Scaleber Force wander

Map browsing brought Scaleber Force to my attention. l made a plan to incorporate that in a walk. Google Earth confirmed marginal parking where the footpath leaves the road.

I pulled in there and thought the car was going to tip on its side, but all was well. Over the stile I went and into woods and a well worn path above a tree filled gorge with only a glimpse through the trees of this over celebrated attraction.

I retraced back to the road and after a dip to Scaleber Bridge I plodded up one and a half kilometers of steady uphill tarmac. To say this is not a significant through route for cars it was surprisingly well used, but that did not spoil splendid views of  Attermire Scar to my left and looking back in the direction from whence I came, Ingleborough.

About a third of the way up I could hear talking behind me. That usually indicates approaching cyclists. I looked back and saw a chap pushing a heavily laden cycle and talking on his phone. I stopped and let him catch up. This guy was cycle/camping from Pitlochry in Scotland where his father lives to his own home in Hampshire. Huge paniers back and front must have contained enough to kit to get Hannibal and his army over the Alps. He had pushed all the way out of Settle! Even so heavily laden he was going faster than my breathless affliction would allow, but apart from that chat-stop I walked the one and a half kilometres to the high point at a steady pace without further stop. As I approached the summit I saw my acquaintance at last mount his bike and disappear, he must have pushed it for four kilometres.

I now left the road for footpaths downhill. After an electric fence with an opener and several hundred yards I took stock and realized I was following the wrong wall. I made a midcourse correction across easy going grassy and reed covered  ground to meet up with my proper footpath, see the red line on the map below.

Once realigned I looked back across an attractive wild meadow with Rye Loaf hill, a recent ascent, dominating in the background. Pleasant walking on downhill sheep pasture followed and it was time for my coffee and sandwich. I used a stile as a seat and hoped nobody would need to use it when I had my camp established there, but I was now in a pretty remote location and had seen nobody since leaving the road.

I had been using my Merlin bird identification app and sadly it only managed to find skylark and meadow pipit. However after my lunch a flock of birds were perched on a wall and the app immediately identified them as starlings. 

An interesting descent to an old ruined bridge and then more sheep pasture brought me to Bookliber Barn as marked on the map. The building is now converted to an opulent looking residence. It stands at the terminus of what is marked on OS as a "track." It turned out to be a well tarmaced but narrow road leading for about two miles to join back with the road close to Scaleber Bridge. 

Halfway along this stretch I met and chatted with a chap and his Bernese mountain dog. He had recently had open heart surgery but was now walking several miles a day and seemed very fit. He carried on in the direction I had come from but later returned and passed me again demonstrating how slowly I am walking  compared with the average walker. At one point this long winding road passed through a mini gorge which must have demanded much head scratching from those stone wall builders producing a  network  of walls looking like a portion of spaghetti dumped on a plate.

Attermire Scar was starting to look much closer and eventually this track/road joined my outward road only a couple of hundred yards from my car, This was an enjoyable walk, mostly across what I guess was rarely walked terrain with non stop views and fairly easy ground.

The contrast was marked as I drove back through thronging Settle only a couple of miles back down the road. 

The stile to Scaleber Force off to the right. The angle of my car was more alarming when sat in than it looks here. When I opened the door its corner was only two inches from the road

The best shot I could get of this shy and not all that impressive waterfall

Looking back down some of the 1.5km. ascent

Attermire Scar (click to enlarge)

My cyclist acquaintance continuing his long push

Leaving the road after the long ascent. It was from here I followed the wrong wall for a few hundred yards.

Electric fence, thankfully furnished with a hooked up insulated handle. I have had shocks from these before and they are not funny

Not surprisingly little indication of a footpath, I was off route!

Now back on track and looking back at my recently ascended Rye Loaf Hill

Descending with sheep for company. A small herd of young cows in the next field followed me but through curiosity I think rather than any threat

Lunch stop

Descent to the left down to the old bridge. Easy going through sheep pasture

The starlings picked up on my bird app

Bookliber "Barn"

Labelled as a "track" by OS. Now 2kms. of tarmac

Demented dry stone walling

My flora identification is woeful. Answers please. See also below for close up

Still plodding on but not far from re-joining my outward road. Attermire Scar now closer ahead

Start/finish at furthest north. Note red shows my incorrect wander

BC visits my domain.

Friday 13th June 2025 

A call from Bowland Climber with a plan to visit my local area.

We covered just short of five miles on local paths I have visited many times over the years but not so much in recent times so it was an enjoyable re-acquaintance for me. I noted some newly formed paths leading off here and there that I made a note of to explore later.

