The complete guide to the Lake District by Trail magazine

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

The complete guide to the

Lake District A SPECTACUL AR COLLECTION OF HILLWALKS , CHALLENGES AND SECRET PL ACES IN ENGL AND’S MOUNTAIN PAR ADISE

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE LAKE DISTRICT

100

pages of adventure featuring the Trail Lakeland Haute Route PLUS Wainwrights tick-list!

Be inspired... From short walks to epic expeditions, discover one of Britain’s most incredible landscapes

FROM THE MAKERS OF £6.99

MAGAZINE

CONTENTS

Welcome he Lake District is many things to many people. To most is it a place of escape – a fairytale landscape of fells and fresh water locked away in the far north-west of England, offering the perfect antidote to lives dominated by busy jobs. But perhaps it is to walkers that the Lake District means most. Lace up a pair of boots, and this entire region opens up

before you: every contour of England’s highest ground laid bare for you to discover. You can pose on its summits, tiptoe its ridgelines, camp in its valleys, swim in its streams and scramble its scree slopes – and there will always be plenty left over for next time. The beauty of the scenery will draw you here, but it’s the adventure that will keep pulling you back.

This special 100-page issue, crafted for you by the makers of Trail magazine, is a celebration of Lakeland’s greatest walking adventures. From thrilling srambles to multi-day epics and from summer wild camps to frosty winter expeditions, it will take you on a grand tour of Great Britain’s most visited National Park. So, welcome! We hope you enjoy the journey...

6 INTRODUCTION

24 HELM CRAG

60 THE WAINWRIGHTS

What makes the Lake District so special?

The one fell Wainwright didn’t dare climb!

10 THE LANGDALE SKYLINE

28 JACK’S RAKE

All 214 of Alfred Wainwright’s famous fells in alphabetical order, for you to tick off

A lap of Lakeland’s loveliest valley, with a wild camp thrown in for good measure

A tricky scramble up a ‘rocky drainpipe’

64 THE EASTERN FELLS

14 KENTMERE HORSESHOE

32 SHARP EDGE

Ever thought about climbing 35 peaks in a weekend? It’s even harder than it sounds!

The nerve-jangling way up Blencathra.

A hidden slice of hillwalking perfection

18 GREAT GABLE Secret ridges, classic climbs and Britain’s top view: is this the peak with everything?

22 FIVE STUNNING RIDGES A fine selection of airy Lakeland arêtes...

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CO M P L E T E G U I D E TO T H E L A K E S

36 THE GOLDEN MILE Pillar’s High Level Route: described as the most adventurous mile of path in Lakeland

40 A NIGHT ON ‘THE ROCK’

70 COLD DAY IN COLEDALE To the north-west, for a chilly winter wander with heart-warming views

74 LAKES HAUTE ROUTE

Possibly the craziest place to bivvy – ever!

Can you handle 6 days, 73 miles and over 200 mountains? Then you’re in for a treat

44 THE UNDERDOGS

84 LIFE ON A MOUNTAIN

There’s much more to the Wasdale Valley than Scafell Pike and Great Gable...

Film-maker Terry Abraham shares his memories from 18 months on Scafell Pike

48 FIVE TOP HORSESHOES

90 SCAFELL PIKE

From Ennerdale to Fairfield and Deepdale to Newlands, you need to do these walks.

A journey to the roof of England via the thrilling rocky shelf of the ‘Corridor Route’

50 THE GREAT INDOORS

92 HELVELLYN

Torrential rain, damp caves and drafty bothies – what’s not to like?

If it’s exposure you’re looking for, look no further than Striding and Swirral Edges

54 A ROOM WITH A VIEW

94 THE CONISTON FELLS

Where’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever woken up? Trust us, this is better...

The south-eastern corner of Lakeland is very busy, but it’s popular for a reason

56 LAKELAND TIMEWALK

96 TUBULAR FELLS

Ever wondered what’s beneath your walking boots? Time for a history lesson

The London Underground meets the Lakes: a mountain map with a difference.

READ THIS! Hillwalking and scrambling can be dangerous: many of the adventures featured here take you into high places where warm, waterproof clothing, sturdy walking boots, navigation skills and familiarity with mountain terrain are essential. If you are heading into snow you must have ice axe, crampons and the skills to use them. And always take a map, compass and fully-charged phone. Trail magazine and lfto.com are good sources of information.

