A bird watcher's and nature lover's paradise, this huge, extraordinary bay in many ways is an unknown gem outside the Morecambe Bay area, tucked as it is in the far North West of England, opening up to the Isle of Man and nestled between the Southern fells of the Lake District and rolling hills and woodland of western Lancashire plus views of the Yorkshire Dales...^

The undulating sands of this vast shifting bay of mud flats and intricate tidal ways are in fact the biggest such landscape in the UK.

There are few places more beautiful on a summer's day...

However, despite the attractive vistas in every direction the bay is also a lethal honey-trap for those that attempt to cross it while the tides are out...without intimate knowledge of ancient safe crossing routes.

It can beguile and mislead with sinking sands, swirling currents that are treacherous and when the tide comes in it is like a speeding train.

It is no exaggeration that it moves faster than any man or woman can run...

However, no one knows the sands better than Cedric Robinson, the Queen's Guide...

This is not some fanciful archaic title, Robinson became the official 25th guide to the sands in 1963... and knows the ins outs of every sandbank, seaweed mountain and mudflat in the bay...from records handed down via generations.

The longest serving Queen's Guide is the royally appointed guide to the sands, a post that has been in use for centuries.

The guide resides in a 700-year-old Guide's Cottage at Kents Bank, which is owned by the Crown.

Royal Guides have been appointed since the 16th century, a tradition of guides for travellers across the sands that itself dates back centuries further when monks from Cartmel Priory provided guides for the potentially dangerous crossing...

Now the walks are often taken for pleasure with official guide Robinson at the helm.

The walks are open to all ages and rest assured Robinson the former fisherman and coastguard who has lived his entire life by the sands has led hundreds of thousands of people safely across...

Official walks across the bay which take about three hours for an eight mile crossing, in recent years have become regular events for charity.

The walks although available to all via appointment have become regular charity fundraising events for a range of charities, often involving groups of up to 600 people...

Up-and-coming walks include one this summer on July 28 and 29 in aid of Galloway's Society for the Blind...

In fact their walk is an annual fundraiser for the charity, and is the charity’s largest event, raising vital funds for services and equipment for the blind and visually impaired.

Galloway's Society for the Blind was established in 1867 and since then has developed into a major organisation providing a range of specialist services to over 6000 blind and visually impaired people across Lancashire and beyond...