A Description taken from another walk

The area between Arnside and Silverdale on the eastern edge of Morecambe Bay is a veritable walker's paradise. Topographically speaking, the area is a rocky limestone peninsula, for the most part heavily wooded. Formerly it was surrounded by the sands of Morecambe Bay on the one side and by marshes and mosses on the other, with frequent incursions by the sea up the connecting valleys. Bypassed by the traditional 'oversands' route from Lancaster, the Arnside/Silverdale area long remained wild and remote, an unspoilt rural backwater quite unknown to the world before being 'discovered' by the novelist Mrs Gaskell in the last century. Mrs Gaskell lived for long periods at Lindeth Tower and she was one of the first people to be sold on the beauties of the area. Many others have followed in her wake. Eaves Wood belongs to the National Trust, who aquired it in sections over a number of years. The woodland seclusion is complete and unbroken, and you have to find your way around this leafy maze with care.

Eaves Wood, like its cousin Eggerslack Wood across the sands at Grange, is a wood characterised by limestone scars and pavements, with their associated clints and grykes. As one familiar with the windswept and open limestone country of the Dales I find this heavily-wooded landscape highly unusual, though no doubt much of the Dales with which I am so familiar would once in fact, have looked much like this, for that landscape is the man-made product of centuries of deforestation by farmers.

At Eaves Wood the whole hillside consists largely of ancient and undisturbed woodlands. The bare limestone with its thin soil is home to numerous yew trees, while deeper soils support oak and lime trees. There is also ash, beech, birch, hazel,larch, pine, hawthorn and holly (Not to mention areas of grass and heather.) The limestone is also of interest, though after heavy rain its smooth pavements can become a slimy, mossy slither for the unwary. In wet weather you should proceed with care.

From the car park our walk passes behind Woodlands, the former residence of Mr. Dickins (who donated much of his land to the National Trust in 1929 and on his death in 1949)passing close by the water tanks which originally supplied the house and which were fed from a spring higher up the hillside. A further reminder of the original ownership of the woods appears higher up the hill, when we encounter the stone kerbs and steps which lead to the summit of King William's Hill, where we can still make out the hexagonal foundations Mr. Dickin's Gazebo, unfortunately well past being saved by the present interest in folly preservation. It was reputely erected around 1830 in honour of the accession of William IV, after whom the hill was presumably named.

Descending the steps back to the main path, we very quickly reach the summit of Castlebarrow and our chief objective- The Pepperpot. The summit of Castlebarrow stands at over 250 feet above sea level, but being largely backed by dense woodland its only real prospect is to the south-east, where we have a bird's eye view over Silverdale, which lies immediately below us. Further afield however there are other treats. If the weather is really clear, The Ashton Memorial and Blackpool Tower should also be in view, along with the great 'box' of Heysham Power Station and the distant summit of Clougha Pike. Looking towards Yorkshire the view is dominated by the table-topped summit of distant Ingleborough, and last, but by no means least, there is the southern part of Morecambe Bay, glittering in the sunshine.

The Pepperpot (originally known as the Pepperbox) is a circular roughstone tower, about twenty feet high with a conical roof. It was built at the instigation of the Hebden family, who then owned Castlebarrow; the builder being a local man by the name of Mr. Bowskill. Its purpose (your average folly builder's excuse) was to commemorate the golden jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. Apparently there was once a plaque telling the story of the monument, but this fell prey to vandals long ago and was never replaced. During the Great War, soldiers were billeted at nearby Bleasdale House, a Red Cross hospital, and it is said that they planned to build a 'Salt Cellar' to keep the Pepperpot company, though nothing was ever done. In 1977 the idea was mooted again, this time the silver jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II being the proferred excuse, but nothing materialised, and we must live in hope of any future efforts. From Castlebarrow our route, frequented by walkers, caravanners, and rough- spoken men with dogs, deerstalkers and uncovered shotguns, proceeds towards the caravan site. Proceeding around the caravan site we eventually descend to Arnside Tower. This picturesque ruin, standing on the saddle of land between Castlebarrow and nearby Arnside Knott with its steep forbidding screes (locally called 'shilla') has a commanding, dominating presence that was no doubt intentional. Arnside Tower was a defensive structure, and this is reflected in the cunning way in which it was sited, with sea on one side and flat marshes on the other. It seems possible that at one time it could have had the sea on both sides, which would have made it well-nigh unassailable! It was built by the De Broughton family around 1340, and was damaged by fire in 1602. It was restored and survived intact until the end of the seventeenth century, after which it began its steady deterioration. In 1815 it was sold to Daniel Wilson of Dallam, and in 1884 a great storm felled one corner of it. Today it is little more than a shell, although it still retains its fireplaces and sections of newel staircases.

A pele tower was not a great castle or garrison filled with soldiers. It was essentially a home - a tower house which could, if required, be quickly transformed to withstand a sudden attack. Arnside Tower, along with its neighbours at Hazelslack, Borwick, Beetham, Levens, Sizergh and Wraysholme across the sands (see Kirkhead Tower walk), were all built with one purpose in mind - protection from the Scots. Throughout the Middle Ages the Scots were a perpetual threat to the area, frequently invading, killing and looting. Arnside Tower was unusual in that it had four storeys (most peles had three). The ground floor contained store rooms and a dairy, while steps led up to the entrance, which was on the first floor. Fireplaces and garde robes (latrines) were built into the thickness of the wall. In its heyday a wooden stockade would have been built on the hillside around the tower. This was known as the 'Barmkin', and was an enclosure-cum-refuge for cattle and stock.