Swinside Stone Circle and Stickle Pike, June 3rd 2010

Another week with the boys in the Lakes. In the aftermath of the shootings in Cumbria yesterday it is unbelievable to think that such a thing could happen in a part of the Lakes that is so quiet. Today we decided we had to visit the Swinside Stone circle as we had never been before. A friend, Ged, was taken there by Derry Brabbs (one of the country's finest landscape photographers and who did the photography for Fellwalking with Wainwright) on a photgraphic workshop, and he recommended it.  So with map in hand we headed off to a small lay by, large enough for a couple of cars, at the start of the path next to Cragg Hall.

Unless you drive over Thwaite Fell southwards you can't actually see the stone cirle from the car.  Apparently its possible to do a circular walk by heading up towards Fenwick, but we decided on the direct assualt.  The walk is very easy going on a path, passing through a field of cows, and over a couple of cattle grids. After a couple of kilometres the circle becomes visible, but it is only when you get up close, that it becomes really impressive. We have been to the Birkrigg Stone Circle many times, but this is much bigger. With views over fells rising to Black Combe its a great place to be on a warm and sunny day.

The cattle grids help to focus the mind. As you can see it requires intense concentration. Once back at the car we headed off for another quick ascent to justify stopping off at a watering hole on the way back to the cottage. 

We decided we would do Stickle Pike in the beautiful and quiet Dunnderdale valley. Driving up the valley from Broughton Mills we stopped off at the top of the pass, just past the start of the path to Seathwaite (and Caw).  Crossing the road we started our ascent, the three of us with Jess our border collie.  There is a small tarn half way up so we stopped for a short while. As usual Jess sloped off over the top of a rocky crag out of view.  The wind was blowing quite hard but the next thing we heard were some really loud shrieks, obviously from Jess. With the wind we couldn't tell where they were coming from so we all started shouting his name. After about 30 seconds the squealing stopped and about 30 seconds later Jess repeared on the path on the far side of the tarn, limping really badly. We thought that was it, so we rested for about 30 mins until his leg appeared slightly better. There was no visible damage. To this day we do not know what happened. He either fell off a cliff face, got trapped in some rock or got a good hiding from some sheep if he was annoying them. We carried on and soon reached the top, with Jess walking much better.  The views from the top are great in all direction on a clear day.  We headed back to the car and to the Manor Arms in Broughton for our well deserved refreshments, with a bag of Pork Scratchings for Jess.

Huntingstile Crag and Dow Bank, Elterwater, February 20th 2010

Having been in the Langdale valley a couple of days earlier and driving back on the Elterwater road I noticed how remarkably quiet it was in and around Elterwater given it was the school holidays. So with that factored in and the Britinnia Inn in Elterwater to replenish any lost fluid after a walk, I decided we should go for a stroll in this area. Our border collie had been to the hairdressers in the morning so we were off to a late start.We parked on the verge of the main road and headed away from Elterwater towards Grasmere. From here you can see Huntingstile Crag and Down Bank, and a nice little ridge walk which can be reached for very little effort. This walk doesn't seem to be on any obvious walking site. In fact we only saw two other groups of people en route. I'm sure that's very different in the summer.

Within a few minutes we were gaining height, having walked across a fairly flat stretch of green in the valley.  From the top of Huntingstile Crag you get views of Grasmere, Loughrigg, Helm Crag, Helvellyn as well as as a glimpse of the Langdale Valley.  Even at this height of only a couple of hundred metres we were in the snow. There was nothing in the valley.  Snow was visible on the peaks in the Langdales also.  From this first cairn there is a pretty obvious route past a small tarn to a couple more peaks which are slightly higher.  You can also see how easy it would be to carry on walking beyond Down Bank to Swirl How. The path is obvious and you stay high up all the way. 

After a couple of snowball fights we headed off Down Bank in a northerly direction and then gradually headed back down into Elterwater on a path that made the water circular. This time cutting across the front of the fells back into the valley. The walk was  about an hour and half in total. Upon our return we headed to the Brittania Inn for a pint from the local Tirrel Brewery. The main bar area is small but cosy. I doubt you fit in as easily on a summer's day as Elterwater is such a popular area.

