Rannerdale Bluebells, Irton Hall and Kendal

/ 10/05/2023

For our week in the Lake District we had managed to secure a little terraced cottage in the grounds of Irton Hall, the important thing about this cottage was its location on the edge of Wasdale. When we weren’t enjoying the delights of walking the fells of Wasdale, we also had one day of heavy rain so we had a bimble around a couple of nearby villages. A day off after a monster walk up Scafell, where we headed into Eskdale and the Hard Knott Fort. Plus our last day where we drove in and around the Lakes, stopping off to see the Rannerdale Bluebells plus having some food in Kendal before we left on the long drive to Devon. I’ve managed to collate all these things into one post, which turns out is quite a substantial post as I’ve added in some photos to show off the grounds of Irton Hall, which are lovely.

Irton Hall, there’s a restaurant and pub in there which we did visit on one evening
The side of Irton Hall and the clock tower. The hall had been lived in by the Irton’s since the 11th century all the way to 1866. Important visitors such as Oliver Cromwell and King Henry 6th have stayed here, although Henry was a Lancastrian so wasn’t allowed in the house and had to sleep under the oak tree in the grounds (named King’s Oak!)
Irton Hall clock tower
There are lots of peacocks in the grounds and they are pretty noisy most of the time
We stayed in one of the houses on the left, perfect for what we needed
This is Irton Church (St Paul’s), we visited on the day with lots of rain. it was built in 1227
Inside Irton Church
This cross was erected in the 9th century and is a fine Saxon cross in the churchyard. it stands around 10 feet high
Not too far from Irton Church is Gosforth, another lovely church stands here, the history in this church needs to be seen.
First up is the Norse cross in the churchyard and is 14 feet high, the tallest in England and second in importance in this country. There is also Europe’s most northerly cork tree in the yard, which started growing in 1833
These are 10th century ‘hogback’ tombstones covering the graves of the Norse Chieftains and are shaped as houses of the dead and carved with battle scenes. They are astonishing to look at. Behind the tombstones is the Chinese bell on the window sill.
Inside the church, there is also a fishermans stone on the left of this photo. Well worth a visit to this church to have a look around. The hogback alone is superb as there are few examples of these left.
Between two walks up Scafell and Pillar we had a day off, and headed up into Eskdale to have a look at the Hard Knott Fort
Hard Knott pass, the steep bit of the road is up there, to get here there is one hairpin bend which is fairly simple to negotiate, you could also easily get up to Hard Knott fell or Harter Fell if needed from here
There have been repairs to the walls in places, shown by the flat slate, everything below the slate is Roman
Down into Eskdale from Hard Knott fort
This valley leads up to Lingcove Bridge, at the back would normally be the Scafells
Parts of the fort
Outside the main fort complex was the circular sauna
Driving back from the fort towards Irton Hall we could see white smoke, this means only one thing in these parts
La’al Ratty, the Eskdale railway. We were lucky the see two trains, the first was heading towards Boot and the second, the green River Irt, was heading back to Ravenglass
On our final day the weather was glorious and as it was edging towards the middle of May I thought it was about time I visited the Rannerdale Bluebells and being on the right side of the Lakes meant a short drive to have a look. First we passed Loweswater and stopped to take a photo of Mellbreak, the northern end of this fell provides a tough, steep route up.
Gavel Fell left and Carling Knott on the right.
We’d parked up and started to wander over to Rannerdale, Mellbreak up on the left, Crummock Water in front of us and Low Fell on the right
Rannerdale Knotts as we near the bluebells
And here they are, as always it’s difficult to show them at their best on a photo, but they were pretty good with Whiteless Pike forming a pointy backdrop
I liked the contrast of the yellow gorse and bluebells
You can see the extent of the flowers as you head through them and look back
Looking back
Selfie with the Rannerdale bluebells
Grasmoor at the back of the bluebells. I reckon we were about 5 days too early for them at their best, but I’d still say those at Holwell on Dartmoor are far superior to these. But at least now I can say I’ve seen them. And they are still lovely
Along Buttermere now and the classic shot of the Buttermere Pines and Haystacks at the back
After driving through the Lakes, we headed over to Kendal for a bimble in a record shop, a look at the castle and some food
The castle was good, giving some lovely views over Kendal, it was built in the 1200s and its most famous resident was Katherine Parr, the wife of Henry VIII
Kendal and views to the Far Eastern and Eastern Lake District fells. All that was left was a bit of food and then the long drive back to Plymouth after a fantastic week in the Lakes. Still two more walks to write about though and both pick off high fells around Wasdale Head.

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13 thoughts on “Rannerdale Bluebells, Irton Hall and Kendal”

  7. A timely reminder that there is more to the Lakes than mountains (and lakes!). I must visit Gosforth church now. Been staying at Nether Wasdale every year for about 10 years now and never been and it looks like a gem.
    Holwell has the best bluebells I’ve ever seen as well!

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    • Gosforth Church has so much in it, brilliant place to visit if there is a poor weather day. We did Holwell when we got back from the Lakes and they were superb this year, still need to write that one up, over a month behind now

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