Leaf peeping in the Lake District

Scout Scar is a long limestone ridge west of Kendal which overlooks the Lyth Valley, famous for its damson plums brought here by the Romans all the way from Syria.

It is popular with rock climbers, or you can walk a few steps from the car park, your choice. The crest of the ridge is nearly 800 feet high and offers views over Morecambe Bay and the central mountains of the Lake District National Park.

It was a misty and murky at first during our visit, though the clouds parted a bit to let some sunshine through. The ridge has shallow, well drained soil and is littered with piles of limestone gravel.

The larger chunks of stone make perfect wall-building material and there are many fine examples to be seen during a walk here.

These walls probably date back to medieval times and have enclosed sheep paddocks for centuries. I do wonder if the local residents thought 'right, we have all these stones lying around, we might as well do something with them.'

Here is another fine wall with some autumnal colour, but this one is in Kendal, a large market town about an hour's walk from Scout Scar.

Kendal has the remains of two castles. All that is left of one castle is a mound, but from the top of it there is a fine view of the other (and more substantial) castle.

Kendal is famous for its Kendal mint cake, a mixture of sugar and peppermint oil formulated to give hikers a boost on those long walks. Kendal was also home to the portrait painter George Romney, John Cunliffe (the creator of Postman Pat) and Alfred Wainwright, who dedicated his spare time to producing a series of handwritten walking guides to the Lake District

Peek through any of the 'ginnels' or back lanes and lots of interesting vintage signs can be found.

I'm always pleased to see a Carnegie Library. My local library when growing up in Kansas was also founded by the Scottish philanthropist.

After lingering a bit too long in Kendal, the short autumn days meant the sun was setting and the moon was rising on the return trip to Scout Scar.

As the Scouts would say, 'Be Prepared'.

In this case, be prepared for amazing views!