CASTLED IN KENDAL

KENDAL 5 Miles

WALKERS :- Danny, James,  Anthony, John R
                       John W, Vic, Martin, Frank. Mike.

 

The men that live in North England

I saw them for a day

Their hearts are set on the waste fells

Their skies are fast and grey

From their castle walls a man may see

The mountains far away. 

                                                  Hilaire Belloc. 

Castle walls - Check !

Skies fast and grey - check !

Mountains far away -  check !

Men that live in the North - Check !

Waste fells - check !

Wow !  Does he mean us ?  

A walk through history today. A castle built by the family of one of William the Conqueror's most enthusiastic and ardent followers, Ivo de Taillebois, on land granted to him to reward his loyalty (Pity the poor peasants who already lived there.) Then a castle built later and once owned by Catherine Parr's family though it is doubted that she ever set foot in it.
We parked on the Southern edge of Kendal at a convenient roadside spot close by the river,

 John R wanders the few yards from the cars to the river.

The path led us from the cars up towards the town centre passing under the road by which we had arrived. It then took us behind the site of the former  Clark's Shoe factory, The modern buildings of the redevelopment were sympathetic to the older ones which surrounded them

Soon after, we crossed over the river and entered the precincts of the Parish Church of Kendal.

On entering the church the writer was both surprised and awed by the dominance of stone pillars.

The church also had some beautiful and many faceted stained glass.

 

 and of course, being in such hallowed surroundings we encountered an angelic host.

 

The area around the church also boasted a cafe and a museum ...and.... a Barbara Hepworth sculpture.

 Yes..Well.... Beautiful... I shall refrain from comment.

Vic surmised that it's title "TREZON" meant 3 in 1 ????

Out of the churchyard and onto the High Street. Almost immediately we crossed this busy road and followed the steep roads, alleyways and steps up to Howe Castle. 

 

The castle, built in the 12th century, soon (relatively) fell into disrepair  and whilst the Motte still remains it is now topped by a memorial obelisk.

 Coffee time  AND, with a chill breeze cutting across this high place, Martin's "Firewater" which  was doubly welcome. A narrow path curved downwards away from the top and led us down back into the town.

More steep roads tumbled down till we again came to the High Street.

 

 We recrossed this road just by the imposing Town Hall before slipping down another busy but decidedly narrow road where single file down the footpath was obligatory.

At the bottom of this narrow death trap we once again found ourselves on the banks of the River Kent where a large and eccentric mobile home caught our attention. It was covered in "Aphorisms" and "Street Wisdom"  some very amusing and some a little "Naff".

Fortunately the owner/driver did not emerge as I suspect our equally worldly wise gang  would have been there hours in discussion and argument. 

We needed to cross the river but the next bridge was barred to pedestrian traffic so we walked on to where the High Street ended by leaving town over the river. We paused a while on the bridge to watch a group of unusual waterfowl as they dabbled in the river shallows.

Duckwatchers

Duck

(probably Goosanders recognised by long saw-edged bills -fish eating)

Down from this large bridge and past another handsome church behind which was a terrace of houses fronted by a small green covered with apparently communal washing lines.

From here a short climb took us to the hill (a drumlin) atop of which was our second castle. Kendal Castle. This was a rather more substantial ruin than "Howe Castle" and was in a superbly appropriate situation. A commanding site with a 360 degree view of the Baronial Lands. (medieval of course). Having sheltered Bad Barons, Killer Knights and Wicked Women. The Castle now offered shelter for Muddled Meanderthals, LUNCHTIME !

 The beautifully managed grounds and well positioned information boards made this a cold but worthwhile visit.

That's Danny down there.  I think !

 After further exploration we left the Castle, passing the beacon as it looked down on the myriad roofs of Kendal's handsome town centre and (centre left) our first castle of the day.

The path that can be seen to the left of the beacon circled round the hill. We followed it until almost back at the entrance track at which point we dropped down to other tracks which would lead us back to the cars.

