Dog-friendly Maryport

A harbour pub on Shipping Brow at the bottom of the town, a minute from Elizabeth Dock and the start of the Flimby shore walk. It does British pub food and a Sunday carvery, with outdoor seating on the brow. Its own website lists the pub as pet friendly but does not say which rooms that covers, and the food is served on a separate upper floor, so ask at the bar before going up with a dog.

The cafe on South Quay at the aquarium, opening from nine in the morning and serving coffee, scones and hot meals with vegan and gluten-free options, looking out over Maryport harbour. The aquarium's own site states that well behaved dogs are welcome in the cafe and gift shop and that only guide dogs are allowed into the aquarium exhibits, which is a clear line and worth knowing before you buy a ticket. Outdoor picnic tables under umbrellas seat sixty-odd, which is where most people with dogs end up on a warm day.

North along the promenade from the sea wall car park onto the grassland of the coastal park at Bank End, then back on the inland path below the Roman fort site. It is short, open and entirely on made surfaces and grass, with the Solway on one side and Criffel across the water, and it is where most of Maryport walks its dogs. The seaward grass is unfenced above a shingle shore, so a dog can get down to the water at several points. Cumberland Council designates Land at Ennerdale Road, at the southern end, as both a dogs-on-lead and a dog exclusion area, so read the signs before crossing the grass there.

Three and three quarter miles and about an hour and a half on level ground, out of Maryport's Georgian harbour along the King Charles III England Coast Path past the Roman fort headland and back through the town. It starts on the harbourside by the marina, where the parking is free and plentiful even in summer, and Maryport station is five minutes inland on the Cumbrian Coast line. The clifftop section above the fort is short grass with wide Solway views and the promenade is surfaced the whole way, which makes it a good winter option; the headland fields are grazed, the seaward edge is low but unfenced, and the beach and promenade come under a Cumberland Council dog control order whose signed months are posted at the access points.

The long shore walk north from Maryport promenade past Bank End, the raised beach below Swarthy Hill and the Crosscanonby saltpans, to the green at Allonby. It is mostly on the shingle and the grass above it with the coast road never far inland, and at low water there is firm sand almost the whole way. The Solway views to Criffel and the Galloway hills are the point of it. Grazing runs down to the shore in places on the Crosscanonby stretch. Buses run back from Allonby to Maryport.

Inland from the bridge at Ellenfoot, following the River Ellen east past Netherhall and through the low farmland of the valley to the village of Dearham. It is the sheltered option when the wind is off the Solway and the promenade is unbearable, and the river bank holds trees for most of the way. Field sections are grazed and there are gates rather than stiles on the main line of the path. Turn at Dearham and come back, or catch the bus from the village.

South from Elizabeth Dock on the shore path between the Cumbrian Coast railway and the Solway, past the old colliery ground to the sea wall at Flimby. It is flat, wide and open, with shingle and firm sand at low water for most of the distance, and it is one of the few walks near Maryport where a dog can be off the lead on a beach for over a mile at a stretch. The railway is fenced but very close in places and there is no shade whatsoever. Return along the shore or take the train back one stop.

A small touring site tucked between Elizabeth Dock and the marina on Marine Road, five minutes on foot from the town centre and a short walk from the shingle beach. The operator's own site describes it plainly as a dog friendly site. There are twenty-eight hard-standing pitches with electric hook-up and three camping pods, with an amenity block including a disabled and family wet room. It is the closest bed of any kind to the Maryport shore walks, and the promenade dog walk starts at the end of the road.

A small independent aquarium on Maryport harbourside, with a cafe, a tackle shop and crazy golf outside, and it is genuinely a wet-day option. Well-behaved dogs are welcome in the cafe and the gift shop, but only guide dogs may go into the aquarium exhibits.