Real stories

From Westminster to Ways Around The Bay

Local MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood, Cat Smith has put her best foot forward to lend support to the Ways Around The Bay programme.

From Westminster to Ways Around The Bay

Lancaster and Fleetwood MP Cat Smith has given her support to the Ways Around The Bay initiative to encourage more people to be active around Morecambe Bay.

Cat recently signed up to 'adopt a mile' as part of the Bay Lines - Beach of Dreams events for which we've been asking locals to walk a mile of the Bay and share their hopes, dreams and stories about that stretch.

Speaking while walking her part of the 120-mile long route, Cat confessed to being spoilt for choice when it came to selecting a mile to highlight.

“Morecambe Bay is incredibly special. I was born and bred in Barrow and now as the MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood I take in the other part of the Bay. Whatever is going on in your life and no matter how stressed you feel if you come to Morecambe Bay, you cannot look out across those sands and feel anxious and stressed. For me this is the place where I’m calm and collected – my happy place.”
Cat Smith
MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood

A picture taken of a shelter at Knott End will be used by artist Ali Pretty to design a silk pennant for Cat, one of 120 that will be made for each mile of the Bay. Dyes made of wildflowers found around the Bay will be used to colour the creations.

Workshops which followed a story-gathering walk by Ali and her team have proved popular and work to complete the pennants will take place in Grange over the summer.

Morecambe Bay’s pennants will be positioned at four different locations on Walney, by Grange, Arnside and Morecambe where 120 Bay flags will be joined by 500 made to represent the Suffolk and Essex coastline, linking north west with south east over the August Bank Holiday weekend.

The Morecambe Bay project is the forerunner to a national scheme which will see pennants created for the whole of the UK and Irish coastlines.