What better thing to do on a sunny day than walk up Hampsfell on a Bank Holiday Monday!
We parked on Grange Fell Road just opposite Spring Bank Road where the main road widens just enough to park 4/5 cars against the verge.
It was a beautiful, near cloudless day with temperatures predicted to rise to 23C even around Morecambe Bay. The warm sea breeze from the direction of the south west prevailing wind carried the intense powdery scent of hawthorn blossom across the meadows and the insects were buzzing....
The single track, Spring Bank lane, was narrower than I remembered and we walked briskly up until the gradient eased at the field gate, directly opposite the footpath down to Spring Bank farm. Memories of the Hampsfell race came flooding back as we entered the field, prompting a surge of adrenalin!
A limestone rock substrate has several benefits. The ground is better drained - reference the potholes and caverns of the Yorkshire Dales and the acid soil which produces a bright green, attractive sward is ideal for grazing sheep.
I was amazed that the footpath was still mostly grass, as I remembered it in the 1950s, with very little sign of high foot traffic, not looking worn and tired as evidenced in the trails up some of the Lake District peaks. The sward was soft and springy and the Bank Holiday had brought out an assorted bunch of walkers. Some admired the view to the west where the village of Cartmel nestled in the valley below. You could just about pick out the distant white pike above Ulverston in the heat haze. It was the second day of the Cartmel races and racegoers cars could be seen neatly rowed in the fields with people relaxing and enjoying the sun around the course waiting for the day’s racing to commence.
I remember Cartmel seeming quite deserted, ‘grey’ and unloved when we walked there from school. Today it is a popular village with some beautiful cottages, a few ‘niche’ shops and boasting the L’Enclume restaurant, currently rated the best in the country. It is also the home of one delicious sticky toffee pudding.
The ravages of Covid have caused an increase in price of L’Enclume’s taster menu which has risen from £150 to £175 per person in a season.....something that will not influence my choice of eatery!
Back on Hampsfell we could now see the tip of the Hospice on the pavemented rise beyond the stone wall with its stile. The stile top step is the original, being beautifully smooth and polished with the passage of feet over some hundreds of years. However the lower steps have been replaced with new cantilevered sections.
The stile formed the start of the school Hampsfell Race which was held at the end of school sports week. The senior boys were lined up, two abreast with backs to the stile and the rest of the school was marshalled infront with the youngest boys at the very front. The view from the back at the start was daunting as there seemed no way of overtaking those in front...here is the view - photobombed by someone’s dog!
One thing that I did notice whilst on the walk was the distinct absence of the bracken which used to frame the paths on the higher slopes. Strong plant-specific herbicides have been developed since the 1950s and whilst this has benefitted the farmer in his quest for more productive land, I secretly mourned the loss of habitat for the butterflies and moths that I remember flitting across the fell in my childhood. Occasionally we would come across a massive Oak Eggar caterpillar wandering across the path in its search for food.
At the top of the rise a cairn has been formed on the right hand side of the footpath. The cairn sits on top of the limestone pavement which forms a large curled step at this point. Just before the Hospice the path narrows and the visitor must walk between limestone outcrop sides as if walking through a turnstile. That which was once forgotten has now been remembered!
The Hospice stands proud in the centre of a square of galvanised chain, supported on limestone pillars at regular centres - to ‘keep only cattle from the ground’ as explain two of the sign-painted rhymes displayed on the walls of the interior. People will be pleased to learn that, apart from the replacement of some of the internal signs, it has not changed in 70 years! Even the revolving pointer on the ‘peak finder’ (alidade) appears to be the very same piece of wood! The steps to the viewing platform are still very steep, probably very slippery in wet weather, but the cast iron hand rail and balustrade appear secure. Climbing the staircase and standing on the top is still a disconcerting and exciting experience. Perhaps it is the generous, windy gaps between stone treads and cast iron railings - something that would sadly not be sanctioned under current regulations!
There is however no reference as to whose ‘light-bulb’ moment brought about the construction of such an edifice. Hampsfell is not that high a hill and is not that distant from civilisation to warrant such expense for shelter alone. My guess is that it was conceived as a folly to provide a point of interest, a reward to tempt the casual walker out onto the fell and an opportunity to provide an elevated platform to view the glorious 360 degree prospect. There is no doubt that the unknown benefactor intended it as a gift to the community but why his/her or their name(s) have not been recorded on the building is a mystery.
......It was at this point that I decided to search the internet (my ‘light-bulb’ moment came a little late - well I am 76!). Here I immediately came across some clues! Suffice to say that the following posts give an excellent account of the Hospice and its history.
What a wonderful age we now live in!
https://grangeoversandshistory.weebly.com/hampsfell-hospice-history.html
https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hampsfell-hospice
https://historicengland.org.uk/services-skills/education/educational-images/hampsfell-hospice-grange-over-sands-10673
https://lakedistrictgems.co.uk/2018/08/31/a-walk-to-hampsfell-hospice-grange-over-sands/
https://www.cumbria.gov.uk/elibrary/Content/Internet/544/932/40534114321.pdf
http://www.wainwrightroutes.co.uk/hampsfell_r1.htm
https://sinclairdesign.com/blog/allithwaite-cartmel-hospice
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