We are going to start this walk on London Street, I grew up at the end of town and as a child was fascinated by the park, and the Lodges in front of us. The Lodges were designed by Decimus Burton and were his workplace whilst his own house was being constructed. What better place to be than what was supposed to be the central part of the town? The cottages were designed to be used and have been refurbished a few times including recently but aren’t home to any businesses at the moment.
The Lodges were built in 1841 whereas the park wall wasn’t finished till the 1860s. The Lodges share a single roof and above the tree line floats the Mount Pavilion, this isn’t the original but we will get to that later. We are going to go through the entrance between the lodges and then take a left to climb up the Hill. When we are about halfway up we are unfortunately going down again to the shelters.
Now sit in the shelter and take a sketch of the Marine Hall and Gardens across the way note how much of the sea you can see. And look up at the Pavilion. We are going to walk to past the second shelter and then far corner gate before walking back up the Mount to the Pavilion. From here look out and make a second sketch looking out to sea past the Marine Hall and Gardens, on a clear day here you will be able to see the Lake District and Barrow-in-Furness out towards the horizon. How much difference does the mount make to the view?
The Mount Pavilion itself was built in the early 1904 replacing a wooden structure designed by Decimus Burton. The clock tower inside is a dedicated War Memorial for the First World War.
We are now going to follow the path back down to the Cottages and complete the circular walk.