Scout Scar

Monday 21st December 2015

Two weeks before I did this walk the Lake District suffered record amounts of rainfall leading to serious flooding across the county of Cumbria. This made me worried about the short holiday that I had planned for just before Christmas, which is one of the problems inherent in booking a walking holiday months in advance, especially in Britain where the weather is notoriously changeable. The enjoyment of a walk is highly dependent on the weather as it is much more enjoyable walking in sunny conditions than in dull, overcast weather. When I got off the train in the town of Kendal, just outside the Lake District, it was raining, windy and generally miserable. It was not the sort of weather that you would choose to go walking in, but since I was there I obstinately started off on the walk that I had planned to do, despite the weather. My intention was to do the first walk detailed in Wainwright’s pictorial guide to the Outlying Fells of Lakeland, which is to Scout Scar via Cunswick Scar from Kendal.

After passing through the town I climbed steeply up to the Serpentine Woods on excellent paths that snake through the woodland. Even in winter and under heavy rain these woods seemed a delightful place to walk and must be an amazing place in the spring when woodland flowers are in bloom. Unfortunately the woods are very small and crisscrossed by so many paths I wasn’t sure where I had emerged from them or whether I was on the right path, and the OS map was no help to me. I had found myself on a sloping shelf overlooking the murky town of Kendal crossing Kendal Fell on the edge of a golf course. The ground underfoot consisted of rocks that were suspiciously whiter than the usual dull grey rocks typically found in the Lake District as these were limestone, which is more usually found in the Yorkshire Dales, but sneaks into this south-western corner of the Lakes with dramatic effect.

Under the miserable conditions I followed a clear path that was not actually the route described by Wainwright, which follows the right-of-way beside a wall and below Kettlewell Crag. My path eventually joined the orthodox route after Kettlewell Crag and once I had crossed over the golf course (no danger of anyone playing in this weather!) I followed the path down to the bridge over the Kendal Western Bypass, one of the main roads into the Lake District. On the other side was an open pasture filled with dead bracken and stumpy, little wind-swept trees that was a pleasure to walk through with the wind behind me until I reached a large pile of stones at the northern tip of Cunswick Scar. Unfortunately I now had to turn into the wind and follow the edge of Cunswick Scar where there is a dramatic drop off the edge of the limestone escarpment into thick woodland. The weather was really harsh as it lashed into my face forcing me to keep my head down as I made my way south beside the edge of Cunswick Scar.

Towards the southern end of the scar I was hit by a particularly harsh onslaught of wind and rain that had me cowering on the ground desperate for any shelter on this exposed edge, even if it was merely my own back. It is at times like this that I wonder why I do this, when I could have been anywhere except getting soaked on a Cumbrian fell. However, soon after this the rain actually stopped, and after crossing a road a wide track led me to the start of Scout Scar from where I could see the sun was beginning to peak out from behind the clouds. By the time I reached the shelter known locally as ‘the umbrella’ or ‘the mushroom’ the clouds were clearing to reveal stunning views north towards the Lakeland Fells, and south down the Lyth Valley where extensive flood waters could be seen glistening in the sunlight.

The transformation in such a short time was astonishing and made the views even more amazing and special to behold, however it was still very windy and the umbrella was a poor shelter from the wind as I had my lunch. Despite the wonderful sunny weather and stunning views, the wind was still bitterly cold so I was still snugly wrapped up in my waterproofs as I made my way down the edge of Scout Scar. I was enjoying the views, but the wind was making the walking unpleasant enough so that when I reached a trig point, just after crossing a wall, I turned my back on the stunning views from the edge of Scout Scar, and headed back towards Kendal. Wainwright’s route would have had me continue south for only a little while longer until I reached a cairn where I would have been able to take a path across the fell. There was not much difference in the two routes and the landscape that I was crossing was just as fabulous being filled with limestone in outcrops and with mini-pavements that included the plant-filled cracks known as grikes.

