Don’t let the sun go down on me – Knipescar.

Knipescar.

                                                                            Knipescar.

Having descended to Askham from a good half day’s walk on Heughscar Hill I was not keen to risk again the flooded lanes around Penrith and chose to drive south to Shap. The distinctive Knipescar appeared up to my left, I pulled into a layby  to consult Wainwright and the map – an ideal quickie. Parked at the bottom of the lane to Scarside Farm I was in too much of a rush in the late afternoon and had gone well up before realising I’d forgotten my camera. Running back down I greeted four others going up for a late visit. Once camera reunited and relaxed on the lovely limestone promenade along the scar I could take in views of Haweswater, Cross Fell and now distant Blencathra. To my right was a substantial wall, the boundary of Lowther Castle estate. I soon reached  the summit in a maze of limestone pavement with several contrasting erratic boulders dumped by retreating glaciers. Those other four seem to have disappeared – where could they have gone at this time of night?

Erratic boulder, Knipescar and distant Blencathra.

                                          Erratic boulder, Knipescar and distant Blencathra.

My search in the limestone pavements for the stone circle/enclosure marked on the map was fruitless, I couldn’t even locate the Ministry of Works sign mentioned by Wainwright and as the light faded I didn’t fancy braking an ankle up here. So I headed back as the shadows lengthened and the temperature dropped. The sun went down as I reached the farm lane.

Where is the 'stone circle'?

                                                          Where is the ‘stone circle’?

 

Evening Shadow.

Evening Shadow.

The sun goes down.

                                                The sun goes down.

The end of a beautiful day.

 

Leave a Reply