Hoad Hill - The Sir John Barrow Monument and Morecambe Bay - Also Dry Stone Walls

Join us for a walk up a steep hill, to a landmark monument near Ulverston, and then for a ramble along the beach on the north side of Morecambe Bay.
This is one of several videos recorded during a week-long visit to Cumbria in September 2023
Here's a map link to Hoad Hill: www.google.com...
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[@WaddedBliss]

For people who are unfamiliar with the cockle pickers disaster, Mike's referring to this en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morecambe_Bay_cockling_disaster One positive out of the story is it spurred the government to introduce new laws surrounding gangmasters and the people who 'work' for them en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangmasters_and_Labour_Abuse_Authority

[@scottbuck1572]

Thank you so much! The history is one of the most fascinating aspects of these videos to me :)

[@rolfs2165]

Hold on, this only happened in 2004? When Mike told the story, I was expecting it to have happened decades, if not a century or more ago.

[@WaddedBliss]

@@rolfs2165 It sounds like it should have been a long time ago. But it was less than 20 years.

[@scottbuck1572]

@@rolfs2165 To be fair, 2004 is almost 20 years ago 😳 Man time flies...

[@rogink]

@@rolfs2165 Sadly it's something that could happen in 2023. It seems most of the migrants crossing the channel are picked up by Border Patrol and put in camps or hotels. But there are still some that make it undetected. Where do you think they end up?

[@__-bk6mm]

Shrimp pointing at a bloke and saying confidently “The old man of Conniston” made me chuckle, it just lined up well 🤭🤣😂

[@BaggieReg63]

Lovely walk. Thanks Mike. My father used to do dry stone walling back in the day. Apparently the secret was once you picked up a stone it had to go into the wall, if you searched for the 'perfect' stone the thing would never get built...

[@TheJamshaw]

"...and there's the old man of coniston" *points to a man enjoying the view* . Made me chuckle. Thank you as always Mike, your videos feel more and more needed in this current time.

[@ForbiddenChocolate]

I got a good chuckle out of that, too 😄

[@macraghnaill3553]

Made me laugh as well

[@nicolakibble]

❤😂 me too 😂❤

[@HappyCodingZX]

Having grown up in this region but long since moved away it's delightful but also a little surreal to see you exploring the places of my childhood. When driving back to Barrow as kids in the back of the car my sister and I always had a competition, the winner being the first one to spot the Hoad.

[@myfavoriteviewer306]

My brother's and I would have the same style of competition. Except living in a rural area of the Midwest US, it was usually power transformers on specific poles that marked which gravel road to turn down, or distinct peaks we gave names to in the hills that we could see in the distance, but never actually got very close to. Seeing "Vulture Peak" on the road to grandparents' house meant we only had about one hour worth of driving left to go. Prominent landmarks were in short supply where we traveled, I guess 😂

[@petertaylor4980]

We used to do the same when driving up from the South to visit grandparents in Ulverston.

[@spicyhummus6266]

Please continue to spoil us! 2 videos in one day is always such a pleasure, I do wish that YT's notification system would work the way its intended to. I hope all 3 of you enjoyed the walk :) Seeing Eva getting out for walks like this brings me a high level of joy, also thanks for taking us along with you, its a great pleasure.

[@Fraxxxi]

when you mentioned quicksand it reminded me of my first visit to the UK. it would have been... around '88-'90, my parents took me bed&breakfasting through the south of England and Wales. One day they took me on a walk through a bog, telling me about how anything that sinks into a bog stays remarkably preserved for a really long time, be it wood or bodies, and some of the ground was a bit soft and springy, oooh careful, you're going to fall in... playing up the spookiness a bit for the little one, but mostly I just thought it looked like wet grasslands, like after it had rained. not impressed, me. eventually we'd had enough of the walking and were looking around to locate the straightest way to the car park when my dad took one step to the right and suddenly I was taller than him - his right leg had gone down into bog water all the way up to the hip instantly, he was basically sitting on his left leg, up on grass, with his right leg plunged into the depths and no bottom to be felt. that's how immediate and steep the delineation between ground and bog water was. my mom immediately ran over, helped him up, back on safe land, and his jeans had changed color - left side denim blue, right side tea brown with decomposing plant matter clung all over it. better believe that on the way back to the car I felt a whole lot more impressed with the area than I had been on the way in.

[@TempusSolum]

I can see why England has had so many outstanding landscape artists. Very inspiring!!