It was wonderful simply being away from the wind and this helped me have a really enjoyable walk across the limestone landscape until I eventually reached the path that I would have taken if I had continued on Wainwright’s route. This took me across a former racecourse and onto a road that eventually led me back into the town of Kendal. The sun didn’t stay out for long and it was soon raining again as I came back into Kendal. This was a very short walk, when the weather wasn’t on my side for most of the day, but when it was, it revealed some stunning scenery that shows how good this walk would be at the right time of the year and with better weather. I should be thankful that, despite the bad weather that I was subjected to, I was also treated to the stunning views that can be seen from Scout Scar.

The National Forest Way, Stage Four

Saturday 13th December 2014

Sence Valley to Ashby de la Zouch

I had planned on doing a stage of the National Forest Way each month, but the demands of work, which had had a detrimental effect on stage three, dictated that I wouldn’t be able to return to the trail until just before Christmas. I had actually attempted to do this stage in November, but poor planning and bad weather had forced me to abandon that walk soon after it had started. Now I parked at the Snibston Country Park, which has been built on a former colliery spoil heap and reclaimed to form woodland with an open, rough grassland area. It was very cold when I started with ice on the roads when I drove in and a deep frost on the ground. I wrapped up snuggly before starting and headed off into the country park climbing to the top of the old spoil heap that is now dubbed Pit Bank. In better weather the views should be good from this vantage point, but the cold ground was creating an inversion with mist covering the low ground. There was nevertheless an eerie atmosphere and one that stayed with me for the rest of the increasingly dull walk.

Descending along a narrowing ridge I came down to a service road and gradually got more and more lost until I eventually got out a map, which I really should have done earlier. When I realised where I was I turned around and eventually found a right-of-way that passes just outside Grange Nature Reserve that took me onto a road not far from the tiny village of Snibston. A dull path through farmer’s fields brought me into Donington le Heath, which I had passed through on the previous stage, but rather than following the route of stage three I now took a footpath that heads towards what I thought was going to be Kelham Bridge Nature Reserve, but actually goes into the National Forest woodland of Kelham Bridge that lies to the north of the reserve. White frost remained on the ground as I passed through the young woodland and over a frosty field to the byway that skirts the edge of Sence Valley Forest Park.

I had been to this country park three months previously when I did stage three of the National Forest Way, but the changing seasons had transformed the park into a winter wonderland with bare trees and dead, frost-laden foliage on the ground. The crisp cold air under clear blue skies had frozen the ground solid, but as I made my along a footpath that follows the western edge of the park I came upon mud that had thawed and was unpleasant to walk along, and eventually forced me to enter the park earlier than I’d planned. Following the wide, clear path down to the large Horseshoe Lake I circled around it while taking in the wintry views across the lake where various wildfowl were congregated on the partially frozen lake. I made my way around the lake and up the steep path to the car park where Christmas trees were being sold by the National Forest company.

The upper car park is where stage four of the National Forest Way begins so it was at this point that I once again descended onto the byway and this time turned left to follow the byway onto Heather Lane. A short walk along the road brought me to another footpath that soon led me to the Woodland
Trust’s Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Wood. This covers an extensive area where over 300,000 trees have been planted to mark the 2012 Diamond Jubilee of the Queen, however that was only two year and a half years before I did this walk and the actual planting hadn’t started until November 2012, and continued through into 2014. Consequently the recently planted trees were still very small, so the whole thing didn’t really look like a wood yet. However, it was fascinating to see that all the trails through the wood had already been laid out complete with direction posts. This looks like it’s eventually going to be a great woodland, but not for a very long time, which is a problem with all the new woods that have been planted as part of the National Forest, even those planted more than fifteen years ago.

At the other end of the Jubilee Wood I reached the tiny village of Normanton le Heath, but from there the trail deteriorates as I crossed field after field with nothing of interest until I reached Red Burrow Lane. On the other side of the road is some sort of community wood, but I can find no information about it, however I do remember it as being so attractive that I veered off-course through it down to the Gilwiskaw Brook. Eventually I realised that I was not on the trail so I took a path back onto the right route that took me into the picturesque village of Packington. From there the National Forest Way heads over the busy A42 and enters the bustling market town of Ashby de la Zouch. With carols being played loudly on Market Street I caught a bus out of Ashby and back over the A42 to the village of Coleorton, which is where I had done my aborted walk the month before. Footpaths are astonishingly dense in this area and I had an enjoyable little wander around Coleorton Moor retracing my brief steps of the month before as I tried to find my way through the maze of footpaths.

