Slyne-with-Hest is a civil parish in the City of Lancaster in Lancashire, England. It had a population of 3,163 recorded in the 2001 census,[1] decreasing to 3,126 at the 2011 Census.[2] The parish is north of Lancaster and consists of two villages; Slyne, on the A6 road, and Hest Bank on the coast.
Hest Bank's best-known building, 'The Hest Bank Hotel' (previously named the Sands Inn), is itself hundreds of years old, and once served as a coaching station for traffic crossing the sands of what is now called Morecambe Bay. Ordnance Survey Maps still show the right-of-way across Morecambe Bay from Hest Bank to Grange-over-Sands, and many walkers enjoy guided walks across the bay, which take place from Spring to Autumn, normally every other weekend, tides allowing. The right-of-way is not suitable for normal motor vehicles, there being water at around knee-height to cross at the outflow from the River Kent.
Governance
An electoral ward of the same name exists. This ward extends beyond the confines of the parish and has a population taken at the 2011 Census of 4,119.[3]
In 1965 this originally coastal village was the scene of a rail accident on 20 May, when a sleeper train from London Euston bound for Glasgow Central left the rails at 70 mph and collided with the Hest Bank station buildings.[4] No one was seriously injured, although from that time Hest Bank has ceased to serve as a passenger station, its railside platform consequently now lying buried in undergrowth.
Community
The village has a primary school: St Lukes Slyne-with-Hest; and tennis, football and bowling clubs.
