Pandemic Peregrinations: Scout Scar, Cumbria, Winter
Today, it really felt like spring is on its way.
Today, it really felt like spring is on its way.
This week has been extremely wet, Saturday in particular, so it was a veritable relief when Sunday emerged with blue skies and bright sun. We quickly took the opportunity to get outside for a solid wander towards, and around, Scout Scar, clocking up nearly 8-miles of hiking all in all.
Lisabet’s research had identified a slightly different route up Scout Scar than the one we usually took, and it was rather beautiful.
Birds were singing their little lungs out, snowdrops and crocuses were blooming, and we even saw some erect shoots of daffodils. Spring is coming.
We completed the day with a tasty reward from Joey’s Café.
It felt great to get out in a Blue Sky day.
Photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using both my Samyang 35mm f/1.2 lens and Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lens. Developed using a variety of RNI’s Kodachrome film profiles.
The Ring o’ Bells pub in Kendal, definitely seen better days. It’s one of the few pubs in Britain that’s built on Consecrated ground.
You can find this sculpture alongside the A6 in Hawesmead Park. Created by Andy Levy, it symbolises racial equality and friendship.
Romney’s pub in Kendal. Said to be haunted by a ghost called Agnes; the rumour goes that she’s the great great aunt of US Senator Mitt Romney.
We had to stop and take photos of this wonderful tree proudly displayed in someone’s front garden. No idea what type it is, looks like some sort of eucalyptus. Any ideas?
We came off the A6 onto the small country lane towards Helsington Laithes. This gorgeous Listed cottage featured a beautiful garden; so pleasantly English and idyllic that I had to stop for a photo.
Beyond Helsington Laithes we crossed the fields near Warriner’s Woods and made our way through Helsington Barrows towards the cliffs of Scout Scar.
A beautifully constructed drystone wall with a small aperture that caught my eye.
Up onto the cliffs of Scout Scar, where I first fell in love with Cumbria. I spotted this wee little tree making a life of its own down the steep cliffs of Scout Scar.
The cliffs of Scout Scar south of Hodgson’s Leap are some of the most dramatic in this landscape. I wanted to emphasise the sheer drop towards the valley floor.
Like a giant has taken a good ol’ bite out of the landscape.
Moving north towards Hodgson’s Leap. I waited for some fellow morning hikers to enter the frame in order to provide perspective of Scout Scar’s cliffs.
I love the way limestone geology can provide some of the most dramatic landscapes.
Near Hodgson’s Leap the cliffs break up more, but are no less precipitous.
Looking back the way we came, once we’d reached Hodgson’s Leap. The day was clear enough to be able to make out the Kent Estuary as it flows out into Morecambe Bay.
A panoramic perspective of our cliff top walk.
A challenge I enjoy doing on Scout Scar is finding interesting compositions involving the fell’s naked ash trees.
Heading back down Brigsteer Road there’s a line of trees I love taking photos of, totally covered in moss and vines.
See? Gorgeous trees.
Lisabet queued up at Joey’s Café to get some tasty treats, so I went wandering around the area looking for compositions with my ultra wide 9mm lens.
Up on Stricklandgate Bridge I saw this elderly gentleman enjoying some time with the local birds and feeding them.
One of Kendal’s largest stores, Beales, fell victim to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was already doing poorly in any case; the pandemic was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. At least the open windows showing a depressingly empty department store have been covered up with some creativity.
The Shakespeare Pub, next door to the Master’s House Tea Room. Through the yard is the Shakespeare Centre, a meeting hall. Formerly the Shakespeare Theatre, it was Kendal’s first purpose built theatre in 1829.
Pandemic Peregrinations: Helsington Barrows, Cumbria, Winter
It’s amazing the difference 24-hours can make.
It’s amazing the difference 24-hours can make.
Yesterday we were hiking through mist and fog with a landscape covered in frost and snow.
Today a lot of the frost has melted, the sun was out, and the atmosphere was crystal clear.
