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.