Furness Way

FW02: Heversham to Levens. And more!

Friday 21st January 2011

Despite it being another nice day, a variety of factors, some previously discussed, some new, like the chimney being almost blocked and needing attention, conspired to make this a rather late start and potentially the shortest official mileage on record. Nonetheless, this actually worked to our advantage on what was to prove a walk with a difference.

We started at the south end of Heversham. Margaret couldn't see the point of a road slog back to our previous Furness Way tuning back point, just to say that we had done so. I have to say that I could see the logic. And there was another advantage which will emerge later.

So, the early afternoon saw us walking up through the twin linear villages of Heversham and Leasgill. Many is the time I have driven this lane but this is the first time I have walked it. There was so much of interest, including St Peter's Church, the allegedly thousand year old St Mary's Well, the Georgian Plumtree Hall with its upmarket retirement accommodation and simpler things like Sands Cottage's pig sign.

St Peter's Church

Plumtree Hall

St Mary's Well

Sand's Cottage

Looking west from Leasgill

At the far end, the lane rejoins the main road, by the side of Levens Hall. However, once opposite the Hall, we departed from the Way (after a princely 1.2miles!!) to find a different route back to the car. A rather ad hoc approach, favouring, where possible, unknown rather than known paths proved an interesting solution.

Levens Hall

The path to High Barns

Levens Hall Farm

Levens Hall, Levens and the Coniston Fells

The route to High Barns has been done by us several times in the past, although more normally in the opposite direction. However, we had never previously then travelled south and south-east to Mabbin Hall, nor continued south to the school playing fields.

Strange devices near High Barns

Wintry grounds at......

Margaret in the lane

..... Mabbin Hall

The playing fields were quite bizarre with one side of the pitches well covered in snow, whilst the other half was perfectly normal!

One half in the snow.....

..... the other in grass!

Then things got really different (and even more unplanned). We discovered that the old railway line was now, in practice, a footpath, albeit not marked as such on the maps.

Road bridge over the old railway track

The path became less distinct and increasingly damp underfoot as it approached the A6.

Initially firm underfoot.....

..... the path became much wetter

Entirely in a cutting, it was not the most scenic of routes, it has to be said, but certainly one with a difference and which enabled us to make up most of the missing bit at the start of today's section of the official walk.

Don, 21st January 2011