So this time we did one of our favourite local hikes. From the front door, up Captain French Lane and onto Brigsteer Road, then follow the road up towards Helsington Barrows. Here we came off the road to explore a new discovery of ours, Warriner’s Wood. We’ve mentally bookmarked this area for spring and summer, but we thought we’d have a wander through the woods now. It were really quite pretty.
Popping back out of the woods we crossed the road onto Helsington Barrows and began the long ascent up to Scout Scar. And it was at the summit that we were simply floored by the spectacle of the Lake District fells covered in snow. Not only were they beautifully coated in the white stuff, but the atmosphere was so crystal clear you felt you could reach out and touch the fells. Incredible.
I hope you manage to get a sense of the awe and wonder we experienced through these photos.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using both my Samyang 35mm f/1.2 and Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lenses. Developed using one of RNI’s Kodachrome film profiles.
Berries have been replaced with flowers made of ice.
The road through Warriner’s Woods. You can see the stile on the left; this is the way into the woods on foot.
Had to snap this moss-covered tree with some sort of vine crawling up it.
Another interesting sight. Is it five separate trees, sharing the same root system? Or one tree that’s split into five? I couldn’t say, but I know I’ve never seen owt like it. Here’s a photo of me climbing into the bowl of the trees.
Same tree, different angle.
Still some nice pops of colour about in Warriner’s Wood.
Out of the woods we cross the road and up onto Helsington Barrows, following the trail up to Scout Scar.
The views open up the higher we climb. Looking back at the way we came, I frame this shot of Lisabet with the wonderful snow-covered shapes of the Howgills in the distance.
This was the view that made both me and Lisabet cuss in awe. Probably the clearest I’ve ever seen the Lake District fells from Scout Scar.
Life… finds a way.
Once we arrived at the cairn we followed the edge of Scout Scar northwards towards Hodgson’s Leap, snapping happily along the way.
I whipped out my 9mm ultra-wide lens for some vast and expansive compositions.
Probably my favourite shot from the day: a little tree growing out of the limestone crags of Scout Scar, still with some frosting on its branches.
Near Hodgson’s Leap with a sheer drop down to the Lyth Valley below.
Looking back the way we came. The atmosphere was so clear we could see all the way out to Morecambe Bay, which seemed to be experiencing a more overcast day.
Heading back into Kendal, down my favourite road: Beast Banks.
If I’ve got my 9mm ultra-wide lens with me I rarely resist a composition of Kendal town hall.
Pandemic Peregrinations: Kendal, Cumbria, Winter
Welp, despite Storm Christoph’s best attempts, snow and ice have returned.
Welp, despite Storm Christoph’s best attempts, snow and ice have returned.
The rain finally left Britain, with parts of North England and the Midlands getting flooded. It filled us with trepidation, having experienced our home being flooded during December 2015’s Storm Desmond. Thankfully, though the River Kent did get high, no serious flooding was reported in Cumbria this time.
Today we saw temperatures plunge once again, bringing overnight snow and frost into the county. As we’re still in a National Lockdown due to the global COVID-19 Pandemic, we retraced a familiar local favourite of ours: from the front to door to Old Sedbergh Road and up the fellside onto Paddy’s Lane. Then you follow the lane and exit back down to Kendal Jenkin’s Cragg Farm. You get a solid 10,000 steps doing it.
The going was dry and ice-free underfoot and the cloud base level was very low; it didn’t take us long stomping up Old Sedbergh Road to get into the cloud base and have our views completely washed out in fog. Never mind. Still got some lovely photos, I reckon.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using a Samyang 35mm f/1.2 lens. Developed using one of RNI’s Kodachrome film profiles.
The water level at the River Kent has dropped rather rapidly after Storm Christoph departed.
Kendal looks rather magical with a covering of frost.
We briefly came off Castle Street to explore the grounds of Castle Street Cemetery. It was like stepping back in time. The cemetery opened in 1843. The burial ground is now full and the chapel is disused.
Further up Sedbergh Road, near the allotments, our favourite local horses were having a proper feast on some sweet-smelling hay.
Up Old Sedbergh Road we go, as the road gets steeper each step.
The higher we climbed, the more the views disappeared into the winter fog.
