Burton-in-Kendal and Slape Lane

 Tuesday 12th November 2025

At this time of year weather windows are less frequent and have to be seized when the friendly forecast on North West Tonight gives the green light At my age the thrill of deliberately setting off in wind, sleet, rain and temperature threatening hypothermia within the first half mile are over. I do have an overriding joy in exploring the outdoors but being dictated to by the whims of the English climate can be  unwelcome. My wont is to set off early, have a good walk and return in time for some sybaritic indulgence for the remainder of the day. However, setting off early means arising early, attending to the eccentric feeding requirements of son's cat, and extending the mormal tedious breakfast routine by preparing a flask and a sandwich, and above all having to put on my boots. That last exertion is hailed by many as a pleasurable preliminary, supposedly as the herald of a good day to come, but not for me - it is just a chore.

Once on the way in the car I am happy and anticipating new discoveries. That is unless I have the further faff of stopping to fuel up, or through my laziness, stopping somewhere to buy an overpriced  sandwich which at that time of the morning will be a left over from the previous day.

North West Tonight had only set the green light for the first half of the day with rain to come later, so an early start was even more necessary today.

Burton in Kendal is hardly big enough to have suburbs, but I found something akin and parked up. Tannery Lane suggested something interesting and halfway along there was the Tannery building. Research has no mention of tanning in this village, and the obviously old building seems to be used for  local authority health and social care, strange? One would have expected somethng relating to the history of this so named building.

A pull uphill on tarmac took me to the start of Slape Lane, an ancient two kilometre bridleway leading towards Hutton Roof hills behind Burton. Slape is a dialect word for slippery. The lane was sunken, not particularly slippery, just the occasional muddy patches, but with distant views of the Lake District fells through intermittent windows in the bordering hedge. That was s joy and a new significant path fairly close to home for me to discover, and without the need for repeated stops for route checking as is often the case on more convoluted country walking.

From the other end of Slape Lane it was downhill on tarmac then off on paths through the green parkland of the Curwen Estate. In the middle of this extent of green I saw a black fenced off area which at a distance looked like a small sewage treatment plant, but whatever it may have been it was incongruous in this setting. All was revealed as I came closer: a tennis court for hire. How odd. But later I found that Curwen Estate now runs the old hall as a holiday residential centre and this is one of the attractions.

A short stretch of tarmac and a trip down Sheernest Lane

"...has a history connected to religious buildings, with a Wesleyan Methodist chapel built in 1833, a Roman Catholic chapel established in 1848, and the nearby Holy Trinity Church built in 1839."

took me onto the Lancaster Canal, and pleasant walking back to Burton. I stopped on a welcome bench for my diligently prepared home made sandwich and coffee from my revered flask that has been everywhere with me including its role as a companion on most of the Munros. I opened up my birdsong identifying app and was informed of the nearby presence of a kingfisher, but no matter, despite no sighting, .it was good to know of its presence.

Tanpit building

The start of Slape Lane and...

...its viewfinder

Ok. I know it's for horse riders, but it didn't work. I had to grapple through and manipulate the catch at the risk of finger amputation. What's wrong with a six inch nail and an iron hook? This is something that didn't need to be invented, and at what cost? Happy days for the horse riders having to likely dismount anyway for this one.

Exiting Slape Lane, across the field to the road

The hill on the horizon is Warton Crag - zoom below

An unusual stile, and below from the other side

The green parkland of the Curwen Estate

Entrance to Holme village. sponsored by the WI and the local quarry owners.
The date is 2010, not sure if that was some anniversary?

Lancaster Canal

Introspection and a thousand miles round Italy

Thursday 30th October 2025

The speed at which my bird feeders are emptying at this time of year seems to reflect the speed of the passing of my time.

I have walked locally often since my last proper walk. Below are a a few photos. Whilst our locality is perhaps more attractive than many, and whilst I never take it for granted, I seem to find it unnecessary  to take many photos. When I walk locally the terrain is similar to most of my longer walks, but I don't use my walking poles. I guess I am not wishing to appear as a local wet or perhaps even aspire to be seen more as a macho adventurer. I do say to myself I am not fashion conscious, being so is a desire to display your "coolness" to the wider world.  Presumably I am submitting to my concern for how others see me on the local walks, so perhaps I am no different from the followers of,  Saint Laurent, Prada, Stussy, or Nike. 

Google has started creating links to various words that were not intended by me. I haven't the time or the willpower to try and reverse this at the moment.

Two recent observations.

 1. A further infringement of my campaign to bring back the correct "different from" to replace the now universal incorrect "different to."  Now we go further. The other evening I heard the BBC Political Correspondent, Chris Mason using "different than."

2. I look back from time to time at older posts on my blog and was mortified recently to see that one was entitled "My Life and Cameras." If I had used that satirically it may have been excusable, but I fall on my sword and self deprecatingly confess that I don't think I did. It sounds like the title of an article from the Reader's Digest, and in any case I reckon for most readers it would be as uninteresting as tapioca.  I have refrained from re-reading the post to avoid further masochism. I have no recollection of its contents. By some chance it may be more entertaining than I suspect, but I doubt it. 

On the way to Arnside Knott and below

Another Valtra tractor for Alan. I don't thnk this is the "33" he wants to see, but it was certainly a monster. It's strange attachment is shown below.

My latest model ( a bit of a problem with the bonnet cover)
1931 Mercedes SSKL
As raced to victory by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mille Miglia on the 12th and 13th of April 1931 
 7.1 liter engine. Avarage speed was 63mph, that is for a thousand miles on public roads round Italy. It must have been a terrifying and physically demanding experience.

