Ed’s nostalgic bits

This post was originally published over on the By Duddon’s Side project blog: http://byduddonsside.wordpress.com
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Having resurfaced from our underground explorations, Ed took me for a walk around Penn and Ulpha Park – an area he knows well from his time living near by.

Starting from Loganbeck, we followed the track up alongside Park Moss, where there were signs of some interesting things going on with the forestry: one area where it looked like several trees had been toppled in what looked like a non-deliberate way, and then on the other side of the track this area which had been replanted and where the saplings were starting to show amongst the scrub and the reeds.

This was a nice contrast to the Frith Hall, where a few hardy trees had settled in amongst the ruins.

I was also struck by how the buildings tended to be nestled in up against the rocky outcrops. Here are some farm buildings that seemed to have been orientated on the same side of its shelter as Frith Hall was against its. Both were on the seaward side, which got me wondering about prevailing winds.

Next came Castle How: one of many in the area! This got us talking about globally unique identifiers, scales of localities and the different sources from which Cumbrian toponymy hails.

The far point of our walk was near the old bobbin mill. I didn’t manage to take any decent photos, but there’s a bit of an interview with one of the previous owners here.

Wooden bobbin for the textile mills of Lancashire used to be made at the mill until 1910. The raw material for the mill came from cutting lengths of wood from coppiced woodlands in the Ulpha district and working them into shape on lathes and coring machines. Water power had been used in the early days of the mill but a turbine had taken over in later years. The Millom News noted: “The first thing Mrs Cooper’s husband did was to instal his own hydro-electric plant, which is still running today and which the occupants of the Bobbin Mill would not be without. “The original beams of the mill are still intact but the millstones themselves had to be taken away during the last war in case they were used for grinding corn in defiance of the food rationing laws. “The rest of the mill has not changed much through the years and still retains some of its ancient charm in the ivy-covered stonework and curious chimney. “Nestling in the Duddon Valley, the Bobbin Mill is one of the few unspoiled reminders of yesteryear.

There’s also a contribution here that says the shaving from the mill were used to heat the local school!

Looping back round again, closer to the river, through Forge Wood and Low Park, there was more evidence of the foresters having been at work.

We also admired the work of the wallers, building up and over this boulder. This had been a sort of running joke throughout the day: the determination of the farmers to build walls up near vertical slopes, far away from the nearest roads. Also how the really large boulders had been incorporated into the build and roads wiggled to go between them. “Tell you what lads, why don’t we just leave this one here and go around it?”

I forget what this fungus is called, but they were un-nervingly rubbery to the touch and the resemblance of this one to an ear was so close it was very wrong!

Ed picked a few to take back home and cook with.

Before the rise up through Beckfoot and the last road section to return to the car we were treated to the sight of some lovely soft warm hues and the last of the low sun hit the other side of the valley.

That had been a very good day!

You can see an album of my photos over on Flickr, here.