The name 'Solway' (recorded as Sulewad in 1218) is of Scandinavian origin,[9] and was originally the name of a ford across the mud flats at Eskmouth.[10] The first element of the name is probably from the Old Norse word súl 'pillar', referring to the Lochmaben Stane, though it may instead be from súla, meaning 'solan goose'.[9] Súl and súla both have long vowels, but the early spellings of Solway indicate a short vowel in the first element.[10] This may be due to the shortening of an originally long vowel in the Middle English period but may also represent an original short vowel.[10] If this is the case, the first element may be *sulr, an unrecorded word cognate with Old English sol 'muddy, pool', or a derivative of sulla, meaning 'to swill'.[10]
The second element of the name is from the Old Norse vað, meaning 'ford'[9] (which is cognate with the modern English word wade).
The area had three fords: the Annan or Bowness Wath, the Dornock Wath (once called the Sandywathe), and the main one -the Solewath (also called the Solewath or the Sulewad).
A wooden lighthouse was built in 1841 at Barnkirk Point (grid reference NY 1903 6425). It was destroyed by fire in 1960.[11]
On 9 March 1876, a 79-ton French lugger St. Pierre, was stranded - and finally declared lost - on Blackshaw Bank, an ill-defined feature which extends for a considerable distance on both sides of the channel of the River Nith.[12]
Between 1869 and 1921, the estuary was crossed by the Solway Junction Railway on a 1780 m (5850 ft) iron viaduct.[13] The line was built to carry iron ore from the Whitehaven area to Lanarkshire and was financed and operated by the Caledonian Railway of Scotland. After the railway, which was not a financial success, ceased operating in 1921, the railway bridge became a popular footpath, enabling residents of Scotland to easily cross into England, where alcoholic drink was legally available seven days a week. (Scotland was dry on Sundays at the time.) The viaduct was demolished between 1931 and 1933.My videos are going to be informative and interesting .hope you will support my channel and love it.
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