Sizergh Castle in April and the garden is beginning to stir.
A typical day for us at Sizergh is to arrive at the Car Park, as NT members we still have to get a parking ticket but there’s no charge. We then have a coffee and perhaps a light bite before looking round the shop and going on a walk.(continued below)
The walks can be there and back or round in a circle. We favour the walk to St John’s Church at Helsingham, such a simple church, silence reigns, use your card to make a donation. The walk surface has been improved this year. There’s a short but fairly steep climb on a concrete track before it reverts to a gravelly path going to the church.
In front of the church is the wide Lyth Valley with a very flat bottom cut by straight narrow lanes. Over the left is Morecambe Bay, a few miles away, and the River Kent with its railway viaduct at Arnside, better seen with binoculars or a telephoto lens. Across the valley are the peaks of the Lake District.
Turn back making a 2 miles walk or carry on making a 4 to 5 mile walk. Carrying on is always our choice. Along the ‘road’ to the cattle grid then left down a very steep and long slope to Brigsteer and it’s pub. Good views and quiet. Turning left at Brigsteer along the valley side with the steep side to the left and the valley to the right.
Past Brigsteer you can turn off opposite a farm and take a woodland route or go along the lane. The lane is a good option as there is a cottage with very bright floral displays in summer.
On through a wood until you reach more fields when you turn left and head through the fields to Sizergh. There are many walking options. Including a walk to Levens Hall, circular or there and back.
Back at Sizergh it’s lunchtime. Then a walk round the garden and occasionally a viewing of the house. As NT members it’s free entry.
Last stop is the shop. Although NT shops are very similar. Sizergh has home grown apples in autumn and sometimes honey.
It’s a good easy to find place. Nearby is Kendal which is a nice town to visit if you nosey about off the main street. It has a good art gallery too, Abbot Hall, pay to enter. Also nearby is Levens Hall for it’s famous topiary. You might carry on for a few miles to the Lakeland Motor Museum or the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway Holker Hall or a bit north to Blackwell House, near Bowness.