Beetham and Marble Quarry

 Wednesday 8th October 2025

Tuesday evening. I am watching rubbishTV,  and perhaps idly forming some sort of plan for the morrow. The phone rings. Bowland Climber offers me a walk for next day, and in my territory. Brilliant!

BC duly arrives at 10:15. I am ready and straight out of the door with rucksack and sandwiches and coffee sorted, and so starts a day of non-stop conversation and catch-up.

We set off from the corn mill at Beetham. BC seems to have the ability to find footpaths on my home ground that I've never walked before or did so twenrty years ago now dimmed from my memory. A few yards off the path, in private land, is an ancient oak tree. A small notice is attached, but it is too distant to read. I take a zoom shot and the result is shown below (click to enlarge) but I am non the wiser. Any explanations?

Gentle climbing takes us through limestone sheep pasture, it is all limestone here in this AONB. We enter old deciduous woodland and the climbing steepens. In the absence of old churches BC  turns his attention to another of his interests because this is the time of year for fungi. I make a contribution with a couple of photos, but I'm sure there will be many more on BC's post.

We top out and find ourselves teetering across an impressive expanse of limestone pavement, care is needed to avoid breaking an ankle down a grike or clint, not sure which is which.We are still in extensive old woodland, but there is a mysterious blank white circle on the OS map marked "Marble Quarry. We go off track to investigate. There is indeed a circular clearing of the woodland, perhaps a few hundred yards in diameter but no indication of quarrying. Internet searching suggests thst this was maybe Victorian wishful thinking relating to an area where they had purloined quantities of limestone; all a bit odd.

We press on, now on a road and familiar to me as we head for the footpath turnoff to Fairy Steps. We pass a strangeley named house. "The Tridlings" which I have mentioned on a prrviuous post. If you had to guess you would never come up with the definition I unearthed: "rabbit droppings!"

Before embarking on the descent of Fairy Steps (see phots below) we sit and take our food break, perhaps to build up strength and be sufficiently rested for the challenge. The myth is that if you can ascend without using hands you will be granted a wish. I'm not sure what you get for descending but that is irrelevant because hands were definitely employed by both of us.

More level walking on good paths, still through birch ,yew, and mixed woodland to eventually arrive at Dallam deer park with a tough little climb over the top and back down to Heron Mill car park. That was a splendid outing and so much the better for me bing roused from my musings and banal TV watchings the previous evening.

Beetham village and war memorial

The stocks

The old oak tree with the little notice atached. See zoom shot below

CLICK TO ENLARGE.
 Why this notice on private land and too small to read from the public footpath?

?

Turn right here, up into the woods and the limestone pavement

Autumn has arrived

Fairy Steps. I don't think this is a fairy

Secret and mysterious little tarn at Haverbrack - on private land

Start and finish at Beetham

Trigs 99 - last 7

 Tuesday 30th September 2025

It was back in August and September 2022 that I set about the 22 trig points on OS 1/50 scale Sheet 99. For reasons I don't remember the campaign tailed off with 7 trigs still remaining.

The campaign has been now been resumed.

I left home at 7:45 am and drove down the A65 to Ingleton with a clear road, but the road from Ingleton to Hawes was completely devoid of traffic and an absolute joy to driving and a rare chance to contrast with the present day  frustration of trying to drive anywhere. That route passing through Chapel le Dale flanked by Ingleborough and Whernside and then passing by Ribblehead viaduct has much nostalgia for me.  Similar joyful driving got me as far as Wensley. Here the continuing A684 to Leyburn was closed and bearing in mind I needed as much time in hand for the walking I had to take a tedious diversion on narrow lanes. Eventually I was able to park on the unfenced road at Colsterdale after some heart stopping single track with few passing places.

From the road a short walk up to the first field boundary on a public footpath was blocked. There was no formal crossing point of the wall but it was obvious earlier visitors had reduced a fair amount of the wall, but a single wire ran across the gap. I had to manoeuvre until I was able to sit on top of the wall with the wire pressed down under my bum and then swing my legs over. A manipulation I had to repeat on my return.

It was quite a strenuous tramp over deep heather with occasional bare patches to reach the trig. I decided to head north from there to pick up a public footpath marked on the map, but it proved to be almost non existent. What had appeared to be a  modest up and down on the map was quite arduous, but the surrrounding moorland and scenery were superb.

The whole of this area containing these last seven trigs doesn't lend itself to direct driving from one point to another. A long drive ensued to get to my second trig and this was a quick up and down with views back down to Pateley Bridge and beyond.

I had thought there was an access road to Scar House Reservoir from the south from Middlesmoor but after wasting time driving there it turned out to be only a track. The proper access road approaches from the north after a long drive from Lofthouse. I had just run out of time. I retuned using the A59 road past Skipton and the A65 back home. Initially I drove over Greenhow from Pateley Bridge. The views from that road are as extensive as anywhere in the country and a surprise considering it is from a main road rather than a higher hill location.

The distances involved in getting to, and navigating around this area are tiresome, and my morning's delight at trouble free motoring was well dissipated and I was weary of the driving  by the time I arrived home. I am thinking of getting to the area next time and staying overnight in accommodation  to mop up the remainder. 

Blocked footpath on way to Colsterdale Moor trig - SE 120 815

It was mostly deep heather all the way. This at the beginning raised false hopes

Grouse shooting butt. Bring your own shooting stick (seat)

High Bishopside trig SE159 673

The red markers are still to do. The two done here are a blue squiggle centre of map and similar close to Pateley Bridge. Note the one north of Leyburn - Whit Fell on a military firing range, I will have to wait until the flags don't fly