Last updated 14:43, Friday, 21 March 2008

Weekend Walk with Vivienne Crow

MAP: OS Landranger 90, Penrith and Keswick; or Explorer map OL5.

Parking: Community centre car park in Askham, GR NY512238.

REFRESHMENTS: The Queen’s Head and the Punchbowl Inn, both in Askham. Askham Stores also serves hot drinks.

DISTANCE: 7.3 miles

TOTAL ASCENT: 794ft

TIME: 3-3¼ hours

GRADE: Easy

OVERVIEW: Using quiet roads and farm tracks, you walk from Askham, through Lowther Park, out to Clifton and then back via the River Lowther. This is a low-level walk with very little ascent apart from one short section beside the river.

There is plenty of historical interest along the way, including the village of Askham, St Michael’s Church, Lowther Castle, some standing stones and the pele tower at Clifton Hall. You may also see deer, red squirrels and herons. It is a fairly long walk, but there is a shorter, 2.7-mile option for those who cannot manage 7.3 miles.

THE WALK: Leave the car park and turn left along the road. Ignore the first turning on your left after the Queen’s Head, but take the next one, after Askham Stores. The road crosses the River Lowther, and, once over the cattle grid, you enter Lowther Park. Keep to the road for the next half mile, passing St Michael’s Church on your left.

Soon after drawing level with Lowther Castle to your right, turn left along a private, sealed lane with public right of way for pedestrians (one mile from the start). When the track splits, bear right, keeping to the high ground above the river.

(Alternatively, if you’re doing the short walk, bear left and cross the river via an old humpback bridge. Turn left immediately after the bridge to pick up the route as explained later in this walk description.)

The surfaced track ends when you reach Buckholme Lodge (two miles from the start), but you should continue in the same direction beyond the gate. You are now on a grassy track with Clifton straight ahead. Having crossed the field, the track swings right. As it does so, you leave it by crossing the stile in the fence – effectively continuing in the same direction. There are a couple of standing stones a little way up to the right now – clearly visible from the stile.

Having passed – and ignored – a gated lane to the left, the track reaches the side of the M6 and then swings left to run alongside the motorway for a few hundred yards. Walk under the railway line and then swing right to cross the M6 via Clifton Hall Bridge (2.9 miles from the start). As soon as you reach the other side, go through the awkward metal kissing gate on the right to walk with a wall on your immediate left. Once over the next stile, turn left to continue alongside the wall. When it kinks left, keep straight ahead and head for a gap in the high wall near the small church on the edge of Clifton.

Carefully cross the road and turn left to walk along the pavement. With Penrith and Beacon Hill straight ahead, you walk along the A6 for just under a mile now.

Soon after passing the sign heralding your arrival in Eamont Bridge, you cross the River Lowther (3.9 miles from the start). Turn left immediately after the bridge – along the asphalt driveway of Lowther Holiday Park (signpost reads: “Public Footpath Lowther Path, Askham”).

You soon pass under the M6 and then Hugh’s Crag Viaduct. After passing – and ignoring – a lane heading uphill to the right, you reach the caravan park. Keep to the wide track along the right-hand edge of the site, ignoring any tracks to the left. Eventually, you will come to a gate which provides access to a pretty woodland lane beside the river.

Keeping your eyes peeled for red squirrels, you follow this for the next three-quarters of a mile until you reach a pair of bridges (six miles from the start). Turn right immediately before the humpback bridge (signpost reads: “Public Footpath Askham”). People doing the short walk rejoin the main route here.

The riverside path quickly climbs the steep embankment, providing a good view across to Lowther Castle. Be careful here because the deep leaf litter hides some exposed tree roots just waiting to trip you up.

Eventually, the narrow path becomes a wider, grass track through the trees. The right of way along this track ends just before you draw level with the church on the other side of the river, so you need to watch carefully for a waymarker to the right. This indicates that the public footpath does a sharp right turn to climb to a ladder stile.

Once over this, turn half-left to walk diagonally across the field. There is no path on the ground. Cross the stile in the field corner (6.8 miles from the start) and turn left along a track. Having passed Askham Hall on your left, you re-emerge in the village opposite the Punchbowl Inn. Turn right along the road and retrace your steps to the car park.

POINTS OF INTEREST: Lowther Castle was the family seat of the Earls of Lonsdale for many generations, and occupies the site of mansions dating back to the reign of Edward I.

The building you see today was started in 1806 and completed in 1814 for the fifth Earl, but it was abandoned after his death. The interior was dismantled in 1957 and only the walls were left standing.

Plans are now afoot to restore the castle and turn the estate into a major tourist attraction with a 1,500-seat amphitheatre, a huge underground gallery, 131 acres of gardens and contemporary cultural, creative and educational facilities. Saving the castle structure alone is expected to cost around £20 million.

For walks in the Lake District, try Vivienne Crow’s Walk! The Lake District (North) published by Discovery Walking Guides.