Matthew's been asking for ages to go to Warton Crag. It's not very far from us and is an easy walk, but I've been waiting for warmer weather because a lot of the crag is exposed to the sea so it's not always that pleasant on windy or rainy days. We've been here many times – at least 40, I'd say, and probably more. It's definitely a favourite walk, and you'll see why.
Here's the crag, all ... craggy. There are a few nesting pairs of peregrine falcons here. We didn't see any today. Maybe they nest at a different time of year.
They're a stressy sounding bird: https://www.british-birdsongs.uk/peregrine-falcon/?type1578
I should've known it would be busy here today because the weather was fine. Fortunately, we arrived quite late and most people were just getting back to their cars and leaving.
No messing about, anyway – we had a walk to do, so we got straight on with it. Every time we pass this little bit at the start of the walk up, someone says 'that's where we hid our sticks,' and they are correct. The hiding place is just off the path, so a little bit secret. Warton Crag is a great place for finding brilliant sticks that look like Gandalf's staff, and we once hid a really great one here, only to find that it was still in the same place when we came back weeks later. It seemed like a sign that it was a truly magical staff, so we took it home with us.
And this is what it looks like around the bottom of the crag. Lots and lots of lovely leafy paths. Warton Crag is the Narnia-est place we know. If it's not actually part of Narnia itself (and I think it is), I'm absolutely certain you can get into Narnia from here. There are secret hidey holes and paths that end abruptly all over the place.
Look, see? A little trail that goes nowhere in particular – hmmm, interesting. We always follow the trail because you just never know.
Strange gravity defying trees that are too thin for their height. These reach right up out of the top of the canopy, and they're so thin they should snap ... but they don't! A clear sign of magic.
We climbed back up to join the main path, and very soon came to the first bit of dry stone wall. I guess the stone was probably just taken from the hill – it looks like the same sort of stone. You won't be surprised to know that I know nothing about geology, just like I know nothing about trees or shrubs. I can make a guess that it's all limestone because I remember from geography lessons that we have lots of limestone around these parts.
There's this really nice open area where you can sometimes meet a few little cows. You also get some crackin' views from this crag, and this is only about halfway up. Over there is Morecambe.
We didn't stop though because we'd promised ourselves our tea break at the rocks, so we hadn't earned a rest yet. That's how good we are now! I used to think the walk around Warton Crag was a really long one, but that's because Matthew was only two and walked at about one mile an hour. 'Come on, Matthew,' says I, 'up, up, UP!' So we kept climbing. I would have had to stop much sooner than this two months ago.
It's at this point that I always begin to feel that there's something a bit more Hogwarts than Narnia about the crag – like the Hogwarts staircases, I'm sure the crag paths move. Every walk we've had here has been different; we always start on the same path, but we always find ourselves in different places around the middle and are never quite sure where we will come out at the end. And we never make it to the top because we can't find it. And this is why:
One path looks much like another, and when you think you've found one that looks familiar, you take a turn that leads you to a little copse you're convinced you've never seen before, or to the edge of the crag and a view that looks vaguely familiar but not totally.
The paths next to the edge used to give me the heebie-jeebies when the boys were small, I was so convinced one of them would give me the slip and pitch himself over the edge. Ugh, I hate heights when there are kids around!
We found the rocks, because we do always find them but we're never quite sure how. The way we reached them this time was completely new to me. At least, I think it was. Matthew said he recognised it as the place James once hid a huge stone that looked like a penguin (this was also still here the next time we came, and it is now in my house).
If there are rocks, they must be climbed, yes? Yes. We climbed onto the rocks and balanced here to have our break. We'd brought tea, but this wasn't the right place for it. Even better, though, were the sandwiches that Matthew had made! Gosh darn, I'm very proud. It wasn't even my idea – Matthew just decided we would need sandwiches and made them. This is him being modest about his sandwich-making abilities.
And this is the spectacular view from the top of the rocks. That's Warton and Carnforth.
It was a bit chilly, so we wolfed down our butties and headed off again. See that man down there on the right, with his dog? He was running. You see lots of fell runners up here.
Another wall-gate-thing, and this was where I'm absolutely convinced that we had no control over where we were going and how we would get back to the car. I think Aslan was trying to get us into Narnia because I thought I was heading for a particular path but we never found it. Once or twice, I thought I was in the right area, but the path kept twisting in ways I didn't expect it to.
A suspicious-looking tree. I mean, look at it, just standing there in the middle of the path. I didn't trust it. Clearly one of the baddies.
After seemingly going in circles for a little while, we eventually found ourselves in the woods. I wasn't sure I meant to go into the woods, but as we were clearly being led, we just went with it. Matthew was looking out for fauns again. I was just looking at everything, thinking how gorgeously green it all was.
Usually, I put my photos in the order I took them. That wasn't entirely possible today because a lot of them look very similar and it was starting taking me ages to work out the right order, so I gave up – when you upload them to Blogger, it mixes them all up, which is very annoying. I could've cut some out, but the woods were just divinely beautiful and it didn't really feel right to leave too many out.
Someone's been building a fence out of fallen branches and twigs. I wonder why.
Matthew and I are going to learn about trees. We think there are lots of oak trees on the crag, and we did see a lot of acorn shells on the ground.
I stared at this bit for ages, and poor Matthew was talking to me about something but I didn't hear him at all. I'm not quite sure what I was captivated by and the picture hasn't managed to capture what it was either, but there was something here that was fascinating.
Right, I've put a little video here, but it's the first one I've tried to attach so I don't know if it will work. Let's see!
Mossy rocks. I don't know about moss types either, apart from the star-shaped sphagnum moss, which eventually rots to make peat. That's all I know. The moss on these rocks wasn't sphagnum.
I don't think these photos do justice to the woods at all. We walked quite slowly because I kept stopping to go, 'gasp, Matthew, look at that – ooooooh, it's beautiful.' Matthew humoured me. 'Oh yeah ... what am I looking at, Mother?'
A centipede. I nearly touched the centipede when I had a tree-hugging moment. Matthew pointed out the little creepy-crawly and I decided not to hug any more trees.
Matthew decided to take the lead to see if he could fine our way out of the woods because we'd been in here for some time and didn't seem to be getting anywhere. None of this was familiar to me now. I didn't suppose we could really get lost, though – it's not a big crag.
And just like that, Matthew found the way out. A field of sheep. We couldn't go that way, but at least we knew we were near the road and could just follow the wall we'd found.
Another gorgeous little copse to get through ...
And aha! A kissing gate! I don't get kisses from my children at these gates anymore. They're too cool and I'm too embarrassing.
Matthew was quite sure that his legs were falling off by now but we had one more little path to do.
Hurrrraaaaay! We emerged from the gorgeous green gloom to find that the sky had cleared completely, the wind had died down and there was a perfectly placed bench where we could enjoy our well-earned cup of tea. So we sat for a good long while, drinking tea, taking photos, chattering about the places we could see, and trying to work out where the river was. It was lovely and warm, and the air smelled of summer.
A quick jog up this road ...
And we were back at the car. Isn't the crag pretty? It's higher than it looks here – this camera isn't very good at perspective.
'Oh, Matthew,' says I, 'should we just go up to the big stone seat for a little sit before we go home?' 'Oh yes,' says Matthew, 'let's do that.' So we did. We're never in a rush to go home these days; I think we're becoming outdoor people.
I checked Strava when we got back in the car and was very shocked to find that we'd been just over an hour and we'd only walked two miles. I told you, there's something magical about this place – we'd been walking for days, but only an hour had passed. You don't get better proof of Narnia than that!
Until tomorrow, when absolutely anything could happen!
WQ
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