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64 50 92

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ORDNANCE SURVEY MAPPING ÂŠ CROWN COPYRIGHT

Walkin

Langdale

Langdale’s Pikes – Harrison Stickle (left) and Pike of Stickle (centre) – offer spectacular views of the Central Fells. They’re popular and busy, but with very good reason.

g the

Langdale

skyline WHAT MAKES L ANGDALE THE MOST LOVED VALLE Y IN THE L AKES? AN ODYSSE Y OF MOUNTAINS , MOORL AND, SHARP ROCKS AND SCREE, THAT’S WHAT… Words Dan Aspel Photographs Tom Bailey

he route we’re about to take you on is one of the very finest in the Lakes. It takes in the cool, glassy beauty of Stickle Tarn, the sky-bound turrets of the Langdale Pikes, the burning serenity of Martcrag Moor, the looming jaggedness of Bowfell and the plateaued wilderness of Crinkle Crags. To you, right now, these may be just names. But walk this route and they’ll spark memories that burn in your mind forever. Our visit to this mountainous wonderland starts at the National Trust car park at the base of Stickle Ghyll, deep in the Langdale valley. Soon we’re stalking up the steep and fast-flowing sides of the ghyll. The 400m rise is accompanied by cold, crystalclear waters and a stout path carrying the imprints of countless tramping boots. There’s a fair degree of leapfrogging going on as we wander past day walkers, scramblers, schoolkids and the like. Nobody’s carrying the 45 litre packs we’re strapped to

Great Gable: EN

AL E

Crag

Westmorland Cairn looks out over Wast Water and is the (superior) inverse of officially Britain’s Favourite View, as voted by viewers in an ITV poll.

ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAP BY JEREMY ASHCROFT

Kern Knotts is one of Gable’s classic climbing crags, with some cracking routes from V Diff up to E4.

‛ es

s Mo

1 Finger

5 3 Hole (cave)

DALE S A 1/4 Kilometre

START/ FINISH

Great Gable

Take the Climbers’ Traverse path, and The Sphinx Rock will appear above you. Was it really carved by natural forces?

Ga ble Be ck

1/4 Mile

ll Beck

Climbers’ Traverse route

N E

Great Gable

mountain s

masterpiece Seathwaite

High on Gable Crag is the remains of an old smuggler’s hut. It isn’t walkeraccessible, and was thought lost – until Trail rediscovered it in 2005!

Words Hanna Lindon Photographs Tom Bailey

E L A

IT’S THE SYMBOL OF THE NATIONAL PARK , HOME TO OUR COUNTRY ’S FAVOURITE VIEW AND THE BIRTHPL ACE OF BRITISH ROCK- CLIMBING . INTRODUCING THE MIGHT Y GREAT GABLE…

Styhead

Keen scramblers shouldn’t miss out on ‘threading’ Napes Needle.

ry picking one mountain to encapsulate everything that’s fabulous about the British hills. Go on, give it a go. Would it be Snowdon? Great ridge-walks and a cracking view, granted; but that train is a real turn-off. How about Tryfan? It’s a shapely old rascal; shame the summit is scramblers-only territory. But Great Gable... It’s the symbol of the Lake District National Park and the seat of our country’s ‘Favourite View’. Its history reads like a book of children’s fairytales: dirty smugglers, daring feats and ghost stories. Most of all it’s a hot-bed of multi-activity adventure. You could spend days here, following a treasure trail of mountain discovery, and still barely have skimmed the cream off the top. But we had just one day to check it out for ourselves – and it called for some very original route planning. We started with a treasure map of Gable, penning must-sees onto the chart and joining up the dots. These off-beat tactics produced a Pacmanshaped route, which suited our purposes down to the ground. It started, as any whistle-stop tour of Great Gable should, from Wasdale. The mountain only takes on its public persona when viewed this way, across Wast Water. From here it’s a clear pyramid; from all other directions it’s a bulbous beast of a hill that Wainwright once described as “a massive spare-cut dome”. One of the last buildings at the end of a long, windy rural road, the Wasdale Head Inn has been mediating between travellers and the mountains for more than 200 years. Its first landlord was the fell guide and raconteur ‘Auld’ Will Ritson, famous for being the most ludicrous tale-spinner that the Lake District has ever seen. They still run a ‘World’s Biggest Liar’ competition in his honour at nearby Santon Bridge, but nowadays the inn’s landlord wouldn’t

stunning ridges of Lakeland A SHARP RIDGELINE CAN TURN A GOOD MOUNTAIN DAY INTO A GREAT ONE. THESE FIVE MAY NOT BE THE MOST FAMOUS IN THE L AKES , BUT THE Y MIGHT JUST BE THE BEST.

