Cumbria 2023: three walks

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Levens Hall

Levens Hall

Levens Hall, south of Kendal, is an Elizabethan house built around a 13th century Pele Tower. Its gardens are largely unchanged since the 17th century and include the world’s oldest topiary gardens which we began our walk by exploring.

Floral borders
Topiary Garden
Topiary Garden
Topiary elephant
Topiary Garden
A game of croquet
Fountain Garden

We then crossed the road to the Deer Park, walking up one bank of the River Kent and back down the other. We saw both deer and goats, one of the latter clearly thinking he was King of the Castle.

Eponymous deer
King of all he surveys

At the point we crossed the river to the other bank things got interesting. We met three Police Officers, two peering over the bridge and one below us on the waters’ edge. When they saw John with his camera and lenses they got very excited. They were fairly sure there was a gun in the water but needed a photo – could John oblige? He duly zoomed in, found the gun, and they photographed what was on his screen. And here it is!

Gun in the river
River Eden

From there it was a quiet walk back along the river to Levens Hall having “helped police with their enquiries” – not always a good thing (it can mean you are a suspect)! We checked the local news-sites for a few days but never found out any more about it, though it makes a good story all the same.

Shap circular

This was a fairly short loop (4.5 miles) from Shap, mainly through fields with the highlight being a visit to Shap Abbey. There were plenty of friendly sheep about, and some lovely pastoral views.

Friendly sheep
Pastoral view
River Lowther
Farm buildings
First glimpse of Shap Abbey

The abbey is about two thirds of the way round the route. Between about 1200 and the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540 it was home to a community of Premonstratensian Canons. Some of the buildings were later reused as a farm before falling into ruin.

Shap Abbey
Shap Abbey

From the abbey we wound our way back to Shap passing Keld Chapel and the Goggleby Stone.

Keld Chapel
Winding wall
Goggleby Stone
Field view
Returning to Shap

Knipescar Common

This is another shortish loop walk of 5.25 miles. Parking in the small village of Bampton we set off for Knipescar Common in slightly misty conditions.

Bampton Grange
Climbing up to the plateau

Knipescar is a limestone plateau – as we crossed it to a very minor road we were surprised to come across this collection of street furniture which seemed slightly out of place. The phone box is no longer functional, though the post box appears to be so – and I have never seen a crowned sign like this before.

Collection of street furnitur
Crowned sign

Shortly after this we crossed a wobbly bridge over the River Lowther which we followed most of the way back to Bampton.

Bridge over River Lowther
Bridge over River Lowther

This was our last day in Cumbria and on our way back to our cottage, to satisfy my curiosity, we stopped at a roadside memorial which we had passed several times. It turned out to be a tribute to those who kept the road over Shap Fell open before the building of the M6 motorway.

Shap memorial
Shap memorial

The following day, we set off on the second leg of our holiday: a week in a cottage in North Wales. However, I’m not done with Cumbria just yet because next I intend to write up our most recent trip in which we completed the Ullswater Way. In the meantime, I am linking this post to Jo’s Monday Walk.

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54 Comments »

  1. Wow! So crazy that the police wanted you to photograph the gun in the river. Why didn’t they wade in and get it? I wonder if it was used in a crime. So many questions.

    The pastoral views, the ruins, the blue skies – all look fabulous!

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  3. Pingback: This week’s small pleasures #462 – Thistles and Kiwis

  5. Just catching up with you after a very busy week. The gardens at Levens Hall look lovely and I like the elephant. I have to admit though that reading about the gun gave me the impression it was a wind-up – a scene specially staged for the benefit of various visitors. Must be my suspicious mind 😊 I went to Shap Abbey a few years ago but couldn’t find Keld Chapel as signs seemed to be non-existent. The countryside round there is lovely though.

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      • A Tripadvisor review from September 2023 says the chapel was closed due to the dangerous state of the roof, and the NT website says it’s still currently closed. I was round that way in 2021, it would have been nice to see it if it was open but maybe not worth the hassle of getting there.

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  6. blog post opening lines, ‘ helping police with enquiries’ is a good one! Intriguing, I wonder what the options were going to be if not for the luck of a walker with a camera? A wet day at work for the policeman?

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  7. Three lovely walks. I particularly like the crowned finger post. Seems to be a Cumbrian thing and they have been restoring the old fingerposts since 2023.(according to Google)

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  8. “Going over Shap” was a big thing in the old days. The motorway trip lacks any excitement at all. Mrs T and I once cycled over it in a gale against us and found it very hard work indeed.

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  12. Hi Anabel – love the crowned sign, let alone red furniture in the middle of ‘nowhere’ – albeit the sign tells us where to go! What a great few days you had … weather wise. The Goggleby Stone and its geology … is something I’d never come across. It’s a great part of the world … particularly when it’s not raining! Cheers Hilary

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  13. All new places so thanks Anabel for sharing another part of Cumbria. She’s a beauty even more so when the sun shines. A lovely photo of you dressed all in blue amongst the flower border.

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  14. Such a lovely area to walk! I especially like the fifth photo in your topiary group (shot into the sun), and the goat on his “mountain.” The gun in the river does make for a great story.

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  18. The topiary at Levens Hall is extraordinary! It’s not everyday you go out for a walk and find yourself “helping the police with their enquiries”, that certainly makes for a walk to remember. It’s a shame you weren’t able to find out more about the gun, but maybe it’s best not to know…

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  19. Some lovely places that I haven’t visited yet. Levens garden is on the top of my list. Will have to be next spring now to see the flowers in full bloom.
    Interesting about the finding in the water.

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  20. Good walks with plenty of history in them. High Street banks and Post offices might soon go the way of redundant phone boxes. Though someone did suggest bring phone boxes back to London just so people could make a mobile phone call inside them without getting them snatched in the street by passing e bike riders. Good idea. Bob BSS.

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  21. Thanks, Anabel, for reminding me of Levens. Heaven knows how many years since we were there. The topiary elephant looks new. I distinctly remember looking at the croquet lawn and wondering what it’s like to play. I know now. Fancy having to come all the way to Portugal to find out. Suspicious going on with that gun. Best place for it, probably xx

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  23. I love all your posts but especially seeing places that we have visited in the past! It brings back so many lovely memories! It’s great too to find out all the interesting facts that you have discovered! Thanks.

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