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Brown Robin Nature Reserve, Eggerslack Wood and Hampsfell.

Start. Grange-over-Sands (Main Street car park).

Route. Grange-over-Sands - Promenade - Railway Station - Lindale Road (B5277) - Netherwood Hotel - Brown Robin House - Brown Robin Nature Reserve - Blawith Hill - Windermere Road (B5271) - Eggerslack Wood - Bishop's Allotment - Hampsfell - Spring Bank - Fell End - Spring Bank Road - Grange Fell Road - Grange-over-Sands.

Notes. We were in Grange-over-Sands today, a pretty little resort with an Edwardian flavour and mild climate. It sits on the shore of Morecambe Bay where, from the 13th century until the 1850s it was on the main route from Lancaster across Morecambe Bay. On our tick list somewhere we’d never visited before, Brown Robin Nature Reserve, typical limestone woodland with magnificent displays of wild flowers interspersed with small meadows. We visited Eggerslack Wood a delightful tract of tranquil woodland full of native trees with a wide range of Holly, Ivy and various ferns. Then came the star of the show Hampsfell, a low limestone hill we’ve visited many times, at just 728ft above sea level it gifts the lucky walker breathtaking views over the vast expanse of Morecambe Bay and, to the north the volcanic chaos of the Lake District beckons.

Our morning started walking down the Promenade, the sun was shining, the tide rising, the good weather had brought the crowds with it. We left the people behind at Grange Railway Station, after passing under the lines we turned right, followed the main road to the Netherwood Hotel. After ascending the access drive a rough track to the left of the car park guided us to Brown Robin House, a path then passed to the left of the building entering the nature reserve.

With white topped posts to guide us we continued first a gradual ascent along a path sandwiched between fields and woodland, once at the top of the rise we turned right onto a rough track, this climbed to Blawith Hill, after traversing the top of the hill a gap in the wall allowed access to a narrow trod which guided us back to the path junction, we then turned right. Don’t do as we did and descend to an obvious gate, it’s chained and locked, obviously not the right of way, after doubling back we reached a path we should have seen, this descended over limestone scarps onto the main road.

Once on said road we wandered towards Grange, after rounding a bend with views back to Merlewood a finger-post invited us to Hampsfell, this path we followed, first passed a number of cottages then into Eggerslack Wood, with woodland paths under foot we ascended what appeared to be the main trod. After crossing a beck then climbing through a gully the path split, we turned right, we should have gone left, our chosen path guided us along the edge of the woodland a dry stone wall baring our way onto the slopes of Hampsfell.

After picking our way north a while a gate allowed access onto the slopes we were aiming for, we then walked back along the fell side of the wall, once at an obvious path we ascended the hill, arriving at the Hospice amidst a crowd of people. Once the throng had dispersed we hung around, had a brew and soaked up the stunning vistas from the low limestone hill.

Time to head down, we wandered south, no hurry. In front of us a wide grassy ridge, grazed by sheep, a green trod traversed said ridge, we traversed with it, first over an unnamed top, I shall call Spring Bank then to Fell End, here we ran out of hill. We descended through yellow flowering gorse to a stile allowing access to Spring Bank Road (narrow lane), we crossed to enter a field, crossed that to access Grange Fell Road, the long descent over tarmac that followed deposited us back in Grange-over-Sands where we grabbed a late lunch before heading back to the car.

view route map.

home.

Arnside Knott as seen from the Promenade Grange-over-Sands.

Views west along the Promenade.

The Netherwood Hotel stands on the site of a Georgian mansion “Blawith House”, However the history of the Netherwood Hotel as we know it begins in the late 19th century. This was a time when Grange-over-Sands was rapidly evolving from a fishing village to an upmarket seaside resort, thanks to the arrival of the railway in 1857. This was a period when wealthy factory owners from Lancashire and Yorkshire were starting to build luxury villas and holiday by the sea. Piers were constructed to take leisure steamers from Blackpool and Morecambe, all to cater for the increasing number of tourists discovering the micro climate of Grange-over-Sands.