A view of the golf holes, gorse, and clubhouse at Silloth, with the Solway Firth in the background.
to sea level at the ninth. Far below the clubhouse was a long beach and a train line. On a clear day you can evidently see the Isle of Man. The 16th at 435 metres was a most impressive 4, its fairway heaving and buckling its way around a hillside over which we then had to play our drives on 17 to a blind fairway beyond. No 18 was short at 300 metres, but the pitch to a raised green was an uncomfortable one to finish the round.
scale Golf Club is its neighbour. Many members are employees. Seascale is even more of a hidden gem than Silloth – they are 65 kilome- tres apart – and an eye-opener. Old- fashioned and more unconventional than Silloth, it proved a delight to play as it offered a series of thrilling holes. They began high above the Irish Sea, of- fering the kind of spectacular views you seldom see at low-lying links, before dropping down on undulating terrain
woman born in the town in 1891. Cecilia Leitch was Britain’s first golfing heroine in the years following the First World War. Numerous women’s champion- ships went on to be contested here. Journeying to Silloth, on a slow, winding coastal road, I encountered Britain’s first nuclear power station, Sellafield. Today used for nuclear waste processing and storage. I managed a close-up view through a high-security fence because the seaside links at Sea-
PHOTO COURTESY SILLOTH ON SOLWAY GOLF CLUB
GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRICA 107
MAY 2026
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