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!

A walk around St Bees Head

St Bees Head is the westernmost tip of the Cumbrian peninsula, an area where you will find England's highest mountain tops reflected in the country's largest and deepest lakes. Although outside the Lake District National Park boundary, St Bees Head is a popular destination for ramblers, birdwatchers and history buffs.

The spot is named after St Bega, a nun who sailed over from Ireland, washed up on the shores here and established a church about 1400 years ago.

'Seen any shipwrecked nuns lately?'

St Bees Head is the only spot along the Irish Sea between Scotland and Wales where you will find high sea cliffs, which makes it a popular spot for both hikers and birds alike. A lighthouse keeps seafaring nuns on course.

In places the golden-brown sandstone cliffs stand 300 feet above the surf and during different times of the year puffins, gulls, cormorants and other birds colonise the ledges.

St Bees Head sits at one end of the Coast to Coast Walk, a long-distance route that leads from here across the spine of England to Robin Hoods Bay on the North Sea, in Yorkshire.

Although most of the path around St Bees Head follows the edge of the clifftops, there is a sharp descent into a smugglers cove called Fleswick Bay.

Over the years visitors have not been able to resist leaving their mark in the soft sandstone walls...
...but Mother Nature has been doing plenty of carving herself.

This is an enormous block of sandstone which fell from the cliffs onto the beach. Water dripping from the cliff and the surf has eroded the rock into fantastical shapes.

At high tide much of the beach is covered and polished pebbles swirl around the rock formations.

For the last mile of the walk our way was illuminated by the sun setting over the Isle of Man.

The next time you're passing through, be sure to make a beeline here!