For newcomers

At the bottom of each post there is the word "comments". If you click on it you will see comments made by followers, and if you follow the instructions you may also comment and I always welcome that. I have found many people overlook this part of the blog which is often more interesting than the original post!

My blog nick-name is SIR HUGH. I'm not from the aristocracy - my middle name is Hugh which relates to the list of 282 hills in Scotland compiled by Sir Hugh Munro in 1891. I climbed my last one (Sgurr Mor) on 28th June 2009

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Saturday, 15 July 2023

Witherslack circular, 14th July 23

 Friday 14th July 2023

Just trying to find some unwalked paths not far from home.

This little excursion took me unexpectedly up the side of a previously unseen limestone quarry on a scree path: the sort of thing I keep telling myself I should avoid  these days. I huffed and puffed until the scree path joined a better but still steep path through old woodland with an air of mystery.

After levelling out for a while a gate lead onto open level ground, a summit plateau giving easy walking on cropped turf. Sheep  normally run off as though they expect immediate harm from any passer by, but more irritating is their inborn tendency to being herded so they just follow on in front of you instead of moving off to one side to let you pass. But the sheep were  here were strangely tame and one even came to sniff my hand as would do a friendly dog. 

At my furthest north I had a glimpse through the trees of Witherslack Hall School where my daughter used to "try" to teach delinquent kids found uncontrollable in conventional schools and boarded out to this old mansion.

This is not a particularly old building but it has a commanding presence nestling under the steep limestone slopes of Whitbarrow Scar, a venue I have eulogised about here and visited often.

From the link below I gleaned the skimpy bit of history shown below the link, there is little more information on that site for those who may be interested.


Witherslack Hall is home to a large private school having previously been the family home of the Earl of Derby. It dates back to 1874 and has been the home of the school since Word War II.

A winding and attractive path lead through more old woodland back to the road and a short trod back to the car. That was  satisfying to find so much perviously unvisited within a three mile walk close to home. 
PLEASE CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE






The scree path can be seen leading off steeply from the foot of the quarry. The path zig-zags to come out on the plateau of the 
skyline

Much steeper than it looks. Why do photos always disguise steepness?




Out onto the open plateau and the friendly sheep


Lawns House


Witherslack Hall School below the slopes of Whitbarrow Scar

Start finish at the 22 spot height







4 comments:

  1. bowlandclimber16 July 2023 at 10:35

    You know that corner of the world very well so it was good to find some new paths. You weren't far from the summit of Yewbarrow, 128m.
    One wonders why a public footpath winds up the quarry screes.
    We used to buy plants from nearby Halecat Gardens, but see it has now transformed itself into an 'events venue' as if we didn't have enough.

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  2. bowlandclimber16 July 2023 at 13:43

    You were getting ahead of yourself with July 23rd

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  3. BC - There was an easier alternative to the scree path but at the fork I wasn't sure which would lead to where I wanted to go, so I chose the higher one. The two came together further up.
    Thanks for your proof-reading skills, correction made.

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  4. Whilst the fourth photo doesn't show the slope at all, you've managed to capture it effectively in the third photo.

    It seems that you're rebuilding fitness nicely, in spite of the lung limitations.

    ReplyDelete