To be honest I can hardly remember the end of this walk as I had lost all interest even though the surroundings were quite picturesque. Looking at a map I must have passed Limby Hall on my way to Cuckoo Gap Wood, which I think was a good, well-established wood that should have left more of an impression on me than it did. Somehow I got over the railway line and the main A511 road and through what is marked as a wood on the map, but all I seem to remember is a dreary, typical urban park. Long before I was back at Snibston Park I had decided that I wouldn’t continue doing the National Forest Way until the winter was over. While the frost had held at the beginning of the day, this walk had held some interest for me, but after I left Sence Valley Park I wasn’t enjoying the walk. By the end I just wanted it to end even though I was passing through what in the Spring must be a lovely woodland, but in the winter and with the mood that I was in I thought it was just dull and muddy.

The National Forest Way, Stage Three

Saturday 13th September 2014

Thornton Reservoir to Sence Valley

Last year I started walking the newly opened National Forest Way and did one stage each month. By September I was up to stage three and was entering ‘King Coal’ country, where the famous ‘black gold’ has been mined for centuries. After the coal mines started closing down in this area in the Nineties, a plan was devised to turn the scarred landscape left behind into a network of woods and nature reserves covering an area of the East Midlands that had previously few trees. At the end of the second stage I had reached the village of Thornton, so that is where I now started, at the reservoir that lies beside the village. After walking along the dam I proceeded along the track that follows the edge of the reservoir and only then realised that I had been there before. I had done a walk around this reservoir five years ago, and just as then I had an enjoyable walk in the morning sunshine around the small reservoir with many late summer wildflowers adding to the pretty picture.

At the western end of the reservoir I turned right onto the route that I had taken the previous month, but soon turned off into Browns Wood to follow a diagonal right-of-way across a typical National Forest wood. Somehow I made a wrong turning and ended up back on my previous month's route in the north-eastern corner, which necessitated a confused retreat back through the wood until I found the gap in the hedge that I’d missed before. Another path took me through a young wood called the Partings and eventually brought me to the village of Stanton under Bardon. After my earlier navigational confusion I was now in more familiar territory as I climbed onto the top of the wooded embankment that screens New Cliffe Hill Quarry. This young woodland is enjoyable to walk through and even more delightful for me was a large meadow filled with many wildflowers of different colours and shapes.

I was entranced as I took many photos, some even while lying along the ground to get a close-up of the flowers. However my earlier wanderings in Browns Wood and now my fascination with the wildflowers had occupied a lot of time and I still had a long way to go just to get onto the National Forest Way. I had planned on diverting to the top of Bardon Hill, the highest point in Leicestershire, but since it was already past midday I bypassed all of that and made my way as fast as I could towards Sence Valley Park. I continued to skirt the edge of the quarry even though the landscape was now considerably less interesting. After crossing a road I took a path that runs between an industrial park and the railway line to the quarry. This path was seriously overgrown with rosebay willowherb that was shedding its feathering seed all over me as I struggled along the path until finally I came down to and across the railway line.

I was mindful of the advancing clock because I needed to go to work once I’d finished this walk, so I didn’t want to be late. I rushed through dull scenery eventually reaching a relatively large area of woodland full of young trees, but I was in far too much of a hurry to linger as I quickly passed through until I reached the Overton Road at the far end of the wood. A walk along the road through the edge of Ibstock and along the road towards Heather brought me to Sence Valley Forest Park. This was once part of a large opencast coal mine, but has now been transformed into a delightful nature reserve with three lakes below steep wooded slopes that has turned the area from a black scar into a wonderful green bowl. I had never been to Sence Valley Park before, but I was immediately mesmerised as I paused from my headlong dash to have my lunch. Sadly I couldn’t linger in this fascinating place as I needed to get back to Thornton as quickly as possible and I still hadn’t started stage three of the National Forest Way.

