98 



The cockle beds in the whole district may be conven- 

 iently grouped into three principal divisions. At the most 

 northern limit is the estuary of the Duddon, practically 

 the whole of which is occupied by cockle beds. Then 

 comes Morecambe Bay, the whole northern part of which 

 is scattered over with cockle beds. On the western side 

 of the Bay are the important Baicliff and Bardsea beds, 

 and towards the eastward side are the Bolton-le-Sands 

 beds. Between these, and reaching southward as far as 

 Yeoman Wharf is a large stretch of sands over the whole 

 of which cockle beds are found and regularly fished. The 

 chart shows some coloured areas on the southern side of 

 the Bay, but there the cockle fishery is very irregular. 

 The Morecambe Bay and Duddon beds together form the 

 Northern Division. 



Between Kossall Point and Blackpool the coast is too 

 exposed to admit of the formation of profitable cockle beds, 

 but from Southshore to Southport is the estuary of the 

 Ribble, containing some very important beds. The most 

 northern of these, the Crusader Bank, is of little value, 

 but the Salthouse and Horse Banks, lying further south, 

 are very valuable, as a glance at Table I. will show. Those 

 banks form the Central Division. 



From Southport to below Formby Point is the second 

 barren portion of the coast. Here cockles are to be found, 

 but not in such quantities as to render the beds of any 

 commercial value. South of Formby Point is a narrow 

 strip of from two to three miles in length — Formby Bank — 

 where cockles are very abundant. There are several im- 

 portant beds on the Cheshire Coast. The Formby, Lea- 

 sowe, Hoylake, and West Hoyle beds are referred to 

 hereafter as forming the Southern Division. There are 

 also a number of areas containing cockle beds in the 



