April Ramble – Cinderbarrow / Leighton Hall
The start of this month’s walk was the Cinderbarrow Picnic Site, which is also the home of a model railway club and coinciding with our visit, they had an open day and offered rides behind their splendid locomotives. Additionally, a catering van arrived which created much excitement from some members of our party.
We started the walk by crossing the busy A6 and walking up a narrow lane before entering a series of fields that took us to a quiet lane and on to the small hamlet of Yealand Manor. From here we left the road and started the steep climb up Summerhouse hill, eventually climbing the final escarpment and reaching the summit. The view from here is regarded as one of the best in the whole of the country and we couldn’t argue with that. Below us was the attractive Leighton Hall, home of the Gillow family and in the distance was the broad expanse of Morecambe Bay with the Lakeland Hills, with a little snow on the tops forming a backdrop. Some seats had thoughtfully been provided here, so we decided on an early lunch stop.
Having enjoyed our stop and thankful for the splendid weather, we now made a long fairly steep descent down to the hall and after a short walk down a private road, we entered a long stretch over a series of fields that we have crossed during other walks in this area, eventually arriving at Yealand Storrs. From here we took a path that skirted an area of woodland and took us to a tricky paddock and back onto the A6 again, which we crossed and later picked up a bridleway that came out at another hamlet, Hilderstone. From here, our route took us through the back garden of a house, something that we feel a little guilty about, and battled through the washing on the line and out to a farm track that took us over the railway and through a gap stile to the canal. From here, we had a pleasant mile or so along the towpath, with the spring flowers appearing and on the opposite bank, a magnificent Swan was sitting on her nest.
Arriving back at the start, the Bolton contingent headed straight for the catering van in some desperation for their bacon butties, rounding off what had been a splendid walk with beautiful scenery, good weather and at long last, a dry walk, free of mud.
Linda & Eddie Grange