The Broomway

en.wikipedia.org

60 points·curtis··9 comments

Low tide natural bridges are fascinating. The first time I realized they were a thing was when I saw the low tide bridge to Salt Island in Gloucester, MA [0]. The broomway seems much more treacherous though!

[0] https://www.flickr.com/photos/7831824@N04/35684974504

I can strongly recommend Robert Macfarlane's The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot which has a chapter on the Broomway.

The book was recommended to me here on HN after I happened to mention that I live near an "Old North Road" (for possibly Agricola levels of "Old").

Seconded. His 'Mountains of the Mind' is also great reading for hiking/mountaineering-interested people like me.

In fact, I can recommend every book he's written.

Thirded (?). I just finished reading "Underland". Incredible read, highly recommend his work.

Recent discussion on a Washington Post article about The Broomway: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20547104

Love the English place names "Foulness Island".

For what it's worth, this is foul (fowl) and ness meaning promontory/headland.

That is, a peninsula that birds live on.

So Loch Ness means "Lake Peninsula"? Nice :)

I suspect that might be a coincidence - the Gaelic name for Loch Ness is Loch Nis with the origins of the "Nis" being a bit unclear. Neither Loch Ness, River Ness or Inverness seem very peninsula like - although Caithness does use 'ness' in that sense but it was under Norse control for a long time but it is a broad peninsula...

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