Strenuous Leader : Paul Distance : 11 miles
This is an 11 mile walk – but it is a gentle 11 miles with lots of historical (including a Bronze Age circle) and nature interest affording extensive views of Morecambe Bay and surrounding fells and mountains.
From the town centre we will head SE along the canal to the coast and Conishead Priory and views of Chapel Island and the Bay. Heading S along the coast for 3 miles to Bardsea village and W to Bardsea Common and the Druids Stone Circle where we may luncheon. From there we will head N for 3 miles to Swarthmoor Hall and briefly back into Ulverston to Market Cross, up Constitution Hill to Gill Banks Waterfall and E onto Hoads Hill and the Sir John Barrow Monument to loop around back into town and all its charm and amenities.
Moderate Leader: David Distance : 9 miles
We leave Victoria Road and walk half mile to Ulverston Sports Centre and continue to West End Lane and follow down the country lane taking the first right which will take you towards a large white house. The first part of the walk gives us views of the Hoad which towers over Ulverston and surrounding fields. We follow the road for a few miles, and we arrive at the coast which gives us beautiful views over the bay.
We then turn right, walk through the wooded area, before reaching the Buddhist Temple. We head to the coast path and walk through beautiful woodland, with a range of flowers we then reach the bay again, a great place to sit. The views really are spectacular. After taking some pics, we travel a few miles following the coast until we reach the coast road, where we can get an ice cream from ‘Roy’s Quality Ices’ or Chill and Grill Cafe. Plenty of benches to sit enjoy our ice cream, stop for lunch, and look across the bay. There are also toilets available here.
After lunch we take a right turn just after the Olde Mill pub there is a steep incline to the common, we may need stop a few times, but it is worth it at the top! Fantastic panoramic views over Morecambe Bay and spinning around you get an equally impressive view of the Hoad at Ulverston and the mountains on the Lake District National Park we then continue downhill back to Ulverston.
Easy Leader: no leader for this group Distance : tbc
Maps will be provided for this group to produce their own walk or independent activities.
NOTES ON THE AREA
The name Ulverston, first noted as Ulurestun in the Domesday Book of 1086, consists of an Old Norse personal name, Úlfarr, or the Old English Wulfhere, with the Old English tūn, meaning farmstead or village. The personal names Úlfarr and Wulfhere both imply “wolf warrior” or “wolf army”, which explains the presence of a wolf on the town’s coat of arms. The loss of the initial W in Wulfhere can be linked to Scandinavian influence in the region. Locally, the town has traditionally been known as Oostan. other variants include Oluestonam (1127) and Uluereston (1189). The name was spelled “Ulverstone” until at least 1888.
The market charter granted in 1280 by Edward I was for a market on Thursdays. The town retains its market-town appearance; market days are now Thursdays and Saturdays. The charter also allowed public houses to open from 10:30 am to 11:00 pm, regardless of other statute on the books. The present Saturday market includes in the summer craft stalls, charity stalls and locally produced ware on “Made in Cumbria” stalls.
The parish church is a listed building and was founded in the 12th century. Historically, the parish included chapelries and townships that later became separate civil parishes: Blawith, Church Coniston, Egton with Newland, Lowick, Mansriggs, Osmotherley, Subberthwaite and Torver. From 1894 to 1974 the town served as an urban district in the administrative county of Lancashire. Under the Local Government Act 1972 it became a successor parish in the Cumbria district of South Lakeland.
Town Bank Grammar School was founded in 1658 from a benefaction by Thomas Fell. The Victoria Road drill hall opened in 1873.
The High Carley Hospital and Ulverston Joint Hospital Board built an infectious disease hospital at High Carley, Pennington, in 1884. It was initially a fever hospital for paupers. In 1916 a second hospital, run by Lancashire County Council, was built to treat tubercular patients. From 1949 a children’s annexe was built. In the 1950s, as the number of tubercular patients decreased, the hospital was run as an acute hospital. In 1984, after the building of the new Furness General Hospital, High Carley was closed.
In 2009, the comedian Ken Dodd unveiled a statue of Laurel and Hardy (by Graham Ibbeson) outside Coronation Hall in the town centre.
On 28 April 2009, Ulverston was near the epicentre of an earthquake measuring 3.7 on the Richter magnitude scale. Tremors were felt across south Cumbria and parts of north Lancashire at 11.22, but no damage was caused. A spokesperson for the British Geological Survey stated that earthquakes of such magnitude occur once a year in Britain. Regionally, it was the strongest seismic event since a magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck Lancaster in 1835.