[@mattchewyak9376]

What a great video content ,really love your work,all it but especially your walk about visits and giving us some history along the way,relaxing cosy content,keep up the good work ❤

[@martinkirsch5969]

Interesting video, as always. You can see a couple of rabbits running on the other side of the wall at 19:15 (between the wall and those small bushes).

[@dominicharvey6048]

The timer for people to read the sign is an absolutely fantastic idea.

[@ForbiddenChocolate]

It's little touches like this that make AS videos so uniquely special, beyond the fascinating content, of course.

[@Lucina..]

Yes, definitely, touches like this make the video feel really interactive!

[@kbjerke]

I always enjoy your walking tours. Thank you! And what do you mean, you didn't bring anything to dig with? Eva does a smashing job!! Best wishes to you!

[@Sergei_WHY]

What a nice tour with some amazing views. I love it! Seeing Eva being Eva is great too; she's such a wonderful energetic dog.

[@churchcrawling]

You might be interested to know that in the grounds of Shibden Hall near Halifax (West Yorks) is an outdoor, dry stone wall (so-called) 'museum'. From memory, it is good fun and showcases some of the various construction methods used over time.

[@Sololop]

What's amazing to me is how similar the area seems to be to Nova Scotia. In the Valley here in NS, you can go to the Minas Basin and see the tidal bore rush in and cover a huge sand bar just like this one. You also can't outrun it, the tides are deadly. I guess that's why the French call it Nouvelle-Ecosse, or "New Scotland" as NS and much of England and Scotland have so much in common.

[@ShellyS2060]

Another beautiful video. Thank you for sharing.

[@bionicdibble270]

Made me chuckle when you said "the old man of Coniston" while pointing at an old man in the foreground 😆

[@mikebarton3218]

Mr & Mrs Shrimp & Eva, that was just lovely. Thank you so much.

[@DropdownClick]

At 14:00 when you said "the old man of coniston" and started pointing out at the gentleman in front of you i chuckled more than I should have. Intended or not, it made my morning

[@martinbalmforth2665]

We used to stay at Middleton Sands near the Pontins at Morecambe bay, when the tide was out, the beach was huge, but when the tide came in , oh boy! It came in fast too. At the time there was a burnt out Hillman Hunter on the sands, that was submerged in high tide. That incident involving the pickers was horrific, and revealed a huge scandal.

[@gavinhammond1778]

A monument of that scale to the 2nd secretary of the admiralty, not even the number 1 guy. The staggering wealth of Victorian England, and how much that wealth depended on the sea. Thanks for the content.

[@Tsnafu]

There's a guided walk across the bay, led by a royally appointed guide - been going since the 1500's, you might have been up there a bit late in the year to join one though

[@tailtaletsare]

Hope you and your family are in the pink of health, thank you for the wonderful videos :D

[@michigo]

Eva is just having a blast!

[@iannonhebel677]

Nice to get out in this mild autumn weather whilst you have the chance.

[@littlemiss_76]

Loved the history the moment is fascinating I like looking at old buildings and trying to picture what it was like back then.

[@ploopergoob]

Walking on those cockle shells made for amazing ASMR.

[@maiyannah]

Wonderful little place, that.

[@sdrrshock5594]

I love hear and love the scenery

[@darkwing3713]

Yes, there's no point competing over mountain height. For one thing they grow so slowly that it's quite boring. And Mars always wins in the end.

[@AtomicShrimp]

I always find it weird when people are competitive over things they had no hand in.

[@jakobrosenqvist4691]

I followed along on google maps where you where walking and what you where looking at. A suprisingly fun little excercise.

[@ForbiddenChocolate]

I love these guided tours of places I'll very likely never get to visit in person. The view at the top of the hill was incredible, even though the camera never does such things justice. I'm going to watch again on my biggest TV to better appreciate the beautiful scenery. It'll also be fun to see how my cats react to Eva's chatting and zipping about! 🤭

[@swake1822]

Hoping there is a piel island video coming!! Thanks for these videos they're great

[@thegasing]

If you really wanna see shell everywhere on a beach, try the beach of the town called Løgstør in Denmark

[@HuplesCat]

Hope you do the Cark to Cartmel fell walk. It’s the best in the Lakes

[@simonhopkins3867]

Hi there Mr Shrimp. A quick question? Did you get your turntable running smoothly. Or is it a work in progress? Linear rail? Hope you all enjoyed your break.

[@bxmachine]

I can see this monument from my home town with binoculars 😂

[@terranceparsons5185]

Lancaster next to Morcambe, you cant see the join. Sorry.

[@juliajacobs1848]

" I want to marry a lighthouse keeper and keep him company...: springs to mind

[@jensissons5709]

The cows were laid down chewing the cud.

