Serpentine Woods looks over Kendal towards the town and the castle.
A sculpture trail was placed in Serpentine Woods during the 1970s, but fell into decay. A new trail was opened in 2007. It has been given a refresh in 2023. The woods were originally grazing land and part of Kendal Fell. The area was historically called Dob Frear, which is supposedly Old Norse for Free Land. The wood has long been open to the public.
The council have asked that I point out that there is the golf course to the West and North and a nature conservation area to the North. If you plan on taking in a few of the nearby Roboes’ caches, or heading over to Cunswick scar, Please stick to the marked paths
Before you start, I want you to have a little look into the history of the woods. So your first clue is an armchair (or library?) clue. In what year was the summerhouse within the wood built? The answer may also be available at the summerhouse itself. (N54 19.672 W002 45.267)
S=first digit + last digit Check – add all numbers to get 15
There’s plenty of parking in Kendal town centre, but you’ll have to climb Beast Banks, and you might never find your way back out of the one-way system.
The coordinates given are approximate due to the tree cover. It should be obvious what you are looking for, so accuracy isn’t that important. If you want a little extra help, a guide to the alphabet trail is available at the Kendal Tourist Information Centre (N54 19.614 W002 44.842).
The letters used for each clue correspond to the initial letter of the relevant sculpture.
Some may be high.
Some may be low.
Others may be obvious,
Some not quite so.
Your starting point is The Tram (N54 19.724 W002 45.201). This is a very unusual name, especially as Kendal never had trams. I’ve tried to discover something of the Etymology of the name. The first record is of ‘Tram Close’ a small parcel of land sold in 1746.
A short distance Northwest of here is an old mint cake quarry, which fell out of use following the invention of a synthetic alternative that was much cheaper to produce. The Quiggins factory at the foot of Beast Banks is on the site of the original mint cake refinery. I suspect what is now the bridleway may have been a tramway to get the raw cake down to the refinery. However, there is no evidence for this tramway other than the name and the route of the bridleway.*
Go through the gate. You’ll see a large seed.
How many letters in the plant this will grow into? A
N54 19.721 W002 45.209
Follow the path to a large tree at a junction of paths.
How many bolts hold the creature to the tree? C
N54 19.724 W002 45.269
Go round to the left. Continue past the little folk’s swimming pool.
How many vertical parts? G
N54 19.715 W002 45.342
Double-back along the higher path. Keep looking all around.
How many leaves? I
N54 19.736 W002 45.354
Carry on to the end of this path and turn left.
How many legs on this bench? L
N54 19.792 W002 45.381
How many Magpies? M
N54 19.797 W002 45.416
Follow the path, past the Nest by GCNQQ9, Wainwright’s Kendal View.
Continue to follow the path round to the left, past a wise old bird. Rest your weary feet on the Pheasant if you so wish. Watch out for the Rat and the Spider. Go round to the left and through the Tunnel to a junction of lots of paths.
If its raining you could stay dry here under a tree that sounds just like this letter, possibly. How many radial arms? U
N54 19.705 W002 45.382
Take the right hand path – the least obvious path.
How many petals? V
N 54 19.676 W002 45.387
Time for a musical interlude.
How many notes on the instrument? X
N 54 19.675 W002 45.334
The cache is at:
N54 19.U(X+M)(C+G)
W002 45.ASV
A quick check that you’ve got the right numbers:
A+C+G+I+S = 24
L+M+U+V+X = 26
The item referred to in the clue is nearby, but the clue is intended to give a little help as the gps is likely to be a bit out with the tree cover. The cache coordinates were averaged over two three-minute sessions, so should be good.
The summerhouse referred to in the armchair clue is just down the steps to the north of X, and turn right. (N54 19.672 W002 45.267)
Following this path past the summerhouse will bring you out of the woods at the top of Serpentine Road. Turn left along the road to get back to The Tram. Alternatively, explore the woods some more – you’ll soon come to a familiar landmark.
*Some of this may not be strictly accurate