BB2217 : A Different Type Of Wainwright

Having grown up in the London Midland Region, I had spotted very few Southern region engines.  Indeed this was only the third Merchant Navy class engine I had seen.  For those of you still interested, it’s a 4-6-2 Bulleid design introduced in 1941.  Its driving wheels are 6’2” diameter.

Anyway, we had another Wainwright connection today.  Not one of the big ones; an outlier.  Reston Scar, near Staveley.  However, that was the ultimate objective. There was some distance to travel first.  On foot of course.

We headed south out of Staveley along the west bank of the River Kent where some sheep were heading to the river to meet the heron.

Further down, we crossed over the new footbridge, the old one having been washed away by floods a few years ago.

A short return along the opposite bank followed and then we started to climb, eventually reaching the isolated cottage where the old girl keeps a magnificent garden.

A little further on, Mike got distracted by chatting with a wagon driver he knew, following which the way he went to try to catch us up did not best please the local farmer who slung some strong Westmerian abuse at him, making him retreat.  I don’t think the farmer realised how big Mike is and Mike was too much of a gentleman to show him!  Or maybe the shotgun he had across his shoulder influenced matters.

A little further on is the magnificently developed barn where Robin spotted a powerful telescope and, salivating somewhat, the tripod on which it stood.

We turned west.  Behind us was Brunt Knott.....

..... to our right we could see the Kentmere fells.....

..... and ahead, in front of the Coniston Fells, Williamson's Monument stood on the skyline.

Our lunch stop was at the Elf Howe ruined farm buildings.  It must have been quite a place in its day considering the size of the walled area.

After dropping down and crossing the valley we started the final ascent.  It is a surprisingly steep climb up to Black Crag then rather gentler around to the unnamed summit.  From there we could see and soon reached the final objective- the Wainwright outlier, Reston Scar, from whence we had a good view over Staveley and a passing non-Wainwright train.

In what most certainly is a BOOTboys first, we ended up at a telescope shop in Staveley where Robin, inspired by what he had seen earlier, wanted to purchase a substantial tripod on which to mount his beast.  

He tried to kid us that it was so he could look at the current rare alignment of the five planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) but we know the real reason.  It was so he could better see the distant Wainwrights from where he lives in Settle.  The only puzzle is whether he meant hills or trains!

Don, Thursday 9th June 2022

Comitibus:  John, Robin (+Holly), Stan, Don, Mike

Stan:  Had I known you were a railway buff I would have asked if you wanted to look round my previous house before it was gutted and extended.

The previous owner was Harold Bowtell who was a prolific railway author. The only room of any size in the original house was the lounge which was essentially a library with bookshelves on all walls.

Harold lived on his own and his part time housekeeper whom I talked to pre-sale (Harold had died in a nursing home) told me he more or less lived in the lounge surrounded by books.

Not googled him for sometime but am sure there is still plenty about him and trains on Google?!

Don: I confess that I don’t recall hearing about Harold Bowtell. 

Having Googled him, he does indeed seem to have had a prolific output but written somewhat after my interest in trains waned- partly due to the demise of steam but more likely the onset of adolescence.  

I do still like to see (and smell) the steam trains go by.  There is a lady in Oxenholme who alerts nerds to when they are due, hence me catching sight of British India Line.

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STATISTICS

BB2217 : A Different Kind Of Wainwright

Date:

Thursday 9th June 2022

Features:

Reston Scar

Distance in miles (SatMap):

9.1

Height climbed in feet (MM):

1,526

GPX Track

bb2217.gpx

Comitibus:

Don, John, Mike B, Robin (& Holly), Stan

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