Scout Scar August 2020

 

Leading to the small, in terms of height, limestone fell of Scout Scar, this gate above Kendal’s

old race course is hand smoothed by the hundreds of people who pass through it over the year.

Dog walkers, families, runners, ramblers, botanists, young people on their way to watch the sun set

and (maybe) consume some illicit substances, all handle it as they head west from Kendal.

The gravelled path of broken Carboniferous rocks weaves through blackthorn, juniper and brambles,

its rockiness belying the gentleness of the incline. Delicate harebells are found in more open areas,

and the muddy patches of cows’ tramples are all baked hard after a week of high summer temperatures.

Sweating up towards the skyline, a raise of the eyebrows is the only greeting from a fellow runner,

as eventually all the southern and central fells are revealed, silhouetted as the day closes. 

Turning north along the scar edge overlooking the green of the Lyth Valley, Kendal’s nearest hill becomes

busier with locals enjoying the evening.  The Edwardian mushroom shelter is surprisingly quiet, one of

two summits I have to go to, the other being the concrete triangulation pillar of that august institution, the Ordnance Survey.