Written on 05/06/21 by Paul Oldham

The Missing Toposcope

Just to the west of Kendal is a precipitous limestone escarpment which looks out westwards over the Lyth Valley beyond. This is Scout Scar and from the Underbarrow Road it is a short and excellent stroll, or an unhurried amble which we describe in our walk A Scout Scar Amble.

On the scar there is a shelter known as The Mushroom which provides a welcome place for a sit down out of the weather. It certainly did on the day that we were researching that walk.

The Mushroom, Scout Scar
The Mushroom

On the inside of The Mushroom the bottom lip of the roof was a toposcope that told you what you were looking at. You can see it above and here it is when viewed from the inside:

Inside the Mushroom, Scout Scar
The Mushroom toposcope

... and here's a close up so you can see it more clearly:

Mushroom Toposcope close up, Scout Scar

You'll notice we're using the past tense above and that's because we had a report this week from one of our visitors who had done the walk and they had found that although The Mushroom is still there the toposcope has gone.

Who's taken it and why isn't clear but asking around it seems to have been gone for at least 18 months. It doesn't seem like an obvious thing to steal so we're wondering if it's been taken away to be restored as it was suffering a bit from age.

Have you heard anything about its fate? If you have please let us know.

We just hope it's not gone for good.


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