The Fresh and the Salt

Shortlisted for the Lakeland Book of the Year Firths and estuaries are liminal places, where land meets sea and tides meet freshwater. Their unique ecosystems support a huge range of marine and other wildlife: human activity too is profoundly influenced by their waters and shores. The Solway Firth - the crooked finger of water that both unites and divides Scotland and England - is a beautiful yet unpredictable place and one of the least-industrialised natural large estuaries in Europe. Its history, geology and turbulent character have long affected the way its inhabitants, both human and non-human, have learnt to live along and within its ever-changing margins.

Ann Lingard spent her childhood in Cornwall. After living and working in various places including Cambridge, Glasgow, Oxford and Oregon, she and her husband now manage a smallholding in North-west Cumbria, within sight of the Solway Firth. Having left academia and research to write and broadcast, she has subsequently published six novels and several short stories and has written and spoken a great deal about the countryside and shore. www.eliotandentropy.wordpress.com