A little spider web hammock.
This is the approach to the junction of Old Sedbergh Road and Paddy Lane, where Greyhound Farm sits. Really fogging up now.
With these kinds of conditions, you can snap some rather minimalist compositions.
Up on Paddy Lane. Trees and flora covered in corns of ice and frost.
High Jenkincrag Farm. Don’t know if it’s inhabited or not.
The route back to Kendal means you have to follow the Public Bridleway through Jenkin Crag Farm. And that means… cows!
All well fed and keeping warm, by the look of things.
The Castle Dairy. This is Kendal’s oldest inhabited building, built in the early 14th century and with some of those original features still in place. One might have assumptions based on the property’s name, but it seems it’s actually a corruption of Castle Dowery, a dower house for widows of the Barony.
The Bridge pub. Not sure what’s happening with this place; it’d been disused and on the market for years before news got out that it had been acquired in 2018. Still not open. Not sure it ever will be again.
Back up into Kendal town centre via Finkle Street. The name comes from the Old Norse word vinkle or vinkel, meaning “elbow” or “angle”. Accurate.
Heading past the New Shambles lane. Please do not feed the pigeons (people do, anyway).
New Shambles lane follows the route of an ancient path, Watt Lane; this went through property owned by the Trustees of the Market Place Chapel, back in the 18th century. It was redeveloped as the New Shambles in 1804 as 12 butchers’ shops. This lane became known as Stinking Lane as there weren’t any drains from the slaughter houses here (even though the owners paid “2/6”—two shillings and sixpence—a week to have the lane cleaned).
Pandemic Peregrinations: Brigsteer, Cumbria, Winter
After the recent wonderful wintery scenes of snow in and around Kendal, things have somewhat changed.
After the recent wonderful wintery scenes of snow in and around Kendal, things have somewhat changed.
Storm Christoph has arrived over the British Isles, as well as all the flood warnings. Whilst we’re not expecting Storm Desmond-levels of rain, there will be enough to induce mild panic and anxiety within us Desmond-survivors.
Thankfully, before the storm arrived, we had a clear day on the 17th so Lisabet and I gleefully utilised it by enjoying a 12 km hike.
We took the quiet country lanes from near the Westmorland General towards the delightfully idyllic village of Natland. Then we carried on towards the River Kent, crossing it at Hawes Bridge (and stopping for photos of the gorge, of course), carried on over the A591 and back up the fellside towards Brigsteer.
This was a part of the local area we’ve nearly properly looked at before and we were happily surprised. We essentially tracked the road that scanned northwards alongside the back of Scout Scar, with some beautiful scenes along the way. We mentally bookmarked this area for when spring and summer finally arrives.
I hope you enjoy this walk too.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using a Samyang 35mm f/1.2 lens. Developed using one of RNI’s Kodachrome film profiles.
I always enjoy this view down Kirkland from Highgate in Kendal, and rarely resist an opportunity for a photo. The scene almost has a timeless quality to it.
Some yarn bombing alongside the River Kent has definitely seen better days.
All in a row…
Arriving at Natland we slowed down for photos of the idyllic village and its old buildings. This big old building was once Natland Hall Farm, a relatively large farmhouse.
Riders and their horses near Hawes Bridge enjoy the lack of rain.
The River Kent was full and raging at Hawes Bridge, where it turns on its side and gouges out this little limestone gorge.
As we ascended the fell side towards Brigsteer and the back of Scout Scar, we passed through Low House Farm and snapped a few photos. I saw this old barn door and pondered the passage of time.
Once we ascended Whetstone Lane we joined Brigsteer Road and followed it northwards back towards Kendal. Here the views really opened up, including this scene of the winding dry stone wall. And you know what I’m like we a good dry stone wall…
Another variation of the above composition, picking out some of the flora in the hedgerows.
A beautifully wooded lane. One to come back to in spring and summer.
Following along the back of Scout Scar we came across these rather noisy cows, bellowing at each other.
I love her hair…
Heading back into Kendal. It’s hard to make out in the photo but in the distance we could see the snowy tops of the Kentmere fells.