Blawith Knott, New Years Day - 2010

With there being so much snow and ice this Christmas in the Lakes for our traditional new year's day walk we decided to stay low and go for an old favourite. The Western Blawith Fells (Blawith Knott and Tottlebank Height) are not particularly challenging, but for very little effort you get fantastic views of all of South Lakeland, Black Combe, Great Burney, the Duddon Valley and the coast. Best of all, this beautiful part of the lakes  is pretty much off the main tourist trail (see our trips up Caw as an example).

You can walk for miles and miles on the Blawith fells, in fact all the way to Coniston (even via The Beacon which can be a day out in itself), and somedays not see anybody else at all on the trails.

There are parking places near the foot of Blawith Knott. A small stream coincides with the start of a path, but the ascent is obvious due to tyre tracks left by illegally ridden motorbikes on the fells.

If you see any motorcyclists on the fells, point out to them that they appear to have veered off the road, wait for them to next fall off and then walk all over them, apologising for inadvertantly straying from the path you should have been on.

Looking back from here you get a fantastic view of Black Combe and White Combe. After a 10 minute climb you are soon at the top of the first fell. The path then descends and continues towards the second fell, passing a small tarn (Lang tarn) on the way. The tarn was frozen solid and a great place to have a bit of a mess around with our border collie and the boys. The tarn is small and shallow so is a safe place for a bit of ice skating.


From there, a few footpaths that take you to the top of Tottlebank Height, or you can continue along the main footpath and continue right round the fell until you reach a farm, where you join a track that takes you all the way back to the start. This is a very easy but very enjoyable circular walk. You get fantastic sweeping views as you are on the south west edge of the mountain ranges.

Caw, October 26th 2009

Having done Caw myself a few weeks earlier, I was determined to take the rest of the family (including dog) up.  One of the  reasons is that we can see Caw from our cottage along with Coniston Old Man, Dow Crag, The Beacon, Blawith Knott, Tottlebank Height and Harter Fell and we obviously have to bag all of these. In fact its a challenge set for anyone who stays there over the course of a week.

We set off on the path that is signposted Seathwaite and The Newfield Inn (where we saw our Border Collie pup advertised) on the road from Broughton Mills to Seathwaite. The path starts just after a cattle grid and gate across the road under Stickle Pike. This is a very easy walk until you hit Caw itself where it rises fairly steeply. However, more fun can be had by taking a right path after about 1km up and over the tops of the fells (Broadslack) on the right hand side as you walk towards Caw (which isn't itself yet in view).  There are a couple of disused mines along the route, with sealed entrances to caves.

As you look back you get a good view of Stickle Pike and a very tempting path that rises to the top. After the first set of fells on the right hand side of the path Caw suddenly comes into view as does the Seathwaite valley. We walked up Long Mire, which is almost moor like until we hit an easy to see path up Caw.  The path near the top is less obvious, but all routes upwards lead to the top.

I have done this walk twice this year and only seen 4 people in total.  From the top of Caw you get fantastic views all around - Seathwaite, Harter Fell, Walna Scar, Conistion and back down the Crake Valley. You can see our cottage from the top. Leaving the top to the east, there is another fairly prominent pike visible. We headed for this and from the top took an off piste route down back to join Long Mire in a direction back towards the original path we came on.

For us Broughton-in-Furness is on the way back, so inevitably we stopped off for a well earned refreshment.  The only problem with Broughton, which is a great village, is which of the three excellent pubs to go to.  Today we stopped of at the Manor Arms, which looks out directly onto the square, for a couple of pints of Yates and some pork scratchings.

Coniston Old Man via Levers Water, September 16th 2009

I have mentioned before how much we like Coniston Old Man. Today was a day when I was supposed to be helping out with a bathroom refit, but the weather was so good it was an opportunity to good to miss. So with the excuse of a dog to walk I set off on a 3 hour stroll over and around the Old Man. There are so many different ways to approach this group of fells. This route starts off on the thoroughfare which leads up from the start of the Walna Scar Road, but instead of following the masses up the main route, you take a footpath on the right handside, just after the first sharp turn to the left in the main footpath, at the start of a slightly steeper ascent. 

Once again within seconds there is hardly anyone to be seen coming this way.  The path which is fairly level at this point leads to Levers Water under Brim Fell and follows it round, with Levers water being on your right hand side.