 As we aimed for the cars our route took us through a sports complex where Vic just had to take a detour to admire a superb bowling green (and chat to the greensman).

 Off again and through the streets of Kendal back to the cars after a fascinating walk and so home.

More photos to come. 

Now there's a Challenge !

Danny thoughtfully peruses the obelisk

Old advert or memorial ? (manufacturer of snuff)

Under seige !

The artist's "Blue" period ? 

CLITHEROE 6 Miles

Walkers :-  Anthony, John R, Dave, Martin, Vic, Frank,
                    Lawrence, John W, Mike, Mick, Jim C, Paddy.

Once assembled the "Dirty Dozen" set off on the road to Clitheroe. A small market town on the A59 as it heads out towards foreign parts (Yorkshire). Ducking under the railway near the station (even inside cars it felt like "ducking") we were soon parked in a surprisingly cheap car park (£2.50 for the day)

We retraced our route back to the High Street up to the gates of the early 12th Century castle which has, reputedly, the smallest Keep in England.

A steep but short plod and we arrived at the information centre (closed) and the cafe (open)  Guess what ? yes you're right and here we are.

 Some of the group chose not to enter the cafe but went immediately to explore the castle.

 

Here they are on the walkway high up on the Castle's keep. Below can be seen the Bandstand were oft has tootled, Lawrence, renowned trombonist, seen in the foreground. Inside the small keep the trio ponder the access to the upper storeys of the building, now no longer easily mounted.

 

Behind them can be seen the large holes which once contained the beams supporting higher floors.

It was now necessary to return to the cafe to encourage "Movement" as they had obviously settled far too comfortably.

With the whole of the group reunited we dropped down from the keep into the park below 

There appears to be a large bottle brush stuck in a bin some distance down the path

We were sorely tempted to follow the paths of the Labyrinth but resisted and struck out across the park to the far gates.

Once out of the park a left turn took us back towards the road upon which we had entered Clitheroe barely an hour before. We crossed this road waving our thanks to a lady driver who very kindly stopped to let us pass. (Perhaps she didn't realise what a large and slow moving group we were.)

From here our route followed the busy bypass road as it led eastward towards Salthill Road which in turn would take us to Salthill recreation ground and the "Geology Trail"  Our leader had warned that at this point there was a plethora of footpaths and choosing the right one would be something of a lucky dip. This proved to be the case and our leader, much to his shame, showed loud and vocal irritation at the barrage of advice which was offered. "SHUT UP !" was, I think the Zenith to which his eloquential efforts rose.

Decision made we resumed our walk. For those with extra-sensory vision a "thinks"  bubble could be seen above John W's head saying  " mmmm..I hope this is right !"  The route sufficed and we made progress passing some of the points of geological interest. These, unfortunately, in spite of our tame geographers efforts, failed to excite the interest of his seemingly unimpressed colleagues.

MEDIA CITY - VELODROME  5/6 Miles

WALKERS :- Anthony. John W,  Mike, Frank, Vic,
                       Lawrence, Danny,  Paddy. Jim T (guest)

With several stalwarts missing and a guest with us we set off down the motorway , through Salford and parked at the Lowry centre.  

We then repeated our previous hunt for the "Secret" toilets before emerging in to the open where we immediately sat down for coffees, chocolate and a tea.

From here it was only a short walk across to Media City and the platforms of the "Metro".

 "I walk the Line." 

After  our prolonged battle with the ticket machine on our last visit to Manchester we managed to obtain our tickets relatively easily this time.

Soon we were on our way to Castlefields the start of our walk proper.

As we decamped from the tram the canal could be seen below us. We simply had to walk the short distance to were a ramp led down to the towpath. A few yards from the station a rather appropriate "Sculpture" held our attention briefly. 

 The reader will know by now that where meanderthals are involved nothing is straightforward. The ramp we sought took us happily down to the canal but only to lead us to a barrier halting further progress. 

