Charney Hall School, Grange-over-Sands

Updated 14 Nov 2023 - John Cranna, Keith Smith comments Boarding school food could never be termed ‘haut cuisine’ indeed it was closer to the other end of the culinary spectrum. Meticulous preparation and careful presentation were usurped by the modern ideals of the machine age - mass production and fast food.  Charlie Chaplin - Modern Times (1936) https://youtu.be/6n9ESFJTnHs https://youtu.be/17PkUsTVa7g Red haired Ruth was a cook not a chef but she excelled in producing meals of a consistent quality for 60 boys and their masters (‘ mass’ ) year in year out, served punctually at set times each day (‘ fast’ ). There must have been helpers but we were not aware of them. Ruth was Kitchen Queen and deserved a place on the annual school photo but never got one! The delights of a vindaloo curry and the health giving properties of a Mediterranean diet had yet to be discovered in the provinces although in the 1950s somewhere on Lumb Lane, Bradford the first curry ho...

 A Trophy Lost and Found - Thank you Chris Wilson! On what turned out to be the last blue-sky day of almost a month of exceptionally hot weather in June, I drove up the drive of the Netherwood Hotel. Chris’s clue that there may have been a Charney silver cup displayed somewhere in the public areas had drawn me back to Grange. The approach to the Netherwood has always been impressive, not least the view from the main road where the expanse of the hotel can be seen, underscored by those clipped laurel ‘boxes’. I remembered the impression that many boys and their parents of Charney must have had as they turned into the drive at half-terms in the countless years preceding 1972, the date of the school’s closure.  The hotel and its grounds  are unique and owe its existence to one George William Deakin who built it as a private residence, completed in 1893, and its preservation by the subsequent owners who have appreciated its character and the quality of its construction by res...

Scout Scar - Credit : Ian Cylkowski One of Mr Fawcett’s cautionary tales, perhaps by way of a warning to those boys who may have been tempted to stray on walks across the limestone pavements of Hampsfell, relates to a certain Mr Hodgson. No more is known about this gentleman save only his surname. Documentation of the event is very thin on the digital ground. However I have unearthed one reference to the legend and found some other interesting references to the cliff in question. The escarpment lies to the west of Kendal and is named Scout Scar or Underbarrow Scar. It reaches 235 metres (771 ft) high.  At Charney Hall    I realise that I was mistaken, my imagination taking precedence over common sense, as Mr Fawcett was not making reference to the magnificent Whitbarrow Scar which towers over the hamlet of Mill Side, just north of the A590, midway between Levens and Lindale, but Scout Scar, no less spectacular but on a smaller scale. Between the two lies the Lyth Val...

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...