We settled into the Silverdale Hotel and the nearby Spring Bank B&B in the late afternoon.

Just before supper at the Hotel we enjoyed a few rays of sunlight, sitting in the conservatory, which was a joy after a travel day of almost constant rain.

After supper we stretched our legs with a short stroll on the salt marsh at the edge of Silverdale.

Some of us also stopped for a drink at the hotel before bed.

This morning we unfortunately woke to a grey day with a forecast for rain.

But, after a lovely breakfast we donned our wet gear and set off from the Hotel along the Silverdale coastal path enjoying a whole array of views - including a friendly bull!

We also took some time to spy the meadow flowers en route.

Then we had a short climb up to Eaves Wood, admiring - and climbing - some of the coppiced trees here before reaching the Pepper Pot for elevenses.

This obelisk was built to commemorate Queen Victoria and has lovely views over Silverdale and the whole of Morecambe bay.

The sun came out and made the views even better!

We continued walking through the woods and the limestone pavements here, enjoying some of the specialised, limestone-loving plants - like dropwort and rock rose - and various huge fungii.

We even managed to rescue a drowning high brown fritillary, a butterfly which elsewhere is very rare.

The heavens opened just as we reached the café at Waterslack Gardens - what luck - where we enjoyed wonderful cakes, tea, coffee and our lunch as the thunder and lightning cracked and flashed all around us.

At one point we thought the café might even get flooded!!

After lunch we walked along part of the Hawes Water nature trail and enjoyed a misty, after-rain atmosphere among the unusual array of plants that survive here.

We also spotted a marsh harrier sitting on a dead tree in the distance.

Finally, after supper, some of us settled into playing a daft game of colouring in some cartoons - all equipment supplied by the Hotel!

Today we set off in the opposite direction and walked towards Jenny Brown's Point via some tracks through the village and along a small wood.

We ate stray raspberries on the way - and looked (as always) at the wild flowers (including maroony flowers & hedge woundwort).

We also took in the spectacular limestone rocks that overhang a pool just below Scout Wood.

We then took a brief detour along a lovely rambling path through Jack Scout, with spectacular views across Morecambe Bay.

Once again there were lots of lovely plants to look at mullein, maidenhair spleenwort, and mallow.

The path took us up to Jenny Brown's Point where we had lunch overlooking the sheep-grazed saltmarsh.

Luckily the sun came out which made sitting amidst beds of wild thyme, rockrose, white and yellow stonecrops, and scarlet pimpernel even more pleasurable.

After lunch we climbed up the fields towards Gibralter Farm where we had a much deserved afternoon tea at the Wolfhouse Gallery Café and then we made a leisurely way back to our accommodation.

We had a short break and then set off to visit Rebecca's Coppice yard. She'd just been to an Exhibition with her coracles and so had one on display to show us how they were made.

Then she showed us how to make various other local wooden crafts, like hurdles and chairs, and also explained how important traditional, woodland coppice, management was for both making these types of crafts and for the local wildlife.

She finished off by talking about making charcoal from the local wood in huge kilns.

Still not exhausted from our adventures some of ventured out after supper to face the rain and go for a bat walk at Leighton Moss.

We weren't disappointed as we saw red deer at close quarters as well as all sorts of bats circling and darting around us feeding on the numerous insects.

Our last day today and we set off from the Arnside Knott car park and clambered up a fairly steep path to the cairn at 159m.

Here we had fantastic views all round - despite the grey skies - and could see some of the Lake District fells.

From the cairn we made our way down to Far Arnside, always enjoying the views and flowers - and smelling wild basil.

At Far Arnside we walked along a short stretch of beach before joining the coastal path towards Arnside Point.

It was here that we witnessed the very fast, incoming, tide which swept across the sands - scary stuff!

The coastal path was really beautiful and had such an array of colours - purple heather, yellow St. John's Wort and fabulous Bloody Cranesbill (unfortunately out of focus..)

Finally it was time for our last lunch break - which we had at Leighton Moss.

There was time to take in just a few more flowers - like purple-loosestrife, common spotted-orchid and even a white-flowered version of the orchid!!

Some of us then caught a train home whilst others left by car. Sadly, it was time to leave Silverdale's splendours!