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Scout Scar
The outlying fells walk 1.
Visiting Cunswick Scar 679' and Scout Scar 764'

Weather :- Overcast with the odd sunny spell and the odd drop of rain

Accompanied by :- me and my thoughts!

Total Distance 6 and a bit miles, height ascended approx 900 Feet, time taken 3 Hours 40 minutes. 


Well this was it. My first recorded walk from AW's Outlying Fells book. It was also my first solo walk in more than 7 years, the first walk done on a weekday and a first for this web site as I have decided to allow sponsorship on the web page for the first time, not that they will thank me!
I had a couple of days holiday to take and this seemed like a good time, after the week I was having I was definitely ready for a break from work. Originally I had booked these holidays with no thoughts on what to do apart from not be at work, by tuesday I had decided that I needed some Lakeland Fells underfoot! It was in the middle of a break from walking with John and Sarah, I seem to be able to walk when they can't so I needed to think of something to do. The outlying fells seemed like a good idea, something to do when ever the others were busy. Once I had decided upon that I was really looking forward to today! I spent a few hours looking through the book, trying to decide which ones to do. I seem to struggle with deciding where to go and what to do so for this little escapade I decided to do them in the order that they appear in the book, besides by starting a walk in Kendal it would give me a chance to visit the Wainwright exhibition in the Kendal Museum. What a plan!

 
Another reason for doing the outlying fells was that I could try out a different way of showing images. After the actual walk I spent the best part of a full day trying various things, I achieved nothing much and decided that I liked the way I already lay out the text and images, what a waste of a day! I did come up with something useful though, below is a small thumbnail slide show, not bad for a first attempt at Java script!. And if you click the link below it will take you to a normal manual slide show thing, be warned though, the full size images are big. This is where Broadband users get to show off! I only used 5 images, these are photographs of what AW original sketched in his book of the Scout Scar walk.

Link to the photo gallery
(opens in a new window)

For some reason the little slideshow above will not work until the page has fully loaded (all images). The same is for my "eyes" in the slideshow images.......


Driving up the M6 on this thursday morning I was again greeted with the site of roadwork's or should I road"no"works. Miles and miles of cones and no work being done, and I had thought that they only did no work on the weekend! This decided me on the sponsorship thing at the start of this web page, it wont win any advertising awards but it made me feel much better! As I was a bit early for the museum I thought that I would have a look at the road section of the walk to try and find somewhere to park. I drove around the area for a while until I decided that parking was not an option here, too many yellow lines and residents only signs! I would find somewhere up Brigsteer Road and walk back. With this decided I joined the traffic jam down the Windermere road trying to get into Kendal, it was a nightmare! The only highlight was when I stopped outside the Titus Wilson print works, I wonder if the new batch of AW books is being printed there yet?