[@bazsuperbi]

5:12 Tremendous veiw from up here, Eva agrees. Cheers 😅

[@KerrikkiLurgan]

The stones at 3:37 did remind me of the remains of a church at a museum park, not far from where I live.

[@jonathanrichards593]

I looked at the oldest Ordnance Survey maps that are online at the national library of Scotland (link omitted to save Mike the moderation effort, but a search will find them for you). Some of them pre-date the building of the monument, but do not have any trace of a building mapped along the footpath up the hill. Mysterious.

[@STOG01]

There are times when you may need to record in 4k, even downscaled to 1080p it would be better than the basic KZbin 1080p.

[@AtomicShrimp]

You sure you're not watching in something less than 1080? I render at very high bitrate

[@STOG01]

@@AtomicShrimp perhaps KZbin itself is destroying the quality :( îl watching in 1080p50

[@YOEL_44]

John Warrosa, John Barrow's... maybe it was just a typo all along!!!!

[@YOEL_44]

Next week I'm gonna be around London for 4 days, I hope my uncle doesn't mind coming with me to do some exploring out of the city. We're going blind as it's been a last minute trip, so I don't even know if there is anything interesting around other than Stonehenge.

[@capitalb5889]

Sorry to hear that. Losing your eyesight must be debilitating. However, Stonehenge is quite far from London and frankly a little underwhelming. There is a vast amount of more interesting places to experience that are closer to London and more accessible.

[@__-bk6mm]

Stonehenge and this beach in this video and most of the places in Shrimp’s videos are quite a considerable distance from London.

[@__-bk6mm]

@@capitalb5889depends if they’re pagan or history fans it won’t be that underwhelming. It’s piled up stones so you have to set your expectations with that in mind lol

[@capitalb5889]

@@__-bk6mm if you're a history buff there are plenty of places closer and more accessible to London than Stonehenge. I somehow don't think OP is a pagan.

[@YOEL_44]

@@capitalb5889 92miles from our Airbnb, I did over 4 times that in a single day last month, I think I can handle it.

[@mrtecsom6951]

Surprised 😯 Mrs 🦐 and doggo 🐶 didn’t get a 💋 at the kissing 😘 gate

[@maxslither]

14:00 "the old man of coniston" *points to a man 🤣

[@R0ckMum]

28.23 asmr walk made me think of LoTR and the Dimwalt. J.R.R. Tolkien - 'The way is shut. It was made by those who are Dead, and the Dead keep it, until the time comes. The way is shut.' Time or tide. RIP to the refugee slave cockle pickers who drowned because their gangmasters pushed them too far out and wouldn't let them come back in until it was too late. Also it was dark and foggy. Such a beautiful wild place tainted by such cruelty for the sake of capitalism.

[@silva7493]

I've never seen a cockle. I imagine they're tasty.

[@cbhlde]

That Barrow guy seems like a spiffing bloke, if you pardon my Germanic English while using French. ;)

[@MichaelEdelman1954]

Enjoyable as always. But… “enormity” refers to evil, as in “the enormity of the crime.” It’s a common mistake.

[@AtomicShrimp]

Language evolves. Usage of this word to just mean vastness has been widespread for a couple of centuries.

[@driverjayne]

😂 some of our flat lands are over 3k feet in elevation! But i guess that's what comes from being an island nation, nearly entirely at sea level. I guess truck drivers in the uk don't need to worry about their food and toiletry containers popping open from elevation change as they travel the country lol. Or getting their fuel caps stuck on! 😅 i do sometimes forget not everywhere is as ecologically diverse as the US Edit to add: of course people from Tibet would laugh at our tiny peaks so it's all relative!

[@scottbuck1572]

I love all these videos: its like having a tour guide along while you explore :)

[@kaspartambur]

and the nice, calm pacing. Reminds me of Joe Pera

[@Lucina..]

If you ever find a way to create VR videos, you will make a killing sir. Your exploration videos feel so interactive and I’ll mirror the statements of others, I love the added touches of the information points being brought up on screen and a timer added for us to digest it. So many people who can’t venture outdoors in this capacity can thoroughly enjoy these videos. Absolutely well done 👏🏻

[@kitchenworker446]

I,m from Yorkshire but visit Lancashire a lot, Morecambe bay is a sight to behold. Years ago in the early 1980's I had a job as a dry stone wall repairer. We were driven in groups of about 8 out into the countryside around Yorkshire with the experts (who all seemed like very old men to me in my 20's ) when we arrived at the wall that need to be repaired we all piled out of the van and the old men would show us young uns how to repair the wall. As a woman, I was not allowed to do the repairs, I was only allowed to watch and or break up rocks deemed unsuitable for the repairs into 'filler' which was put in the middle of the wall to help make it sturdy. The stones on the the top were called 'toppers' (of course!) Interestingly some of the older walls were great places to find all kinds of objects of interest as it was common practice back in the day to use the house hold rubbish to fill in the middle of the walls and I found lead toy soldiers, old bottles, parts of clogs (shoes) and horsehoes!

