Charney Hall School, Grange-over-Sands

We set off from the Hampsfell House Hotel, a lovely hotel with pleasant summer gardens located off Hampsfell Road but still conveniently close to the town. There is a path which branches to the right off Hampsfell Road below the hotel.  Credit : Alltrails.com (an excellent free footpath mapping service)* We took the path which runs due west across the wood until I estimated that we were somewhere near but higher than the ‘Face’. The wood is thick and the path, if I remember correctly, not clear cut (due to the long absence of Charney Hall expeditions) so the object is to walk slightly north of the target then follow the contour through the wood until the tree canopy is broken. With a bit of luck you will either find yourself above or below the cliff! I still find the panorama amazing - the whole of Grange lies at your feet and at the right time, in the interplay of light the estuary glistens and the tidal bore can be spotted working its way up the channels.  It would appear th...

First posted 4/2/2019 Post updated Apr 2023 : Photos of Cricket Pavilion and Bat Store added, credit John Cranna Charney Hall School abt. 1935 Grove House, the original school building can be seen on the near rhs of the picture Charney Hall School Site 2019 Both photographs are taken from Yewbarrow ‘Face’ To give people an indication as to how the original school buildings relate to the subsequent redevelopment I have superimposed ‘before and after’ site plans and aerial views. Old survey maps never seem to relate exactly to their modern equivalent and this applies equally to aerial photographs and Google Earth projections. Both have to be projected at identical scales which is a bit ‘hit and miss’ especially with the aerial perspective where the angle of elevation has also to be estimated (actually guessed)! What was the point of that do I hear you say?  Well if you walk up Charney Court and stand between nos. 3 and 5 and lift your eyes in the direction of th...