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BB2610
: A Late Bonus
Thursday
2nd April 2026
"A
late bonus for old age pensioners."
No,
not a promise from the government
but the words Alfred Wainwright
used when describing his book:
“The Outlying Fells of Lakeland”.
The
recipients of the bonus were
to be those who have enjoyed
the fells in years gone by and
are reluctant to put away their
boots and call it a day.
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I
hadn’t quite put myself into that bracket
just yet, but deciding where to go today
presented challenges. The resolution
was kick-started when one of our number,
Mr Angry of Kendal, wrote to me saying:
“Considering the outrageous cost of fuel,
I suggest we keep travel to a minimum. I
know we can all afford it but I personally
don't like being ripped off.” He actually
said rather more but I’ll protect readers
of sensitive disposition from the rest of
his vehemence.
Bryan
came to the rescue with his suggestion that
we work our way round AW’s Outlying Fells.
To assuage feelings of decrepitude,
he suggested that doing them from scratch
would visit familiar places like Potter
Fell or Scout Scar but for a reason. He
added that there’s also a good mix of longer
and shorter walks, as well as the chance
to link one or two together. And the vast
majority are in the south of the Lakes.
At
one Fell swoop (pun intended) he had solved
today’s problem and given us a program for
the future. And there is no need for
us to feel that ancient, after all Bryan
has already done this and he is much younger
and fitter than most of us.
Cunswick
Scar was to be our first target. AW
suggested starting from the Town Hall in
Kendal but we thought the nearby Café
Nero in the Market Place was a more logical
meeting place. Of course, it wasn’t
there when he wrote his book (1974). It
was then the Golden Lion- I remember it
well. Incidentally, Visit Cumbria
has an interesting website about the Old
Public Houses of Kendal.
Given
our different start point, we took a different
way up to the old quarry tramway. To
reach it involved climbing a very steep
cobbled path that I also remember well,
staggering back to to our first house in
Kendal. The morning was sunny
and the view over Kendal clear.
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AW
said “Nothing is seen that is not beautiful
with one exception – Kendal’s gas holder”.
That is long gone but other structures
might now be considered exceptions. However
it remains a fine vista.
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As
per instructions, we crossed the golf course,
although that is now larger than it used
to be. Stan will tell you that the
land on which the main part of the golf
course is situated is designated as a "Town
Green". As such, Kendalians have
as much right to be there as the golfers,
as long as each respects the other. The
new bit, at the north end, does belong to
the club.
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Next,
we crossed over the by-pass bridge and walked
up the rifle range to the distinct cairn
at the top of Cunswick Scar.
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Here
we turned south along the scar. Shortly
after noon the inevitable question arose
from Tony. Are we stopping for lunch?
A rare split in the ranks occurred.
Tony, encouraged by Bryan, opted to
stop near the top of Gamblemires Lane. TV
Mike chose their company. On the other
hand, Stan was determined to press on to
Scout Scar where we would enjoy a better
view. Mike B, Robin and I duly followed
and eventually found a bench that could
accommodate all four of us.
The
split didn’t last long. Re-united
we pressed on to the Mushroom.
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What
a view point this is for all directions.
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For
our return we chose the direct route to
the old racecourse. Somewhat to my
surprise, I realised I had never been that
way before. After crossing over the
by-pass we discovered a path that none of
us had previously used. It led down
into Kendal, passing behind smart houses
of a new estate.
Eventually
it emerged onto familiar territory above
the Rifleman’s. Our route down was
now the way AW had wanted us to use for
the ascent. We hadn’t previously noticed
the hand rail that he mentions for assisting
progress. We didn’t need it for the
descent. We did notice, however, a
number of interesting features, including
the Miles Thomson figurine on a house gable,
Postman Pat’s post office and the National
School for Boys amongst others.
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AW
completed his round at the Town Hall (where
he used to work). Ours, in the Market
Place, sat outside the pub now known as
the Principal but in our younger days had
a different name. The Globe. That’s
where we old pensioners had our late bonus!
Don,
Thursday 2nd April 2026
PS,
Many of the features mentioned above are
described in more detail in:
BB1705
: Great Grandad's Army and Other Relics
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