From the upper car park at Sence Valley I finally began stage three by walking down to a byway that skirts the park and following that across the main road towards Kelham Bridge Nature Reserve. I had been hoping to see some interesting wildlife during my traverse, but the footpath that I was following doesn’t seem to actually go through the reserve so the best that I was able to see was a distant view of a disused railway bridge, presumably the eponymous Kelham Bridge. On the other side of the reserve I came to the small village of Donington le Heath where the National Forest Way turns south at a right angle and heads through boring farmland and the village of Ellistown until it eventually reaches Common Hill Wood, part of the large woodland that I had raced through earlier. At that time I had been heading from east to west, but now I crossed my earlier path at right angles heading from north to south. The trail passes through Workman’s Wood on its way to Battram Wood at the southern end of the woodland.

I was still rushing as I was now convinced that unless I ran the last several miles, then I would be late for work, so the remainder of this walk passed in a blur. When I reached Bagworth I abandoned the route of the National Forest Way in favour of a more direct route onto Heath Road and through Bagworth Heath Woods on the route of the Leicestershire Round. After crossing the railway line again I climbed up to the village of Thornton and then back down to the perimeter path of Thornton Reservoir which I followed back to my car. The linking route that I had devised to get me back to the start on this walk was far too long for the time that I had, but more significantly I had done this stage in an easterly direction even though I was actually doing the National Forest Way in a westerly direction. Once I’d realised that this walk was going to take too long it started to pass in a blur so that now I remember little of it, and I never technically completed the whole route of the stage.

The National Forest Way, Stage One

Saturday 9th August 2014

Beacon Hill to Bradgate Park

In the summer of 2014 I began an attempt to walk the entire length of the recently opened National Forest Way, which is a seventy-five mile trail through the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Until recently this area was heavily industrialised resulting in a significant lack of trees in the area, so the National Forest project was an attempt to redress this lack and create a new forest in the transforming landscape. I actually started the trail the previous month with stage two from Bradgate Park to Thornton Reservoir because the first stage covers ground that I walk frequently through the craggy uplands of Charnwood Forest, which is where the best walking can be found in Leicestershire. Consequently this is where I often end up when the weather is good and I want to do a hill walk to up my fitness for my infrequent mountain walks. I have created a six hour walk through Charnwood Forest that includes a traverse between Beacon Hill and Bradgate Park so this stage wouldn’t cover any new ground, or so I thought and that was why I had missed it out.

However, after doing the second stage in July 2014 I decided that it wouldn’t be right to miss out the first stage so I made plans to do that next. I did, though, have other problems. I was very busy at work, even at the weekend, and had little time to spare for walking. On this day I was able to spare a few hours but not the full six hours that my Charnwood Forest Round usually takes me, so rather than using the route of my round to return to the start I came up with a brand new route that is not only shorter but full of interest. I parked in the village of Woodhouse Eaves, as I often do, and headed up the leafy Mill Road branching off to climb steeply through woodland to a lookout point where the base of an old windmill provides a platform for extensive views. I had been to the top of Windmill Hill many times, but I think this was first time that the windmill had actually been open when I was there, although there is nothing in the mill except for stairs to a viewing platform.

A short, quick, descent through the wood and across a road brought me into Beacon Hill Country Park and at the lower car park is the actual start of the National Forest Way. Eagerly I set off along the trail walking along a wide track through woodland gradually climbing until eventually I reached the top of Beacon Hill where extensive views can be seen across North Leicestershire. Resuming my trek along the track that circles around the park I slowly made my way back down the hill until I reached a signpost where a National Forest Way marker indicated that I should turn right out of the park into Broombriggs Farm. This is owned by Leicestershire County Council and is crisscrossed by paths with explanation boards that describe how farms can be managed in the traditional way. I passed through the farm and onto Maplewell Road on the outskirts of Woodhouse Eaves.