[@President_Starscream]

I just love how excited Eva gets just to run back and forth or dig for something only she seems to be aware of.

[@capitalb5889]

The 8am Saturday morning Shrimp drop is one of the highlights of the week, along with the coffee I drink while watching it.

[@Epic_DaVinci]

It's amazing how fractal natural formations are, when you showed the sand canyon on the beach, it could have easily been footage from an aircraft a few thousand feet above a "normal" sized canyon in Arizona or similar landscape area. (Timestamp 31:06) it looks exactly the same minus any vegetation

[@CravingBeer]

I do enjoy your walks, it almost feels like I've done something when in reality my lazy ass hasn't left my sofa.

[@bexxy629]

I love the way you talk to Eva. It always makes me laugh becuase she does seem to understand what your saying.

[@johanneswerner1140]

Eva and the perfect running surface. I totally get that. My father has leg problems (insufficient blood flow), so he has to stop walking about every furlong (or about 10 London double decker buses). He can walk way longer on the beach or tidal flats. The tide is similar to what we get on the north sea coast behind the barrier islands, along with people trying to walk to the islands without a guide and getting trapped by the incoming tide. The island do look close, I admit. We also have the worms (32 minute mark-ish), telling kids they are walking on worm poo is always fun 😂

[@AtomicShrimp]

Sorry I can't understand what you meant unless you can give me the measurement in blue whales

[@juliejones5651]

Laid up with a foot, injured and booted, but enjoying a walk anyway. Thank you!

[@kay_vee]

I went to Ulverston Victoria High School lower school at the bottom of the hill (before it was sold and knocked down). On sports day we run up and down the hill. It is such a beautiful part of the world.

[@chrisbelcher4843]

Love the walk up Hoad, locally it's known as the pepper pot!

[@richardmillican7733]

My father was from Ulverston. He invented the UK 13amp 3 pin plug!!

[@Petertronic]

Amazing!

[@mickstupp6300]

I'm glad we can hear you breathing, I would be very worried if we couldn't. Lovely walk.

[@AtomicShrimp]

Honestly, the number of weird comments I get to the effect 'OMG you're out of breath and the video is only 3 minutes long!' - you wouldn't believe it.

[@tobykassulke2385]

I wonder why we dont really have monuments of people or things from more recent times? Someone should build a wobbledog monument since its arguably the most revolutionary invention of the last decade.

[@nicholash.7656]

I look forward to lunch as well.

[@regular-joe]

I'm always surprised by what amazing vantage points even modest hills provide.

[@tricky2917]

Could you place camera on Eva sometime to see you talk about sights and plants from her perspective? Silly video of course.

[@WaddedBliss]

I've done that on my daughter's whippet. It's amazing seeing the world from a dog's point of view.

[@AtomicShrimp]

If I can lay hands on a suitably small and light camera, I'll definitely try this

[@WaddedBliss]

The problem I had was keeping the GoPro upright on the whippet's back. Morgan from Gold Shaw farm uses a lightweight camera to record his animals' antics.@@AtomicShrimp

[@AtomicShrimp]

@@WaddedBliss I think ideally something like the Insta360 Go would work - very wide field of view and insane software stabilisation. But not sure I'm quite ready to splash out a few hundred quid to get doggo running footage (it is tempting...)

[@WaddedBliss]

@@AtomicShrimp Once you see footage from your pupper's point of view you'll love it. Is it worth the expense? Not sure. Does it warm your heart? Definitely.

[@James_Howarth]

Just to the left of blackpool tower you can see me giving you a big wave from Blackpool👋 😂

[@bradgillund2633]

Have you ever thought about catching and cooking American Signal Crayfish? Invasive in the UK and they taste great.

[@SauerPatchGardening]

Thank you so much for showing us things that we may never have the privilege to see in person. So beautiful. That spring, the sound, the history. I feel like I was there with you.

[@regular-joe]

I'm always surprised by what amazing vantage points even modest hills provide.

[@susannorthedge8584]

Great video as always. Ulverstone, the birthplace of the brilliant Stan Laurel.