"Follow the "Swan" to return to the canal" a poster advised - so we did. The poster can be seen at the foot of the ramp. 

"Back Up lads!" 

The "Swan" led us back the way we had come and past the the station. For perhaps half a mile we followed the streets as they in turn followed the canal.  Eventually we were able to drop down to the canal again.

The canal, whilst showing us some magnificent buildings and fascinating glimpses of a bygone age also offered us some less savoury sights. 
we soon had to leave the canal again and were now in the GAY quarter of the city.

Here there was a plethora of superb Victorian and Edwardian buildings . (Why no photos ?) We continued through this district, again for about half a mile, before again returning to the canal. 

 (The writer is thinking that for a simple walk following the canal there seem to be an awful lot of complications.)
We had by now passed several locks each of which looked dank and dismal and often in need of repair.  Our thoughts were to be confirmed further along our walk.

Sadly as we walked alongside the canal we frequently saw evidence of rough sleepers tucked away in discrete corners.

 Sleeping bags piled up underneath the canal bridges.

We now followed the canal as it wended its way through some superb old mill buildings, dilapidated and derelict warehouses as well some quite lengthy and very admirable areas of new residential developments which were entirely sympathetic with their venerable (and otherwise) original neighbours.

 A modern footbridge partnered by an ancient machine.

(being used by ancient men)

Several sideways "Cuts" (old side branches) had been left in place and modern dwellings built around them. The photo above is of a bridge crossing the opening to one such side "cut".

Did your writer say we were simply following A canal - not true ! At this point we had to switch canals from the "Bridgewater" (?) to the "Rochdale" (?) So - two canals not one.

Here we are crossing the rather tricky lock gates that hold back the water of the basin where the canal divides 

 Now following the Rochdale canal we passed a seemingly prosperous area of rather pleasing new build apartments as well as more of the defunct and at times derelict industrial units. Many of these old buildings had found new uses. 

  

"Dreamed a dream by the old Canal.........

Dirty Old Town.  Dirty Old Town "

Ewen McColl 

 You will remember an earlier mention of the sometimes parlous state of the locks. At this point we met up with a team of workers who were carrying out wholesale repairs of locks. The gentleman in the Hi-Vis clothing told us all about it including the cost of between £70,000 and £90,000 per lock gate.   

Just after the repairs the canal was being drained revealing a large collection of rusting bikes, shopping trolleys and nameless other mud-covered monstrosities. 

In the now shallow waters a sizeable pike patrolled the  edges of water that was probably oxygen deficient.. 

The "sizeable" pike. A rather blurred photo taken at the extremity of the cameras zoom ability.
 

Soon the support stanchions of the Etihad Stadium were looming before us. With no "City" fans amongst us and with no John R to be rude about it,  we quickly passed it by. TRUTH BE TOLD some of our walkers were putting our leader under pressure to get to the Velodrome where a lunch stop had been promised. It would now be a LATE lunch.

 A rather ominous bit of graffiti as we approach the "Etihad"

Ah !  Our promised destination at last, Heralded by a fanfare  "Trumpet Voluntary" ?. or was that "Tummy Rumbles IN-voluntary.".  No worries.  We're here at last.

The Velodrome always offers us a warm comfortable place to have lunch,

With Olympic standard sporting entertainment thrown in.

Lunch over we crossed the complex to check out the BMX track on the other side before leaving the Velodrome and heading for the nearest  Metro stop.

 

A final bridge over Salford Quays and back to the Car Park (just visible on the extreme right of the following Photo).

And so home through Manchester's homeward bound commuter traffic.  Well done everyone. 

Unused Photos.

Into the darkness.  "It's life Jim but not as we know it."

 

                   Left Right.  Left Right .    Walk Talk. Walk Talkl

 

A bi-lingual sign. Wonderful !

Lunch is taken whilst watching Team GB in training