The Kendal Museum The man himself
Bang on 10.30 I walked into the museum. When I had looked at the museum web site the night before to check times and prices I had noticed that students had free entry, would my part time student card do? When I asked the question to the nice lady at reception she replied that free entry only applied to full time students, but due to my honesty she would let me in for now 't anyway, what a result, £2.50 up already! So there I was in the museum and looking for at all the AW exhibits. There was a display case of his walking gear, boots, jacket and repaired socks. A replica of his office, I presume his works office and some original pen and ink drawings of Dow Crag. I had a close look at these and could just about make out the pencil guide lines that he had used, fascinating! Apart from these drawings I think I was a bit disappointed by it all, somehow I had expected more but I did notice that from May 1st there will be a bigger exhibition, not sure how long it is on for though. Depositing a small donation of £2.50 into the box I left and drove up to start the walk.
The entrance to serpentine Woods In Serpentine Woods
It drove out of Kendal and up Brigsteer road until I found a place to park. As luck would have it this was opposite a stile in the wall that led to the old racetrack, no road walking on the way back then! I must admit that I did not really know what to expect from this walk, I knew it was about 7 miles long and involved walking on roads in Kendal, a park, a golf course and then open countryside. I had my rucksack on along with every thing else and although this would look normal on the fells I had the distinct feeling that I looked a right prat as I walked back down the road towards Kendal! In one way I was glad that I had to park a fair way around the walk as I knew I could get all the road walking out of the way early on. With this in mind I set off at what was a fast pace for me, head down and back into Kendal towards the entrance to Serpentine Woods that I had spotted before. Arriving in Serpentine Woods I felt a lot better, I was off the roads and out of sight, I am not normally self conscious but for some reason today I felt as if everyone was watching me, a bit of guilt about being on holiday whilst everyone else was working perhaps, besides who does were a pair of size 10 boots and carry a big green rucksack around Kendal on a thursday morning, it's no wonder everyone was looking!
The old summerhouse And the board inside the locked summerhouse
Anyway, once into Serpentine Woods I stopped and got the AW book out just to check that I was going in the right direction. I had an idea to try and take a photo of all the things that AW had drawn in his walk description, I did not want to make any mistakes and miss out on anything that he had noted. Soon enough I came to the old summerhouse. The iron gate was locked but inside was a nice board that detailed some of the history of the place. I began to get more into the swing of things now, I had sort of adjusted myself to this solitary walking thing and now that I had found my first objective I was happy.
In Serpentine Woods The memorial to Darwin Leighton
Carrying on through the woods I soon came to the edge of the woods. Serpentine Woods was a nice place to walk through, it was quiet and well kept, just as it must have been in AW's days. At the other side of the wall I looked around for the tablet that AW's mentions about someone who fed the birds and squirrels in the woods. Fair enough there it was and I guess that was objective 2 out of the way, I was on a roll!
The view from the edge of Serpentine Woods The view over Kendal
Leaving the woods a path made its way across the grass. Every few yards there seemed to be a bench, all with little plaques in memory of people. The view over Kendal was nice but the wind made its presence felt and today was not a day to linger and enjoy the view. My mobile went off now and by the time I had got off my rucksack to retrieve it, it was too late. It turned out to be my good lady wife asking my advice about some detail of Charlottes birthday party. This made me chuckle as I usually come walking to escape from thinking about things like these!
The old quarry tramway Under Kettlewell Crag
After returning the call I double checked the next part of the walk, under Kettlewell Crags and over Helsfell Nab. I joined the old quarry tramway and soon found myself under Kettlewell Crag. I was looking forwards to some crags but these were just the odd bit of rocky outcrop, oh well. After passing through a wall I was in or on Kendal golf course with Helsfell Nab straight in front. Heeding AW's words of wisdom I walked over instead of under. I saw some golfers in front but they soon disappeared from sight, I saw them again as I followed the ridge line and came across the 13th tee right on the top, I wondered where they had gone! This 13th tee was located in a great place. I have tried golf in the past but never really got into the swing of it (pun intended!) After numerous rounds, I realized that I had only ever hit 2 good shots, so I gave it up, besides it does spoil a nice walk!
The 13th tee, on top of Helsfell Nab Looking back to Helsfell Nab
Not far past the 13th tee the ridge of Helsfell Nab ended with a steep descent downwards. AW called it a ridge "but not in the class of Striding Edge" . It was not until I looked back after the descent that I realized what he was on about, from the direction I walked it was just a bit of high ground, looking back at it did give the impression of a ridge. Following the wall towards the rise that was ahead the kind ground staff of the golf course had placed some felled trees in the corner, totally blocking the path! A short diversion around these and up the steep bank followed. At the wall the path turned right and headed towards the first of the step stiles that AW describes. The only problem was that a fence had been erected between me and the stile, not to worry as some kindly person had knocked a hole into the wall to allow access to the path on the other side!