[@Joemerowastaken]

My favorite FPS (First Person Shrimp) game is back!

[@Moewenfels]

23:55 half expected to see a Mudcrab there :D I think the area around Whiterun in Skyrim, especially the west has similiar water features and they're full of Mudcrabs. Its cool to see something i've seen in a game before in a reallife example :)

[@councilestatedizzy156]

We lost our much-loved pet last week and your lovely uplifting videos have really helped us these past few days. Thank you Mike. PS We love Eva so much. That little dog is living her best life chasing rocks

[@ivechang6720]

I sorrow for your loss. Love to you during this time. ❤️‍🩹

[@councilestatedizzy156]

@@ivechang6720 thank you so much. That's lovely x

[@dinerwaitress]

🎶My father was the keeper of the Eddystone light 🎶 🧜‍♀️

[@harbourwoodlandvisitor2445]

why are kissing gates known as kissing gates. are people supposed to kiss by them?

[@pixie706]

Not a beautiful structure the monument but another very interesting Shrimp's walk . Thanks so very much for showing us places that many of us will never get to.

[@dancingdroid]

Seriously, that thing you did showing how much time we had left to pause is the best youtube thing I've ever seen.

[@ericv738]

Thanks for taking us on so many adventures with you!

[@james-5560]

The wire fence is often to stop cows rubbing against the wall. I believe they enjoy scratching themselves against the wall, but in the process they damage them.

[@jawjuk]

13:59 - Atomic Shrimp: "The old man of Coniston." Dennis: "I'm 37."

[@terranceparsons5185]

Well I didn't know you were called Dennis........ etc.

[@akkelijke]

Love these i lean alot about the surroundings and monuments there

[@SilverDragonJay]

I like how you include a timer on things like plaque overlays so people know how much time they have to read and pause if necessary. Its a little thing, but a good thing.

[@mrtecsom6951]

Aah 😌 some nice relaxing Saturday morning 🦐

[@feldamar2]

What a lovely walk and day at the beach! Sounds like a Uncle showing off a place to their nephew.

[@ramblingrambles]

One of these videos genuinely makes me feel like I'm a tourist going round a museum. 'The great museum of the British countryside narrated by Atomic Shrimp'. Love it after a stressful week at work with a cuppa

[@gerardmcquade9102]

hi Mike i saw a couple of food reviewers try these and thought you might be interested in them for your weird stuff in a can series they are limited addition and might be gone already but NEW HEINZ BEANZ TIKKA JALFREZI & VINDALOO

[@AtomicShrimp]

Haven't seen those but they sound interesting!

[@gerardmcquade9102]

@@AtomicShrimp there's also a BBQ flavour i forgot to mention

[@rmil4531]

You certainly did capture the extent of the bay. Some of your photography in this video was excellent. Thank you so much.

[@lizziesimmi5646]

Thank you for this video. As kids we used to holiday around this area as my Dad came from Morecambe and it brought back many memories. Coming from the Midlands we were disappointed that we did not see the sea that often, and I am sure my Dad got fed up with three kids saying ‘can we see the sea yet Dad?’

[@nicolakibble]

❤ I always love the variety of videos and I am yet to watch one that I haven’t enjoyed, however, may I say that this was probably one of my favourites. The creek at Morecambe bay with the cockle shell bed was beautiful. This video has made me want to visit the area, so thank you for sharing ❤❤❤

[@jonnybesmooth3647]

been subscribed for a long time, I'm blown away that you are exploring my home town, something I could never see happening! It would have been an honour bumping into you while you were here

[@annieclaire2348]

Fascinating video of your travels with Jenny and the joyful Eva who really does love digging and chasing her ball where thee is sand 🤣😂🤣. Thanks Mike, Jenny and Eva.

[@rlmtrelomatt7390]

Beautiful. It is great to see the north of England. Thank you

[@Pattoe]

I'd like to just say that I love these videos, especially when you bring Eva along and she adds to your commentary with her little happy barks to let you know she'd found something interesting. I don't have a dog now, but it reminds me of walking with my family down South Gare and Redcar beach with our border collie who would join in our chats with her own happy little barks.

[@AcornElectron]

Don’t forget all the trafficked Chinese people that died on Morecambe “beach” in 2004. Mud flats are treacherous. Minimum of 21 bodies recovered means maybe more actually perished. Still, cracking views.

[@micbarker6256]

Brings back memories of cross country PE lessons at UVHS lower school 40 years ago; running up the back of Hoad and down the front. Pretty sure the monument wasn't whitewashed in those days.