At the Northern most tip of Morecambe Bay, just off Barrow on Walney Island, is a Cumbria Wildlife Trust's Nature Reserve called South Walney.

I have been lucky enough to call this place home for the last year and it has been whilst living here - surrounded on all sides by wild winds and the stormy Irish Sea that I - for almost the first time in my life since being a child - feel that I have come home.

I have fallen in love with Cumbria, with the land, with the sea, and with the people (speaking as an ex anxiety ridden introvert this is quite special for me).

During this past year I have worked as the Trainee for The Bay Programme (a collaboration between the Cumbria and Lancashire Wildlife Trusts, NHS and the new northern branch of the Eden Project). It has been a deeply therapeutic process for me, and living at South Walney has played an important role in this. 

Living so close to nature has made me realise the true therapy that nature gives.

The wind at South Walney brings me deep into my body and it is such a beautiful way to wake up. As soon as I exit my car or house the wind tends to  (depending on the season) lovingly, brusquely or even - cruelly, slap me around the face and in the eyes and nostrils and whisper (or shout or growl!) at me to - Wake Up. By touching, ravaging or pulling at me - at my clothes and belongings - and whatever mood the wind is in, there is something so enlivening, awakening - sensational even - about being touched all over by flowing air. Even though sometimes it steals my belongings and irritates and annoys me - it often feels like the ultimate luxury although it can be a punishment. Mostly it is an invitation and even sometimes in winter - it, or its cold still brother - (on quiet days when the ocean reflects the sky), has coaxed me out of the warm coastguard cottage where I have lived, into the outdoors and into my senses.

My hope for this stretch of coastline is that more people around Barrow get out and explore their coastline and that they realise the secrets of this place. This crooked detailed, empty and wild place – the place they call home.  

Living so close to nature has made me realise the true therapy that nature gives. Before this, it was a literary/academic knowledge (even though I considered myself deeply interested in nature and its effect on our mental health) I had never truly experienced it first-hand. Throughout my twenties I suffered from a deeply rooted mental illness. Working with The Wildlife Trust’s programme The Bay Project - has pulled me out of my social isolation and fear of people and has brought me into my inner home. Seeing the programme's impact on people’s lives every day has shown me that it has this effect for others also. 

Barrow may not have a lot in terms of economy and job prospects (A common saying around here is that if you are born in Barrow, chances are you will never leave). And yet, the Furness peninsula is one of the many underappreciated coastal treasures of the British Isles. Who needs Easy Jet when you can go to the extensive deserted beaches on Walney!? The opportunity to share this vision with the people we work with every day has been a gift. The coastal habitats around the peninsula are and can be a source of inspiration and even new life, to local people - to parents and their children, to teachers, social workers and contractors just moving through. Amongst the juxtaposition of the peninsulas wild beauty, the sand dunes and the salt marshes, the unforgettable sunsets - with the post-industrial wasteland of downtown Barrow - My hope is that more Barrovians appreciate the secret beauty of this place, their, and our shared Home.