Folly

Bardsea and Urswick

Easy

7.4 miles | 11.8 km | 250 m Ascent | 8.6 Naismith miles | Terri Kwiecinska
In March 2024, Bentham Footpath Group walked at Flookburgh, and enjoyed views over the Cartmel sands to Bardsea. This time we are on the other side of the estuary for a great walk starting from Bardsea then heading inland to visit Urswick and its tranquil tarn. On the way we have the corresponding views back toward Flookburgh and the whole of Morecambe Bay. We also see a beautiful church, a curious three sided folly, get more than one ice cream opportunity, and pass the site of an ancient hill fort, before noting alpacas, highland cattle and a stone circle. We end by walking on the beach with opportunities to see and hear all the birdlife teeming at the margins. All this with free parking and public toilets.

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Oxenholme round

Easy

7.2 miles | 11.6 km | 271 m Ascent | 8.6Naismith miles | Alison Kinder & Colin Stroud
Kendal styles itself as “The gateway to the Lakes”, and it is indeed a good base for those wishing to explore the southern end of the Lake District. The surrounding countryside also has much to offer in its own right– as we see in this walk.
From convenient parking close to Oxenholme station, we start by climbing the Helm, gaining great views of the Lakeland Fells, the Howgills, and Morecambe Bay. From there we descend past an ancient fort, and a curious folly to pick up St Sunday’s Beck which we follow upstream to the delightful Bleasehall Wood. We note a syphon well before taking an isolated green lane to St Sunday’s Bridge and from there we head to Hawkrigg. The return leg involves a brief but quite steep climb up the aptly named Windy Hill, and then it’s a steady descent to the finish. We show this as an easy walk because it is (just) less than 12 km – but the consensus from the group was that it “feels more like a medium”.

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Heversham

Easy

6.5 miles | 10.5 km | 312m Ascent | 8.1 Naismith miles | Sandra Craggs
This short and relatively easy walk brings Bentham footpath Group back to the Kent estuary again – and on a good clear day (not the case on the day of the group walk unfortunately) – great views of Farleton Knott, then the Howgills, the Lakeland fells and finally the Kent estuary and the viaduct at Arnside are revealed.
Add a curious folly tower, an old railway line that is slated to be converted to a pathway, a toposcope, and a 12th century church with beautiful grounds, to make this a walk well worth the effort.
The route is essentially a figure of eight, so there is the opportunity to make it two shorter walks, and as part of this route intersects with other BFG walks, there is scope to use it as a basis for longer combined routes.

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