What's in a name?

There's been a bit of a kerfuffle around here over the past week or so on account of the fact that two of our local radio stations have been swallowed up by a big corporation and have consequently changed their names.  The Bay is now Heart and Lakeland Radio is now Smooth.  I'm pretty sad about it to be honest as they just don't feel local anymore.  When I was driving home up the M6 I used to get excited around about Preston as I jabbed at the radio dial trying to find The Bay to welcome me home - I can listen to Heart anywhere these days but I could only listen to The Bay at home.  It got me thinking about names and how important they are to us, so here are a few stories behind the names of local landmarks which we've discovered as we've researched our books.

Scafell Pike

Heading out to Scafell Pike

It's more the pronunciation of this which causes the problem with most folks either in the Scawfell or Scarfell camps, though there are plenty of Scaffel fans too.  The original name comes from ancient Norse and translates as "Bald Summit" and for our 50 Gems of Cumbria book we tracked down a couple of experts in ancient Norse to hear how it should be pronounced - but if you want to know what
they had to say then you'll have to read the book!  What I can tell you is that up until the 1800's the term "Scawfell" (as it was then written) referred to a collection of 4 peaks in the general area, including what is now known as Scafell Pike - although that name didn't really begin to catch on until the early 1900's.

Jenny Brown's Point

This is a popular spot near Silverdale with an equally popular story surrounding its name.  Local folklore tells us that it is named after a nanny who rescued the children in her charge from drowning at that spot.  Chances are this isn't the case and there's no evidence to back up the story,  What we do know is that in the 1600's a woman named Jenny Brown was named as a beneficiary in a will and lived in a house in the area, but it's still not clear why the point is named after her.  There's also a lot of debate as to what purpose the chimney served; Morecambe Bay Partnership are doing a lot of archaeological work to get to the bottom of that one and you can follow their updates here.

Borrowdale

Bat Cave?

There are at least three Borrowdale's in Cumbria and probably more - the name means "valley with fort" so if you find a Borrowdale you'll most likely find the remains of a fort somewhere nearby.  We've written many times about "the other Borrowdale" just north of Kendal (Kendal = Kent Dale) which has the remains of a Roman fort buried under a field at the far end of the valley.  It is a beautifully deserted place to walk just about any time of the year although I have my suspicions that the Bat Cave may be nearby...

Haggs Wood

The "Kirk" in Kirkby Lonsdale

There are a lot of Haggs in Cumbria, and I'm not being rude.  A "hagg" or "hag" was the name given to a bunch of fodder, typically holly, which was fed to sheep over the winter.  Apparently if you take the branches higher up they're not so prickly and the sheep don't mind them.  The word "holly" often evolved into "Hollins" and explains the number of "Hollins Farms" in the region.

Kirkby

Not surprising that there's loads of these too as it means "village with a church" - Kirkby Lonsdale, Kirkby Stephen and Kirkby-in-Furness (Furness means "rump shaped headland" so now you know!)  Kirk is the "church" part and Kirkstone Pass got its name from a large stone towards the top which looks like a church steeple are you approach - you'll probably need to drive over 2 or 3 times before you spot the stone but once you spot it, it's easy to see how it got its name.

There are TONS of interesting and unusual facts crammed into our books - buy them, read them, and impress your friends with all the things you know. Click the pic to find out more & order yours.  😀

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Legless in the Lakes (Day 3)

If there's one thing I enjoy in this world it's proving my mother wrong - I mean who doesn't? She reckons I never listen to a word anyone says but today is proof that I do.  Sometimes.  Yesterday the lovely Jill Durnford left a comment suggesting we try visiting the chocolate shop & cafe in Orton before moving on to Kirkby Stephen and this morning that's exactly what we did.  I spent the entire time in an incredibly good mood labouring under the mistaken impression that it meant I could avoid a garden centre today.  Turns out I was wrong, but in a good way.

Before

We'd never been to Orton before, but we had been close.  I can't believe that on several occasions in the past I've missed the large "Chocolate Factory This Way" sign at the Tebay exit on the M6, I knew the fells were distracting but seriously, I may need an eye test.  Orton is incredibly easy to find if, unlike me, you pay attention to your surroundings.  It's only a few miles from the M6 along a delightfully roller coaster style road - the sort where you can't resist shouting "weeeeeeee" as you zoom up and down the hills, much to the annoyance of your passengers, though I find it's the part where I take my hands of the wheel and wave them daringly in the air as we crest each summit which really freaks them out.

Very soon after.

Orton is a very typically pretty little Cumbrian village.  It has the huge benefit of no parking charges, or traffic wardens (apparently), though that does mean there tends to be a bit of a free for all for any available space.  We visited on a soggy Tuesday morning, heaven knows what it's like on a sunny bank holiday.  The chocolate factory is easy to find as it's slap bang in the centre of the village in what was once the old school;  I'm sure many of the local children are still frustrated that they're missing out on being educated in a chocolate factory.  There's not a massive amount to see and do, and there are disappointingly few oompah loompahs, but there is a very pleasant shop and a wonderful cafe which serves hot chocolate so delightful it was barely on the table before it was devoured.  Once our bellies and our bags were well and truly stuffed with chocolate we rolled out of the shop and headed for Kirkby Stephen.

Moon setting over deer in a park near Beetham.
Taken a few days before today's visit.

I think it's fair to say we didn't see the town at it's best; the dull grey misery of the morning was punctuated only by the occasional torrential downpour, not ideal conditions for sightseeing.  We had a mooch around the Emporium and a brief wander along the high street before we decided to call it quits and head for another garden centre.  This time our horticultural trail took us south to Beetham Nurseries in, well, Beetham.  We'd stopped there briefly in the summer to pick up a piece for our hosepipe and I could have sworn I spotted some plants out of the corner of my eye, so our hopes were high.  We weren't disappointed;  this time the chrissy decs etc. were slotted in around real gardening stuff rather than the other way around and we passed a fun half hour poking around the main shopping area before making a dash for it across the outdoor plants section to the cafe.  It had been nearly 90 minutes since our previous drink so things were getting desperate.  Replete, we took one last turn around the shop where I purchased some fine Parmesan biscuits (an essential addition to any garden) and headed for home.

For someone who is usually irritatingly well organised I'm rather enjoying this "last minute, let's see what someone suggests" approach to sightseeing.  We've got a couple of ideas lined up for the next 3 days, but I am wide open to other ideas.  Especially if they don't involve garden centres.