Many parts of north Lancashire are quietly beautiful and are often overlooked by tourists as they race past to get to the Lake District. Warton Crag is one of these areas and today we chose to go for a very short, very quiet walk there.
The crag is a flat-topped limestone hill and is also home to a wide range of interesting plants - hence the 'Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty' tag.
Before walking up the crag we visited Warton Old Rectory, the ruins of the original 14th century rectory which became one of the wealthiest rectories in the diocese of York. This fine antiquity is tucked away behind the main street of this sleepy village and no-one would guess that, 600 years ago, this was such a significant place.
We then started our walk. Having parked on Coach Road we took the well trodden path and immediately started a steep climb. After a couple of minutes we encountered a woman with a pained expression running at full speed towards us - and then darting into the woods at the last minute. It was a bit like a scene off Midsomer Murders and we immediately dubbed her 'the mad woman of the woods'.
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| The moss-covered rocks and walls made an odd kind of topiary |
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| Unusual flowers carpeted the woodland floor |
As we made our way up to the top of the crag we both admired the ancient woods with little flowers everywhere and moss covered stone walls. About 20 minutes later we emerged from the dense woods and the Sun started to shine. We took a right turn and started our way back to the car.
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| Emerging into the light |
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| Pretty little Speedwell flowers were everywhere |
All in all it was only an hour's walk but no less magical for all that. I'm sure that as the Lake District becomes more congested during the summer months, we'll find ourselves coming to quiet corners like this one to escape the crowds quite often.