Just after passing the end of Mill Road, where I had started this walk, I turned right onto a new diversion for me as the trail took me up the steep dead-end of Victoria Road. At the top of the road I turned left onto a short path that brought me onto the road that I often take out of Woodhouse Eaves. I was now following my Charnwood round and I walked beside the road down Brand Hill until after several bends in the road I entered Swithland Woods. The National Forest Way takes a slightly different route through the wood than I would normally take as I like to immerse myself in this fabulous ancient wood where in the spring bluebells and wood anemones are found in abundance. A permissive path beside Swithland Wood Farm took me out of the wood and across the road onto a track whose goal was plain to see before me. The iconic folly of Old John was sitting on the eponymous hill before me as I gradually made my way along the lane and into Bradgate Park.

However, instead of entering the park the trail follows a right-of-way around the edge of the park to Hunt’s Hill and only then enters the park with Old John Tower standing prominently before me. A steep climb up the grassy slopes and around the crags that defend the tower brought me to the top where extensive views can once again be seen, this time extending over the City of Leicester. This is the point where, on stage two, I joined the National Forest Way so it was the point where I now left it as I descended bracken covered slopes after paying my respects at the war memorial. I left Bradgate Park on my usual footpath that brings out into the village of Newtown Linford west of the main car park, and turned right along the road. At a road junction I left my usual route and branched left onto a footpath that follows the Ulverscroft Brook through several fields. The strong smell of Himalayan Balsam was unmissable as were thick bushes full of the pink flowers. This is one of the most intrusive plants in Britain, along with Japanese Knotweed and Rhododendron, but I love the smell and was quite entranced by them.

The balsam followed the brook and was in places completely over-powering as I made my way along the footpath until I eventually reached Lea Meadow Nature reserve. I first came to this reserve three years ago and found an amazing wildflower meadow overflowing with butterflies. Hundreds seemed to fly up with every step that I took and made for a truly magically experience. As often seems to be the case, subsequent visits have failed to match my memory of that first visit even though on this occasion the meadow was filled with many delightful wildflowers that were a pleasure to walk through. On leaving the reserve I made my way along a road and onto a path that passes the ruins of Ulverscroft Priory and eventually reached Beacon Hill once again and from there returned to Woodhouse Eaves. This was necessarily a short walk, but I had completed the first stage of the National Forest Way even though I have walked most of that stage many times before. The return journey through Lea Meadows was a delight that I have retraced several times since.

The National Forest Way, Stage Two

Saturday 12th July 2014

Bradgate Park to Thornton Reservoir

Around this time of the year I usually run out of walks that I have done recently that I can talk about in this blog, and usually start to describe walks that I did more than ten years ago. This year, however, I don’t need to go back that far as there is a series of walks that I completed over the space of ten months not too long ago that I haven’t put on this blog yet. In May 2014 a new long distance trail was opened through the fledgling National Forest, where an attempt has been made to correct the shortage of trees in the East Midlands of England by planting millions of new trees between the ancient woodlands of Charnwood and Needham. The scheme was started in 1995 and over the last twenty years the trees have gradually been planted in many places in Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire. I have walked through many of these new plantations in Leicestershire before, but had not ventured any further into the National Forest to explore the wide variety of landscapes that are found in the area, so I was eager to start walking the way as soon as possible.

The National Forest Way starts, or ends, at the Beacon Hill Country Park in Leicestershire, and since that is my home county I thought I’d start from there. However the first stage, between Beacon Hill and Bradgate Park covers ground that I’ve walked hundreds of times before so I thought I’d skip that first stage and start with the second stage, which starts in the village of Newtown Linford, just outside the gates of Bradgate Park. Instead of parking at Bradgate Park where the parking fees are high I decided to park at the end of the second stage, in the village of Thornton. I had decided that the best way for me to cover the National Forest Way was for me to walk along each stage and then find my own, different way back to the start of that stage, or in the case of this stage, to walk to the start and then follow the National Forest Way back to my car. Therefore on this walk I didn’t start by walking along the National Forest Way, but along the Leicestershire Round.

