20. MORECAMBE BAY

The dramatic shifting sands of this vast bay stretch for 120 square miles. Arnside Knott, a low hill on its eastern shores, offers a grandstand view of the sun setting over the sands, with the Furness fells and Lakeland mountains in the distance. Around the bay, spectacular flocks of dunlins, knots and oystercatchers surge above an incoming tide that moves at up to nine knots – the speed of a galloping horse. On Walney Island, see breeding gull colonies and grey seals, or walk the causeway to Foulney Island and be cut off by the tide for a few remarkable hours with breeding Arctic terns.