THE HISTORY OF STORTH
Sandside, sometimes known as the port of Milnthorpe, was the only seaport that Westmoreland ever had. It existed, as early as the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and there are records of a customs officer, one Barnabye Bennison as early as 1558. There were two piers, one near Dixies, the head of which may be seen in the bank which projects from the roadway towards the river and is often used for the parking of cars, whilst the head of the other pier can be seen in the narrow roadway projecting from the front of the cottages at Sandy Bank, Storth Road End. An old building which lies about half way between the piers and now on the quarry road was the customs and warehouse and is now all that remains of the port. In the eighteenth century coal was brought here from Whitehaven, largely for the use of the factories in Kendal. The first half of the nineteenth century was a busy time and trade with Liverpool and elsewhere was so brisk, that Walter Berry, the carrier of Milnthorpe kept about twenty-five horses to cope with the delivery of goods. Flour was brought from Liverpool and other Lancashire ports. The outgoing vessels carried agricultural produce, hempen, cloth, ropes etc. and in the early days, before the salt works of Cheshire absorbed the industry, they also took salt form “Salt Steads” at the south-west of the estuary, one of which was near Guard Hill.
At Plantation Cottages were a small cottage and barn known as “Powder House” used for storage in connection with the gunpowder works at Sedgewick and Gatebeck. The vessels brought in the saltpeter for its manufacture and took out the finished powder. Iron ore was also brought in considerable quantities from Lindale to be smelted at Leighton Furnace.
Some of the vessels were of fully a hundred tons burthen and among the names long remembered were “Tickler”, “Hope”, “Old John”, Elizabeth” and “Wild Duck.” A description of the port in 1824 tells of three fine vessels containing St. Helens coal coming to Milnthorpe, Sandside near Dixies Inn. It also states” there is great competition in the coal trade at Milnthorpe, and coals are selling as low as 7d per cwt”.
Another paragraph reads: “From this time forward, for many years, Milnthorpe Regattas were held.
The Innkeeper at St. John’s Cross was interested in various ways in the trade of that part of the estuary. He made a charge for anchorage and was once found to have a store of contraband in a hiding place in the rock behind his house. The old Inn sign, of which Mr. Holden of Arnbarrow took possession, bore the following inscription: “Pay me down me anchorage, or else I’ll tell you plain. You’ll never cast your anchor down, in Bummeshire Bay again.” It seems likely that this little bay would provide shelter for the smaller boats and fishing vessels. The channel of the Bela was also used at some time by smaller boats, which were moored up between the bend in the river known as “Dallam Wheel” and the old bridge at Milnthorpe.
It is sad to relate that the second half of the nineteenth century brought a decline in all this activity and the end came with the building of the Arnside Viaduct, which completely closed the estuary to shipping of all kinds. Since then, there has been much silting up and the sand has taken on a rather muddy appearance. A further result is that the bore or head of the tide, which used to reach to a height of three and a half feet, now seldom rises to eighteen inches. It mat appear that the building of the viaduct had much to do with this decline, but the chief causes were no doubt the development of road and rail traffic and the concentration of industry in bigger centers. A further cause was the replacement of the smaller sailing vessels by the larger steamships, which could not have used the estuary.
Storth seems to have been, at one time noted, if not notorious for its drinking houses. The Dixies Inn must have been one of the earliest while others were “Swine Cheek” at Storth Road End where “Woodlands” now stands, “The Dutchman” at Carr Bank, and one at St. John’s Cross. The “Ship” the only one to survive has been much modernized in recent years. There were many others, which were known as “Jerries”, and “Crozier Cottage” was one of these. Much ale was brewed locally and at “Rose Hill” there are still indications of the production formerly of home brewed. There would be no lack of custom in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with shipping at Sandside and the bringing in of navies at a later date for the building of the railway. Many tales have been told of the fights, which took place almost nightly in some of these old houses.
There are also stories of smuggling, though no records have been traced. “Ivy Cottage” at the upper part of Guard Hill Road is often spoken of as “Smugglers Cottage”. Poaching, especially for salmon, has gone on continuously for some hundreds of years. In 1699 a man was fined two shillings and sixpence for poaching a salmon valued at two shillings.
..... tbc!