1 EAST RIDGE NETHERMOST PIKE

Very steep and exposed at the top, this is a ridge for explorers, in that it takes a bit of exploration to even access. The way is shut by high climbers’ buttresses, principally Eagle Crag, lending an air of the forbidden to the proceedings. There are no paths into Ruthwaite Cove, which is the way in, before you feel your way onto a rocky shelf around and onto the east ridge. While technically no more than a Grade 1 scramble, the ridge requires care and balance; you’ll have to dig your ice axe in if it’s snowy.

Thrill factor: 4/5 Could I hack it? This is a steep and exciting ridge that requires a few scrambling moves. It finishes on a narrow arête, which is best avoided in bad weather. Not as long as Striding Edge, but equally as dramatic.

2 NORTH RIDGE HOPEGILL HEAD

3 LONGSIDE EDGE SKIDDAW

Thrill factor: 4/5 Could I hack it? Most of this route is classic fellwalking, but close to the summit you’ll encounter plenty of naked rock. The final section involves a rock pavement, followed by ‘The Notch’ and a wonderful thin arête.

Thrill factor: 3/5 Could I hack it? Yes – this is not a scrambling route, and is deceptively manageable, being pleasently airy rather than precarious. Ascending from the lakeside at Bassenthwaite makes for an appealing start.

Skiddaw is thought of by many who gaze up at its stately prescence above Keswick as being the gentle giant of the Lakes – grand, proud and... boring. However, this is nonsense when you consider two things: firstly that Skiddaw’s vista is, frankly, staggering. It’s probably the best mountain-top aspect the Lake District has to offer, being tall, fringe and perfectly placed to look straight down the throats of several of the District’s most celebrated mountain horseshoes. Skiddaw’s visibilitiy from most parts of the Lakes tells you all you need to know about the amount you can see from it. As for the best way up, the aesthetically tremendous, curling limb of Longside Edge is a superb route for those who like their ridges long and just the right side of edgy.

Hopegill Head is often ignored: an afterthought as a part of the Coledale Horseshoe. Sadly, to lump Hopegill Head in with this horseshoe is to miss its most glorious attribute: the ascent of its dramatic north ridge. In its higher reaches, the crumbling slates of Hobcarton Crag give an impression of deep shadow beneath this ridge, which ascends from Lorton and takes in Ladyside Pike. En route the dark reaches of Hope Gill open to the right and the lush greenery of Hobcarton Valley – home to the only English examples of the red alpine catchfly – to the left. From Ladyside Pike the arête narrows into an exposed series of rocky slabs above exhilarating drops before opening out onto a hugely satisfying, compact summit – a true peak.

4 STEEL EDGE WETHERLAM

5 HALL’S FELL RIDGE BLENCATHRA

Thrill factor: 3/5 Could I hack it? The beauty of this ridge is the setting, rather than the exposure. It sits just below Grade 1 scrambling, with a wide crest to ascend while you admire the huge views. A real hillwalking favourite.

Thrill factor: 5/5 Could I hack it? A steep pull up grassy slopes before you reach a long, snaking ridgeline of shattered rock. You can avoid all of the tougher moves if you stick to the obvious footpath, but where’s the fun in that?

One of the Lakes’ most atmospheric fells, Wetherlam is a hill of contrasts: it’s pitted with the relics of industry, yet boasts views of the Lakes’ most iconic landscapes. Steel Edge is its most entertaining route: an elegant chevron of contours that ascends into shattered rock steps, with hands-on moves and airy positions. But it’s deceptively doable for a walker and makes a superb way up this underrated fell. Once on top the onward routes are fantastic: you can either descend the way you came up, head down into the village of Coniston or take a long, rambling detour over the popular climbing destination of Dow Crag.