As we set off from Yesland Storrs I realized I had forgotten my camera. I deployed my iPhone and after getting my finger in front of the lens, then the flap that closes its case, and then not being sure if the "shutter" had clicked, and not being able to see the screen in the bright sunlight, I managed a shot of our departure point. Trying to create a continuous record of the walk with all that faffing was only going to spoil the day, so I only took two more photos during the walk.

The highlight, halfway round was to visit our old climbing venue, Trowbarrow Quarry.  Quarter of a mile of limestone crag at around 30m in height is an impressive sight containing many routes with good choice throughout the grades. We are told by archaeologists that these vertical cliffs were once flat seabed which is difficult to comprehend, but they are littered with fossils and other features to excite budding geologists. As we approached we saw about half a dozen folk wafting insect nets around and a chat with one proved to establish a connection with a mutual friend of BC. We had a good look round and sat on boulders for our sandwich watching a couple climbing what BC thought was one of his own conquests, Javelin, E1. We must have spent about an hour all together including a search for a coal seem in the rock known to BC, but elusive today.

As we were leaving one of the more tech members of the insect collectors from the trip organized by Liverpool University was sporting a noisy hand held vacuum cleaner to capture his samples. Given much longer I don't think there would have been many insects left at Trowbarrow. I imagined the net manufacturers worrying about he small return they were getting on the sale of their nets and coming up with a plan to produce something more "value added" for these entomologists. Each to his own.

Further on a geological hollow at the summit of a primeval forest contained an unlikely pond  indicated on the map. We descended into this eerie lost world and found the pond was mostly an area of swamp where one imagines the foot of humans had never trod.

Looking closely at the map the pond is encircled by a contour line on the 1:25 map. The immediate conclusion is that this is a continuation of height gain relative to its contour neighbors, but it indicates descent into the hollow.

A most enjoyable day, thanks BC.

Our starting point finally captured after taming my iPhone. 

For Alan. I know it's not rare but at least it is a Massey

Couldn't resist continuing my lifelong ranting about farmer's hairy orange string.

 

This was actually pink but of similar ilk, and being used intensively at its limits of 

capability to create a gate hinge. By now I had managed to faintly touch something on the iPhone and found that I had taken three versions of this photo. Blogger has taken over here with this caption. Couldn't sort it.

Anti-clockwise from Yealand Storrs. The pond is at the bottom right corner

Bampton, Haweswater, and hospitality on the way

Sunday 8th June 2025

I have come through another period of medical appointments, missed weather window opportunities and also changing my car , and at last a chance for a decent walk, not for the want of trying.

I swapped the lumbering manual Kia Sportage for a nippy little automatic Kia Picanto Sport. The contrast in handling is revelational.

So off I went up the M6 to explore more of the Haweswater hinterland albeit partly on previously walked ground. Parking south west of Bampton Grange had been researched on Google Earth. In that network of narrow lanes parking is problematical. The first half of my six mile walk was uphill, first on tarmac then across pleasant undulating pastures and stoutly built through stone stiles. My breathlessness does spoil things to some extent but tiny uphill steps and frequent rests had me arrive at the Standing Stones marked on the OS map affording a splendid surprise view down to Haweswater. It was now downmhill all the way to arrive at the well made wooden footbridge over the  lively Measand Back. Many walks fade in the memory but my previous visit here is ingrained and worth repeating, I think. From my blog post, 18th May 2021:

https://conradwalks.blogspot.com/2021/05/an-important-forty-minutes.html#comment-form

"I crossed the bridge as it started to spit with rain. I stopped to don my waterproof. The rain came heavier as I raced to get the waterproof from my rucksack before getting soaked. Mission accomplished, but there was resistance to picking up my rucksack The plastic buckle had lodged between the wooden sleepers of the bridge and because, now suspended, it opened out at one hundred and eighty degrees to the strap like one of those fixings for plasterboard. The rain was coming heavier. I fiddled to no avail. I found a stick to poke but it broke - the rain was heavier. I would need to search again for a better tool. To work properly, because I can't kneel, I would need to lie flat on the wet planking. There was no easy way it was coming out. The top pocket of my rucksack - Swiss Army Knife - strap cut, and off I went up my steep ascent now relieved to be moving again. "

I crossed that bridge and continued alongside the beck and its steep descent  to Haweswater, The beck is present to your left running through a gorge only a few yards wide and fifty feet or more in depth, the water more heard than seen as it rushes over rocks and waterfalls. There are a few places where you can look with some apprhension down into the torrenting depths.

Walking back along the side of Haweswater two Coast to Coast walkers caught me up and after a brief chat they carried on. As I was entering the village of Burbanks I came across these two again. They had stopped opposite a house and the lady there had made them a sandwich. I told them of the bench I knew of on the village green a couple of hundred yards further on. We walked there and we all had our sandwiches together, a pleasant interlude. I wish them well on the rest of their Coast to Coast and harbour some envy for long distance walking. They continued on their way to Shap and I on the road for a couple of kilometres back to my car.

