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FeaturesYou are in: Cumbria > Places > Features > Making Waves - salt of the sea.  A volunteer feeding the fire. Making Waves - salt of the sea.Helen Skelton I felt rather daft as I pulled into the car park on the coast road between Maryport and Allonby. You see, I’d asked for detailed directions to the Crosscanonby Saltpans as I didn’t want to miss the party of volunteers working on the historical site.  Graham Proud I needn’t have worried, you couldn’t miss them. Like a team of ants they carried grass and gorse cut down by Graham Proud to a bonfire on the beach. Graham is with the Solway Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty team and they run regular work parties along the coast.  Hard at work on the saltpans The idea today: to clear the area around the saltpans, making them more accessible and visible to tourists. When I arrived work was well underway and as I looked over the road, past the site to the beach, the thick cloud of smoke proved the bonfire was doing its job. It may have been hidden under a bit of gorse recently but the circle of stones I’m standing within now has certainly stood the test of time. Built in 1634, the settling tank wouldn’t have looked much different than it does now. There wouldn’t have been the grass matting within it, but after more than three centuries we can excuse a bit of grass.  The wall of the settling tank The settling tank was only part of the operation, on the shore there would have been a square tank, into which the salt water was pumped. Gravity carried the water into the tank, the water was boiled and the salt could be scraped off the top. Salt was a profitable game, and the third most important industry in Cumbria behind fishing and farming. Fishermen and farmers also needed salt to preserve their produce. It’s thought that salt production ceased in the 1760’s. In the early 1900’s holiday cottages and a caravan park were set up near the pans. The caravan park was abandoned in the 1970’s because of coastal erosion.  The volunteers hard at work Yes, that caused alarm bells to ring in my head too. So what will happen to the Crosscanonby Saltpans, will they disappear into the sea or underneath the coastal road? To be honest in the distant future, yes. In the near future the site is going to be developed for tourists with information boards and the opening of a path around and above the site. last updated: 12/06/2008 at 08:21 SEE ALSOYou are in: Cumbria > Places > Features > Making Waves - salt of the sea.
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