BOOTboys

Great Little Walks

GLW1102 The Leighton Loop

22nd March 2011

It looked like being a beautiful spring afternoon but time was a little tight.

We opted to go down to Leighton Moss, the RSPB bird sanctuary, from whence we would undertake a circular walk.

Crossing the sanctuary is at first frustrating as the path is enclosed by reeds that stand higher than head height.

Consequently, there is frustratingly little to see at first.

However, once you reach the hides, that changes.

Leighton Moss reed path

Indeed the public hide was almost completely full with people shouldering very powerful telescopes or cameras with very long range lenses. My little pocket jobby was, for once, not the ideal tool! They didn't seem too excited so I suspect that whatever they were waiting for had not yet made its guest appearance.

The view from the hide

Is this what excited them?

Upstream from the path

Downstream from the path

After crossing the Moss, (reversing the route taken by the BOOTboys on BB1046) we climbed up the track that led to Leighton Hall. It was interesting to see it from this angle, as opposed to the front view as enjoyed in the concerts on the lawn that they used to host.

Approaching Leighton Hall

Leighton Hall front.....

Leighton Hall rear view

..... and from up the hill!

The climb continued past the Hall and at the top of the modest hill were several seats offering a magnificent panorama over the Moss and beyond to the Coniston Fells.

Click on photo for deecent sized panorama

Team picture

Through the woods

Here we left the BB1046 route and headed south through light woodland to meet the Leighton Hall Road and its Lodge with a kind display of washing for Margaret to enjoy.

Leighton Lodge washing

Dropping down to Crag Foot

Beyond the lodge, we took the footpath west between woods and fields eventually to emerge at Crag Foot- the site of a strange tower that I remembered from my Far Arnside caravan days but I had never got this close to it before. I still didn't know its purpose but the Cicerone website suggests that "The chimney at Crag Foot was part of a pumping station which drained the flat land around Leighton Moss."

Washing near Crag Foot

Looking back to Warton Crag

Crag Foot puming station chimney

Daffodils at the Row

Time was now pressing so rather than crossing the moss to the Silverdale side of the bay, we took the busy and footpathless road directly back to the car. Not the most relaxing of ways of returning but it didn't detract too much from what had been a really nice short walk in a variety of countryside.

Don, 22nd March 2011

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