The village of Bromby consists of houses that were built to accommodate workers during the construction of Haweswater between 1929 and 1935. Water now feeds the Greater Manchester area by a gravity pipeline, another marvel of construction.

A recent post by my friend Bowland Climber where he was offered a drink at a pub by a friendly family, and the offer of sustenance here for my two acquaintances prompted me to comment on BC's post:

" I was amused to see you getting a drink. As you know I have had a reputation for cups of tea and home invites. I think those instances occur when you are on an extended project rather than just a day walk. Your acquaintances are attracted by the concept of a long distance haul. Maybe they have not previously been aware of such exploits and either want to know more, or at worst just take pity on you?:

At the start, my new (s/hand) car in proud red awaiting my return

Steady uphill for the first half of this six miler

Beehives. At least something else other than landscape to photograph

There were several of these well made stiles, but lacking the desired extended pole at the top

Littlewater

Note the long line of the Pennines on the horizon. Even more of that in view in real life. Quite impressive - click to enlarge

The Standing Stones and Haweswater. All downhill from here

Where I got the buckle on my rucksack stuck between the planks of the bridge on a previous visit.
My route crossed over and followed the stream and steep descent down to Haweswater

Lunch break here with the two coast to coasters I had met. A pleasant interlude. They went off down through the gate to Shap, and I up the road to the left

Looking back the way we had come

Anti-clockwise from top right

Ignore red route from a previous visit

Galgate,Glasson Canal and Lancaster bomber

 Thursday 15th May 2025

I seem to have adopted the idea of looking for remotely located churches on the map. I wanted a quick sortie not far from home.

We are in the middle of a prolonged period of hot weather with lack of rain for farmers and general water supply making the news.  For me it is all delight. No mud, shirt sleeve walking, and shorts.

Tarmac out of Galgate quickly lead to enjoyable country walking on new paths for me until I finished up with the final stretch back to Galgate on the familiar Glasson canal tow path.

The church was visited but unfortunately locked. I gleaned some history from the Internet:

"The Parish was founded in 1785 with Fr. James Foster as Parish Priest. Previously the district was served by travelling priests who usually stayed with the Dalton Family at Thurnham Hall. The first named of these priests was Rev. North who lived at the end of the sixteenth century. However, the most famous was a Rev. James Swarbrick who was well known as "The Riding Priest". He was arrested in 1715 and taken to Lancaster Castle where he was condemned as a priest. A few days before he was due to be executed the old man died in prison in 1716, possibly as a result of torture. We still have the little chalice he carried on his travels." ------  Happy days!

My italics.

From Wikipedia regarding the extant church building:

Fr. Foster’s successor, Fr. Thomas Crowe, oversaw plans for a new church. Financial support came from Miss Elizabeth Dalton, who covered most of the costs. The foundation stone was laid on March 18, 1847, and the church was consecrated on August 29, 1848. Three bishops—Bishop Browne, Bishop Briggs, and Bishop Sharples—were present at the dedication, which included a grand procession from Thurnham Hall. The final cost of the church, including furnishings, was £5,000.

Walking out of Galgate this seemed to be quite out of place, just parked up. I reckon some farmers use their tractors as personal transport from time to time?

Ellel Hall Bridge. Lancaster Canal

Transcript:
"Ellersley Farm Museum.
Ferguson A 20
Serial No. 31363
Bought new in 1948 by Sellery Farm"
See below

Oddly pitifully stored and neglected with the faded sign above. So sad. It is the same MF I made a model of. An icon in tractor development

The tractor is just behind me

 My route followed the wall in shadow, right centre

Perfect walking surface

River Condor

Here I crossed the Glasson branch of the Lancaster Canal. Great views of the Bowland Hills from the top of the bridge - Clougha Pike, Ward's Stone etc. They were evident during most of the walk

Under or over? Neither seemed a good idea. I climbed the gate

Looking towards Glasson on the Glasson canal

Thornham Hall. Event venue and holiday cottages. Quite pretty.

The target for my walk

Overflow graveyard. Regimental.

This and next from its other side. Although obviously not used I imagined the farmer was sentimentally attached and jibbed at consigning it to the scrap heap, so now it performs sentry duty at the farmyard entrance.

Looking back at Cock Hall Farm, home of the David Brown 990

Perfect pleasant picnic perch.
 I watched a pair of buzzards high up putting the Red Arrows to shame

The rest of the route followed the Glasson Canal and then back to Galgate after joining the Lancaster Canal proper

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The finished 1/72 nd. scale Lancaster