The second of AW's "massive wooden step stiles" The footbridge over the A 591
I was intrigued by this. Was this the first "access" problem that I was to encounter doing the outlying fells? Once through the wall I walked back and over the stile to look around, no signs of any restrictions! Oh well, back to the path and over a stile and onto the footbridge. This was another place where AW had drawn something. I suppose in 1971 this was a fair bit of engineering, I remember when the M55 opened a few years later, for an 11 year old kid it was a big thing as well!
Looking towards Cunswick Scar The cairn on Cunswick Scar
Once over the footbridge and over another stile I was in open pasture. The way ahead was clear to see. I could even see some walkers making their way along the path. There was not much to see along here apart from a conspicuous gouge in the pasture away to my right. Perhaps this was the rifle target that AW mentioned. The walkers in front of me seemed to get nearer, perhaps I would soon catch them up? When I arrived at the big cairn there was no sign of them, where had they gone! By now I was ready for a break so I sat down out of the wind and had a coffee and a smoke. As I sat here a lone runner came up followed by his dog, after a quick hello he headed off down to the left and out of sight. After I had finished with my refreshments I followed the direction he had taken.
Looking towards Scout Scar Looking back along the escarpment
After just a few short steps I had walked from a grassy pasture to the edge of the limestone escarpment. The change was quite sudden and very welcome. Up until now I had been enjoying a walk out in the fresh air. Now all of a sudden the views opened up toward the lakeland fells and I was confronted with a steep drop below me, it was a welcome change!
Along the escarpment towards Scout Scar Looking back to Cunswick Scar
From here the character of the walk changed totally. Before I had walked on roads, a public park, a golf course and pasture. Now I felt like I was out in the open and away from it all again. I am sure that I started to walk slower now, turning back every few steps to look at the escarpment and the views to the higher fells. I loved it! Apart from that the nature of the ground changed as well, now the land was covered in gorse and the odd bit of limestone sticking up, totally different from what I had seen before. The way forwards towards Scout Scar was in view and the radio mast made a good point to aim for, no getting lost along here!
I don't think AW had this much choice! The radio mast
I passed the runner and his dog again. They had been to wherever and were returning before I had got half way there, each to their own! By now the hunger pangs had set in and it was time for a spot of lunch. I reached the wall junction and stopped to consider the options. AW describes carrying on to the Underbarrow road but there was a sign post to Scout Scar here. I did not fancy anymore road waking so I followed the path that led directly towards the radio mast and Scout Scar. Just after that I found a nice piece of limestone to sit on and had my lunch. The only problem was that to sit comfortably I had to face a nearby wall. With all of this natural beauty around me I had to spend the next ten minutes looking directly at a wall! Anyway it was a very nice wall, as far as dry stone walls go!
The radio mast buildings The start of the path to Scout Scar
Even looking at the wall I could tell that the weather was changing. As I set off I could feel a few drops of rain and I was considering whether to stop and put on waterproofs. As I was thinking this I reached the woods around the radio mast and it did not feel that bad so I decided against it. This was the right decision as when I had passed the buildings around the radio mast and walked past the car parks it had started to brighten up again. Crossing the road and heading up the path I met a lady being taken for a walk by her dogs, she looked worn out!
Nearing the escarpment Looking along the escarpment
After the first initial steep section the path came out alongside the escarpment. You could look down and see the road drop away below you and the immediate sense of gaining height was great. At the top of the path the escarpment was there and the Lyth Valley was below. This was quite surprising how suddenly the views changed before you. This was a most welcome change, in fact this just made me smile and think about how I would never have seen this place, only a few minutes walk away from a car park, if I had not decided to do these outlying fells. This was great!
Two more views of the escarpment
Walking along the escarpment I soon came to the shelter. I walked over to it and as soon as I got there it started to rain slightly, was I just lucky or what, no need to put on my waterproofs with this shelter here. It felt like time for a coffee break anyway and I spent quite a while here just looking around and enjoying the view. A few other people walked along the escarpment but none actually came up to the shelter so I had it all to myself!
The "Mushroom" shelter A tablet on one of the walls of the shelter
There was a tablet set into one of the walls giving instructions on how to best use the view indicator. I followed the instructions and was surprised to find a few of the fells that I could see were not actually the ones that I thought I was looking at! I spent some time here looking around. The view was a bit strange at first because of being so far south from the usual viewing places. The fells looked different from this direction. One fell in particular kept catching my eye, Caw. I'll be going there soon!
