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Wallsend Guest House |
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Luxury bed and breakfast accommodation at The Old Rectory, Bowness on Solway. |
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This fishing technique is a unique tradition found only in the Solway Estuary and dates back to the Vikings who raided and sometimes settled in the area at the end of the 1st millennium. The word "haaf" means "sea net" which is mounted on a rectangular frame 18 feet long by 5 feet high. Fishermen walk out into the flat, shallow waters of the Solway sands and mudflats and place the Haaf Net in front facing either the incoming ("flood") or outgoing ("ebb") tides. |
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Haaf Netting |
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One mile from Bowness is the remains of the 19th century harbour from which Woodrow Wilson's wife originally emigrated to America. You can still see the old docking quay with its great sandstone block wall. The dock itself still has the silted up lock entrance to the "basin" where barges collected the grain and produce destined for Carlisle's biscuit and feed mills. The canal built specially for this purpose ended in the canal basin behind the present Carrs (McVities) biscuit factory in Carlisle, 12 miles further inland. View of the dock across the canal basin The canal itself was replaced by a railway but with the building of a deep water port at Silloth the port fell into disuse. This gives everyone the unique opportunity to see a Victorian designed village still intact and "living" without the intrusion or encumbrance of modern architecture and development. The local community plans to restore some of the features of the village with the help of Solway Rural Initiative (find SRI at http://www.solwaycoast.co.uk) who manage the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (A.O.N.B.) which includes Bowness on Solway, Port Carlisle & Burgh-by-Sands |
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Port Carlisle |
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Local Information 2 |