Another one of my favourite Kendal scenes, heading down the steep Beast Banks back into Kendal town centre.
Kendal clock tower, still being repaired and thus still stuck at 12pm.
Pandemic Peregrinations: Helsfell Nab, Kendal, Cumbria, Winter
The Pandemic Peregrinations are back.
The Pandemic Peregrinations are back.
On the 4th of January 2021 the UK entered its 3rd National Lockdown due to rising COVID-19 cases and a new—more infectious—variant ravaging its way through the nation.
The British public are being urged to stay home at all times, save for one lot of exercise a day and essential shopping. I’m back working remotely from home again, and we’re only heading out to get some manner of exercise in, plus occasionally shopping for food.
Winter has well and truly arrived.
We decided to combine both an essential food shop with our day’s exercise today, so we hiked up Kendal Fell via Helsfell Nab, aiming towards the wonderful Plumgarths Farm Shop.
Despite the lockdown plenty of people were enjoying sledging in the somewhat slushy and frozen snow slopes of Kendal Fell. We carefully dodged the kids and adults alike whizzing passed us in their sleds, and continued on an occasionally perilously slippy walk to Plumgarths and back.
Lots of sheep about, too.
In other news—as of Saturday 9th January 2021—3,017,409 people in the UK tested positive with the virus, with 82,624 recorded deaths.
Stay safe and warm, everyone.
All photos shot with a Fujifilm X-T2 using my Samyang 35mm f/1.2 lens. Developed using RNI’s Kodachrome film profile.
Fresh snow everywhere.
Winter has well and truly arrived.
We made friends with this gorgeous girl, who was exploring the winter landscape.
We really had to watch our footing on most of the walk. Most of the snow had either frozen over or was heavily compacted, making it all rather slippery.
A wintery Kendal town.
There were plenty of sheep around the lower slopes of Kendal Fell. Not sure of the breeds, probably a lot of North England Mules.
You’re never far from the countryside in Kendal.
I love the quizzical expressions sheep give you.
Managed to snap this young lass as she sped down the slopes of Kendal Fell.
Our way forward.
It was nice to see families out enjoying the “snow”.
My lovely Lisabet keeping up, despite slippery conditions.
Navigating through the woodland below Helsfell Nab.
As we gain height the views open up and the cloud shelf lowers.
We skirt around the lower slopes of Cunswick Fell to head towards Plumgarths Farm Shop. A beautiful Cumbrian winter scene.
The lonely track towards High Helsfell Farm.
Our destination for the day: Plumgarths Farm Shop. It’s a small place, so Lisabet went in to get supplies and I stayed out.
Pandemic Peregrinations: Castle Hill, Kendal, Cumbria, Spring
The UK Lockdown has changed.
The UK Lockdown has changed.
On Sunday 10th May 2020 the Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced, amongst many things, that there would no longer be travel restrictions for the purposes of exercise. Until now outdoor exercise during the Lockdown was limited to your immediate surroundings.
This has caused some concern amongst the resident population of Cumbria and the Lake District. On the Bank Holiday weekend just gone, Friday 8th to Sunday 10th, Cumbria Police reportedly issued a record number of fines to people breaking Lockdown rules. There were even reports of people doing the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge, with one getting stuck and requiring assistance.
That’s all with the Lockdown in effect. What will happen now restrictions are being eased? Will the Coronavirus spread from cities to popular rural beauty spots, infecting the local population and quickly overwhelming the limited healthcare in these areas?
Time will tell. Give it two weeks.
To take our minds off this future, Lisabet and I enjoyed a quiet hike up to Castle Hill, site of the ruins of Kendal Castle.
This isn’t a particularly interesting photo, compositionally or indeed in terms of light, but I shot it for its historical significance. This is where the old Lancaster Canal went through Kendal, before terminating at Canal Head. There is actually a group dedicated to reopening the Kendal section of Lancaster Canal once again.
The views from Castle Hill require little additional praise. Looking towards the gentle slopes of Benson Knott.
The ruins of Kendal Castle.