It looks better in real life! The wind shelter by the shelter, ???
When the weather had improved I set off again. A quick look at the shelter near the shelter got me a bit confused for a while but I soon walked back down to the escarpment and carried on along it. For me this was the highlight of the walk.
Looking back along the escarpment Looking forwards along the escarpment
The only problem with this escarpment was that I kept stopping to look back at the views towards the higher fells. This section of the walk would have been much better done in the opposite direction to avoid this, but you cant have it all ways! It was great up here, the views and the weather improved and I passed a few people going in the opposite direction, perhaps they had done the walk before and felt the same way I did!
Looking back along the escarpment Looking down from Hodgson's Leap, ish!
The OS map mentioned a place called Hodgson's Leap. I was looking for this as I walked along. The only thing that fit the description was a couple of places where a gully led downwards through the escarpment. These places did offer the possibility of some madman, probably called Hodgson, to leap over the gully and land on the other side! Perhaps John would have had a go but there was no way I was going to. These gully's did give a good view down into the fields below, the noise of the new lambs did draw my attention to them, having their fun down in the fields. I spent a while just standing there watching before I reluctantly set off again. It was that sort of place that you just want to watch the world go by!
The wrongly named trig point at 229 The path from the trig point
Leaving the path I made my way up to the trig point at 229 as marked on the map. I was going to be sarcastic about this trig point and say that it was S*** and not 229 but I lost the paper that I wrote the number on! Leaving the trig point my mind was working overtime on how I could be really sarcastic about metric measurements of height. A bit of a waste of time really! A path made its way south from this trig point so I stayed on this instead of heading back down to the escarpment again.
Looking back to the "pile of stones" on the map Heading away from the escarpment and back towards Kendal
I soon reached a path that led away from the escarpment, this lead back to the Brigsteer road and was the way back. This was a well traveled path. I was surprised by the number of people out walking their dogs up here, it is obviously a popular place.
Along the path The strange landscape up here
Heading down the path I looked around and tried to think off how best to describe that landscape. It was really weird! Dead grass and trees amongst living grass and trees, greens and browns and grey's, very strange. Now that I had been walking for about 5 miles my feet started to play up again. Very soon I was reduced to a snails pace yet again. I had hoped that I had put the problems with my feet behind me, but even without any significant steepness during the walk I had problems! At least I know it has nothing to do with steep hills now!
Two images of both sides of the old racecourse
The end of the walk was in sight now as I came through a gate and onto the old race track. You could still see the track around the edge of the field, I wonder why it is no longer in use? The middle of the track was full of sheep and I had a bit of a moment as I thought I saw a sheep trying to give birth, it turned out to be a rather large splodge of red dye on the sheep's backside, my eyesight's going now!
And back to my new car, still there, phew! The start of the walk in the reverse direction
Passing the other side of the track, some more walkers with dogs, and a farmer on his quad bike checking on his flock I reached the stile in the wall and my new car. A new car suitable for walking, that was what I felt as I opened the hatch and sat down in the boot, just the right height to take off your boots and get changed! In fact as I took of my boots the fresh air on my feet came as a welcome relief, so much so that I cracked open the flask and had a coffee, waving my feet at passing motorists. In fact seeing that I shared my feet with them it's only right that I share them with you! So here they are, the most talked about feet on this web site!
And finally two images of the cause of all my pain. The reddish bits hurt!
Once I was ready to set off I turned the radio on. It turned out to be Mark and Lard's penultimate radio show on radio 1. At the time they were talking about some old record that they went on about for about 5 minutes. I must have missed the point of the whole thing but eventually the full album version of Pink Floyd's "Stairway to Heaven" started to play. As I listened to this and drove through the picturesque village of Brigsteer this song just went on and on. It was fast turning into one of those very surreal moments, one that I will remember for a long time, in fact I can't stop humming the dammed song now!
GPS track log from the Scout Scar walk.
So that was the first walk of the outlying fells. The only previous experience of these was Dunmallard and Gummer's How. I did not know what to expect but I really enjoyed the walk. The highlight was without a doubt the escarpment of Scout Scar, a great place. The only down side was my feet again! The up side was the chance to play about with some new ideas about displaying images. If you have not seen the photo gallery have a look now. This is the first of many new gallery's that will appear here. And a final thanks to the Highway's Agency who kindly sponsored this page, who's next???????