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BB2027
: The Convergence of Ways
Wednesday
29th July 2020
Shap is an
unusual place. It is too easy to dismiss it as a plain
village stuck out in a miserable part of England where it rains
for the most part of the year.
Alternatively you can view it as a much
maligned place of historical importance with a range of interesting old features
yet thriving with young families due to it being within commuting distance of
Penrith or Kendal but a whole lot cheaper. And add to that some wonderful countryside
on its doorstep.
Shap also
provides accommodation,
the opportunity to stock up on supplies and three pubs for those hardy souls
who are undertaking the Coast to Coast Walk.
It
performs the same function for those undertaking
the Westmorland Way which winds from Appleby
to Arnside. Or vice-versa.
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A lesser known fact about Shap
is that when the Mardale valley was flooded to create the Haweswater reservoir,
the bodies in the then to be submerged graveyard were exhumed and taken to be
reburied in consecrated ground near St Michael's Church. The church itself is a hidden feature, tucked
away in a back street of what otherwise appears to be a linear village.
Tony was keen to see the graves
so that was our first objective. We inspected the well-kept graveyard and admired the exterior of the Church
(interior not open until next week). I was particular taken by the ornamentation
of a gate. The boys thought that the
figures hanging from the crossbar were the
inversion of the leaves featured on its
lower bar. They probably were but
to me they looked like praying nobles or
bishops of an earlier age, albeit hanging
in a rather strange lotus-like position!
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The
graveyards had sad tales to
tell including that of the men
who "lost their lives by
accident during the progress
of the works... of the Lancaster
and Carlisle Railway",
of Thomas Holme who "was
deprived of his sense of hearing
in his youth.... without the
comfort of hearing one word
he reconciled himself to his
misfortune by reading
and useful employment"
and of victims of both World
Wars.
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We, i.e.
Tony and me plus Martin, left Shap, walking
along the Westmorland Way past the Goggleby
Stone.....
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....
and on to Keld, where we paused at the tiny 16th
centurychapel, that is thought to have been
the chantry for Shap Abbey. Understandably, given the C-19 situation,it was not open but we had a good look around the outside.
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Next we headed out,
Way-free, on to the
moors, partly along the public road and partly using the defunct engineer’s road-
built for the construction traffic for the Haweswater reservoir. There were fine distant views over the Lakeland
Hills; Tony delighting in being able to identify Kidsty Pike. There was also a glimpse of the Swindale
Valley.
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Originally I had thought we
should head to Swindale but on closer examination of the map plus consultation
with Uncle Google, it seemed as if the path went straight through rather than
over or under the river. Consequently we
chose instead to head north to Rosgill, stopping for lunch en-route by the
lovely old Parish Crag Bridge.
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It
was here that we joined briefly, the Coast
to Coast route which probably explains why we saw,
on signposts,
the same sort of tiled squares that I had remembered from the Dales Way. To
the north, we could see Knipe Scar.
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We parted company
from the C2C at the Rosgill bridge over
the River Lowther, then climbed up to the
hamlet where we turned south,
to follow the Miller’s Way in reverse direction.
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This
Way celebrates John Carr’s journey from Kendal to Carlisle to
set up Carrs bakery- perhaps best renowned for its Water Biscuits.
After
a pleasant stroll past old barns (one of
which had a stained glass window possibly
taken from Mardale Church), through fields
above the river,.....
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.....enjoying
the distant Lakeland views again.....
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.....
we reached Shap Abbey which is where the
Convergence of the Three Ways, C2C, Westmorland
and Miller's, occurs.
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When
you look at the OS map, it adds to Shap
Abbey's English Heritage sign the word “Premonstratension”. Had you asked me beforehand what this meant I
would have said that it was some sort of ladies’ problem but it turns out to be
The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré.
It is, or was, a religious order of Canons Regular of the Catholic
Church founded in Prémontré near Laon in 1120 by Norbert of Xanten, who later
became Archbishop of Magdeburg.
Tony enjoyed
acting as our tour guide
around the Abbey- he certainly had done his homework. There is a really
nasty crack in the gatehouse tower wall.
I can't see that standing very much
longer without serious repair work.
We headed back
to Shap by Way of the Coast to Coast route. As I said, there is a range
of several interesting old features, including
a beautiful old guest house.....
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....
and an old property with six derelict cars
in its driveway!
Surprisingly
perhaps, we didn’t
celebrate the Convergence of Ways in the usual manner. Like the walking
routes we had a Divergence of Ways. However
we had the pleasure of anticipating a Convergence
of BOOTboys
in the ZOOMbar
tonight to commune in the usual Coronavirusian
Way. Cheers!
Don,
Wednesday 29th July 2020
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