I’ve never been interested in doing the whole of this one hundred mile walk before, but I have done this section between Thornton and Bradgate so I knew where I was going as I followed the path from the western end of Thornton Reservoir. After passing along the edge of Browns Wood, which is a National Forest Wood, I passed under the M1 motorway and entered the village of Markfield where I couldn’t resist a quick, sneaky visit to the delightful Hill Hole Quarry Nature Reserve. On the far side of the village I passed underneath the A50 dual carriageway and joined the route of my Charnwood Forest round that I seem to do every couple of months in order to keep up my hill walking fitness. This very familiar route, still on the Leicestershire Round, took me past John’s Lee Wood and through woods that have also been planted as part of the National Forest scheme. Soon I was in the tiny village of Newtown Linford and the start of this stage of the National Forest Way, but I wasn’t ready to start yet.

Instead I headed into Bradgate Park and climbed to the top of Old John, the highest point in the country park where extensive views can be seen across the City of Leicester. I was now actually on the route of the National Forest Way, towards the end of stage one, which ends by descending the bracken-covered slopes of the hill to the ruins of Bradgate House. This early brick-built house is famous for being the birthplace of Lady Jane Grey who was Queen of England for just nine days. I had never been around the ruins before and was surprised to discover that it was open and free for everyone to wander around. Since I had never been inside the ruins before I took full advantage even though there wasn’t really much to see. Bradgate Park is a very popular place with the majority of the crowds staying beside the tarmacked, unfenced road that goes past Bradgate House from Newtown Linford to the car park at Hallgates. I usually stay away from the road and on this warm Saturday in the summer I needed little convincing of the wisdom.

Turning right at Bradgate House I followed the stream of crowds along the road to the main gates that lead out of the park and into Newtown Linford. This marked the end of stage one and is also the point where I could finally start stage two of the National Forest Way. A footpath beside the village shop immediately brought me into what is uncharted territory for me, which is astounding considering the enormous amount of walking that I have done in the area. I was soon also taken aback by the sight of a gorgeous wildflower meadow that was covered in flowers of many different types and colours. At one time meadows such as this were a common sight but modern farming techniques have made them very rare so it was a delight to see this excellent example of a wildflower meadow at the peak of its display. I wish I could have lingered in the meadows but I had a lot of ground still to cover so I kept going, passing through Lady Hay Wood and after crossing the A50 again I skirted the edge of Groby entering Martinshaw Wood.

I had never been in this extensive wood before and I was astonished that I had missed out on a treat as the sight of many Bluebell seed heads indicated delights earlier in the year and had me making plans for the following spring to see this wood at its very best. After crossing the M1 again I passed through a smaller section of the wood before crossing the Markfield Road and entering Pear Tree Wood, which was an early planting in the National Forest. There is a clear difference between established woods like Martinshaw and the new plantations of Pear Tree Wood. The trees in these newer woods are noticeably smaller, more densely planted and with no woodland flowers underneath. This last characteristic is particularly disappointing for me and constantly had me longing for the ancient woodland of the Charnwood Forest. In the woods of Ratby Burroughs I became confused about my route as I was relying on the sketchy map and vague descriptions on the leaflet downloaded from the National Forest Way website.

I eventually went the wrong way in Burroughs Wood and ended up passing beside the Forest Hill Golf Club on a wide bridlepath instead of taking the narrower footpath out of the wood to the north of Old Hays Farm. By the time I was reunited with the National Forest Way I was becoming tired and the final section through several farmer’s fields that eventually brought me back to the village of Thornton did little to engage my enthusiasm. This was a poor end to what had been an enjoyable walk at the start of my attempt to complete the National Forest Way. The meadows that I encountered near the start of the stage were a delight and the woods in the middle of the stage had me clambering to return in the spring, but after Burroughs Wood the walk deteriorated as I lost my way and became tired. On subsequent stages I made sure that I had a copy of the Ordnance Survey map for the area as the maps provided with the directions were not very clear.