked through, it wasn’t too unpleasant
and my feet, embraced in their croc-alikes, were performing well.
We seemed to head a long way out, almost as if we were
heading for the Isle of Man rather than Grange over Sands but eventually we
curled right for the shore which still seemed a long way off. Distant views were limited by the cloud and
rain.
Some of the channels were quite deep- not frighteningly
waist-high but up to the knees and in one particular case extremely wide and in
a couple of others short but with a powerful flow to be overcome.
Fortunately
the rescue vehicles were always close by.
The straps on my croc-alikes broke due
to the stress caused by the water pressure.
I had
to continue bare-footed which is what I should have done when we first entered
the water. I then noticed that Ian was carrying his Croc-alikes in
his hand. A wiser man than me.
One lass did fall over but her brave friends disobeyed the
instructions and rescued her without anyone getting stuck.
Eventually the beach loomed and paradoxically this caused the
greatest problem. The sand was wet with
a layer of oil just below the surface making it exceedingly slippery. However dry land was safely reached followed
by a wet trudge back to where our chauffeurses, Margaret and Diana, awaited with dry clothes for us
to put on.
Thank
you Cancer Care. To use Bryan’s term, it was an “interesting” exercise and
perhaps one that should be experienced by all once in a lifetime. For me, it was actually my second crossing-
the first being in 2006 with Margaret in glorious sunshine which is what I hope anyone
tempted to cross would experience. But
don’t worry if it pours down, you will still have a day to remember. But
do remember to remove your Croc-alikes in
the deep flowing water.
Don, Sunday 20th July 2025
Thanks
to Ian, Sharon, Martin, Diana and Margaret for several
of the photos.
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