BOOTboys

BB2542 : Cloggy Dick and the Mucky Duck

Wednesday 4th December 2025

Let me say at the outset that if you think this is an attempt at some behind the bike-shed schoolboy humour, you couldn’t be more wrong. Nor is it a children's story. This is about a serious tome that will reach your bookshops in time for that surprise Christmas present. No, not this year but look out for it in the, hopefully, not too distant future. I’ll tell you more in due course but, remember, you heard (sorry, read) about it here, first.

Its author, Stan, and I arrived at the agreed place, alongside the railway viaduct at Arnside. John was already there with Bonnie, his lovely Portuguese Water Spaniel, making her first BOOTboys appearance. The car park was exceedingly and deeply puddled, more so than I ever recall.

Martin arrived with Robert. “We shouldn’t park here,” he said. “It’s ok, it’s permitted,” I told him. “Quite right,” he said “but if you want the car to be underwater when we get back, that’s up to you but it’s a full moon and high tide and it is possibly going to flood this ground”. It wasn’t up to me. It was up to Stan and he understandably didn’t want to be faced with a submersible on our return so he responded to Martin’s advice, as did John, and we moved on to the far end of the promenade, well out of danger.

This actually helped us decide on our route. We should head along the coastal path with the ultimate intention of reaching King William’s Hill.

A mile later we reached New Barns and the Bob In café. Well, it would have been rude not to have Bobbed In so we did and learned about Cloggy Dick. This is a character that Stan remembered from his youth, so called because his name was Richard and he wore clogs. You will have to read the book (or ply Stan with ale) to find out more.

We were aware from previous visits, with and without dogs, that the path just above the shore around Arnside Park was narrow and somewhat exposed to a drop onto nasty rocks which might or might not be underwater at the time.

Consequently Robert steered the group through the woods to emerge at the caravan site where we had had a family caravan for over 40 years.

The van now on the pitch is, of course, much newer than the one we left behind, but the retaining wall for which they made us pay still remains intact. Not that it rankles of course.

After passing through Far Arnside we crossed the fields to the Holgate caravan park then past the very posh houses at the Elmslack end of Silverdale. The track led to the climb of King William’s Hill and the Pepperpot- built to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee.

Here we stopped for lunch, admired the view and learnt more about Stan’s youthful adventures in the Mucky Duck, or The Black Swan to give the pub its proper name.

Robert introduced us to a new route back to Middlebarrow Plain and through the wood to Arnside Tower.

Last time we were here, Tony took his life into his hands and, ignoring the warnings, examined the inside of the structure. He wasn’t with us today and we didn’t fancy emulating him so simply enjoyed looking from the outside at what must have been a quite formidable Pele Tower although someone doubted its prowess due to the extent of ground level orifices.

Our next objective was the viewpoint on Arnside Knott that presents a panoramic view over the estuary.

We were keen to learn more about Cloggy or Mucky but Stan skipped off down the hill, down to the estuary.

We needed to keep moving as we had arranged to meet Robin at the Hare & Hounds and we were in danger of slipping behind schedule.

Mike B arrived at the pub at the same time as us and Robin turned up not long afterwards with his dog Holly. We hadn’t seen him for many weeks due to an injury that is refusing to mend as quickly as it might.

Stan couldn't miss the opportunity to tell more tales from his book. I shan’t repeat them here; I’ll leave you wanting to know more about Cloggy Dick and the Mucky Duck. Just keep an eye open in the best of bookshops.

Don, Wednesday 3^rd December 2025

Comitibus:

John (+ Bonnie) Martin Don Robert Stan

Relive

For a dynamic review of our adventure, click on Robert's Arnside Circular picture below:

Warning!!!!

The Bay has many channels which fill several feet deep hours before high water.

Make sure you're off before you're cut off.

Click on the warning sign on the right to learn how to escape from the perils of the bay.

You never know, it might just save your life.

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Map: WalkLakes

STATISTICS	BB2542 : Cloggy Dick and the Mucky Duck
Date:	Wednesday 3rd December 2025
Features:	Silverdale Pepperpot, Arnside Knott
Distance in miles:	7.4
Height climbed in feet:	973
GPX track:	BB2542.GPX
Comitibus:	Don, John (+ Bonnie), Martin, Robert, Stan

For the index pages of our various earlier outings click on the relevant links below:

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