After a clear night the morning was bitingly cold but the sky was blue and the sun was shining, so we packed a flask of coffee and set out.  Our route started along the cliff path from Spittal beach.  The air was so cold that the sea was steaming and a ship out towards the horizon appeared to be floating above the clouds. It was an eerily beautiful effect but one you’ll have to imagine.  It was too cold to stop to get my camera out.

 

Down on Cocklawburn beach, fresh water was running  towards the sea under a thin crust of ice.  (No picture of that either).  We followed the track behind the dunes to Cheswick Sands and then turned inland.  (That’s when I finally got my camera out).

 

Looking south, snowy fields on distant hills shimmered in the sunlight under a bank of shining white cloud.  Where does the land end and the sky begin?

 

At Cheswick we turned back north, a short way down the lane, then through a gate and off across the field paths towards home.

 

The few human footprints across this field were lost in a confusion of sheep tracks.

 

The previous walkers here had taken a wide detour round a suspiciously flat expanse of snow. The ice creaked under our feet but it didn’t crack.

 

Click on any photo for a closer view.