Eventually the path begins to rise, and rise quite steeply in what is a fairly direct climb to the top of Levers Hawse. At the top you instantly get a feel of the size of the range, with views back round Swirl How, over to the coast and Sellafield and to the top of the Old Man himself.  It was so tempting to wander over to Dow Crag, but given our dog was still less than 6 months old, I decided a direct descent down was needed.  So after passing the picnic hamper brigade next to the Cairn (it always amazes me that people walk over such a vast area of the Lakes and then choose to sit down about 2 metres from someone else to have there lunch), we followed the main path for a couple of hundred meters before jumping off down one of the paths to the right hand side that leads to one of the quarries.  Once again, no one to be seen. Bliss.

Eventually the path joins up with the tracks up from the Walna Scar road and back to the car.  Just time for a quick pint of the Coniston Brewing Company Special Oatmeal Stout at the Black Bull Inn before heading back to the cottage from my dog walk...

The Langdale Pikes, April 15th 2009

Having walked with the boys for over 8 hours a couple of days ago in glorious sunshine, today was going to be have to be something special to match it.  So, what better place to go to than the beautiful Langdale Valley.  We drove into the valley via Little Langdale. This is a bit of a longer route but you get great views of the Langdale valley and Crinkle Craggs this way.  As usual, parking was tight up near the Dungeon Ghyll Hotel so we headed back in the direction of Chapel style for a kilometere or so to park up (for free!).

We have been up the Langdales a number of times, mostly up via Pavey Ark, but few times all the way up the Mickledon Valley, which forms part of the Cumbrian Way.
The way up is gentle, but quite long.  It was very tempting to turn left up Bow Fell, as the flat valley turned into a bit more of a climb.  But we were determined to stick to our plan and head up the Langdales, saving Bow Fell and Crinkle Crags for another day.  The path follows the stream up to Black Crag, with the stream to the right and after a while turns into a moor like landscape.  Once Pike of Stickle comes into view its a case of making a beeline for it across what was today particularly boggy ground.  The climb up the Stickle is the most challenging part of the route, particularly if you go for one of the least obvious routes. From here its down again before the climb up to the slighly higher Harrison's Stickle. Both these peaks provide splendid views of the valley and are as dramatic down as the view is up from ground level.  From the top of Harrison Stickle there are a number of ways down. We chose the route that has Stickle Tarn on the left, following a fairly steep but easy path down to the tarn itself. 

There are paths either side of the stream flowing from the tarn back down into the valley.  The one on the right hand side was in repair much of the way down, so we ended up hopping from one side of the stream to the other.  The descent is much quicker than the long flat route in the Mickledon Valley, but its good to do both so this becomes a circular walk. Inevitably at the bottom there was time to reflect on the day with a swift pint and some pork scratchings sitting outside the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel Walker's bar. We weren't the only ones....

Helm Crag, April 11th 2009

This walk was a difficult walk for us as it was our first walk since our 16 year old Rough Collie was put to sleep earlier in the month. We knew before we set off that walking in the Lakes would not be the same without our dog, even though he had missed the last few walks due to old age. You simply get used to them being there, and its hard, very hard, when they are not.

 

Once again though we had wonderful weather for a walk up Helm Crag. We parked on the verge on the main road as Grasmere is always jampacked with cars.  A brisk walk towards the village and then a left after a bridge takes you onto a footpath that follows the stream until it rejoins the road that heads up the Easdale valley. Ahead lies Helm Crag, in all its glory, with a lovely ridge way walk over Gibson's Knott and Pike of Carrs. After a shortish walk along the road, we took a right turn to start our walk up the crag.  The walk up provides superb views back over Grasmere water and Loufrigg fell. 

At the top the boys scrambled up the Howitzer, which looks nothing from ground level, but pretty substantial when close up.  From the top, you get a good view down the Dunmail valley. We carried along the ridge walk at the top before decending down a path into the Easdale valley, where there is a lovely walk which follows the stream back down the valley back into Grasmere.  One thing we all agreed was that we needed to get another dog, as something was missing from the whole experience.  We knew what breed we wanted, but the challenge would be finding one (and a puppy this time), as our previous dog was reared elsewhere and came with some difficult habits.