Hall’s Fell Ridge is the most under-rated nerve-jingler of Lakeland. Nearly everyone who finds themselves on its bare, broken crest has a moment of shock at just how grown-up and serious it feels on a fell where most attention is deflected towards Sharp Edge. Deep drops on either side and a surprisingly sustained stretch of exciting rock to grapple with make this an underrated gem for adventurous walkers with a fondness for getting their hands on rock. Ascending directly to Blencathra’s summit, Hall’s Fell Ridge may only be the second most exciting way up Blencathra, but it’s very much a force of its own.

CO M P L E T E G U I D E TO T H E L A K E S

LAKELAND CHALLENGES

Jack’s IT’S WIDELY REGARDED AS THE DIVIDING LINE BET WEEN WALKING AND CLIMBING IN THE L AKE DISTRICT, BUT EX ACTLY HOW TOUGH IS JACK’S R AKE? Words Oli Reed Photographs Tom Bailey

Rake lot of people are terrified of Jack’s Rake, and with good reason. It’s not every day you scramble 100m up a narrow trench, cutting diagonally across one of England’s most imposing cliff faces, and tiptoeing past rock-climbs with names like Cruel Sister, Brain Damage and Impact Day. If you aren’t familiar with this legendary nerve-jangler up Pavey Ark, what you need to know is that it’s a route with everything: spiky rock, exposure, gigantic views and pure adrenaline. Located deep in the Langdale valley, Jack’s Rake is possibly the most famous scramble of its kind in England, but although it may sound like a harness and karabiner job, it’s only classed as a Grade 1. The moves aren’t overly technical and most of the route

is encased between a solid wall to your right and a thin fence of rock to your left, but there are patches of exposure that will twist your guts. Then there’s the problem of tackling it in the wet. Anyone who’s visited Cumbria will know it gets its fair share of rain; and if there’s one place you don’t want to be in a downpour, it’s clinging to the smooth slabs of a vertical rocky drainpipe. But if the elements play ball, Jack’s Rake is the place to go.

Pavey Ark

Scrambling above Stickle Tarn, with Windermere and the southern Lake District stretching into the distance.

LAKELAND CHALLENGES

Sharp Edge IT’S THE L AKE DISTRICT’S NUMBER ONE SCAREMONGER – BUT IS SHARP EDGE ALSO THE KE Y TO A PERFECT DAY OUT? Words Simon Ingram Photographs Tom Bailey

Blencathra

Sneaking on to Blencathra’s famous Sharp Edge ridgeline with the dark mountain pool of Scales Tarn below.

t starts badly. This thing – this awful little thing – spots you on the A66 from miles away and starts winking. “Want me, do you? Want to have a go?” You do, too. Oh, yes. The way the sun catches it, makes it twinkle, highlights those rocky tufts, picks out every crease of its nasty little frill. Hung on the arm of stately old Blencathra like a vulgar consort, Sharp Edge is the first real piece of mountain texture you see as you barrel westwards into the Lake District. It’s also your first indication that not everything in Wordswright country is an innocent, pipe-smoking duffer: there’s trouble here, too. Allow me to welcome you to the literal sharp end of the challenges a walker can expect to face in the cuddly climes of Cumbria. That’s not to say Sharp Edge is the hardest scramble in the Lakes, but it’s probably the hardest scramble that ‘normal’ hillwalkers might expect to find themselves on. You don’t end up on, for instance, Pinnacle Ridge by accident, or take a wrong turn and end up stuck on Napes Needle. Sharp Edge, however, you can underestimate. Being as it is arguably the most adventurous approach to arguably the Lakes’ most coveted mountain, it’s understandable that this precipitous ridge feels the almost constant tickle of boots on its back. This would all be fine if Sharp Edge didn’t so obviously hate walkers. Though a Grade 1 route at the definitive easy end of scrambling, it feels like one of those things in the natural world

Walking the THE REMOTE WASDALE VALLE Y IS STUDDED WITH LONELY PEAKS STANDING IN THE LONG SHADOWS OF FAMOUS NEIGHBOURS . HERE’S HOW TO WALK THEM . Words Simon Ingram Photographs Tom Bailey

Yewbarrow

underdogs here are lots of great mountain walks that get left on the shelf in the Lake District. The reason is simple: bigger, more ambitious peaks next door. For some, to go to Wasdale and not climb Scafell Pike, Pillar or Great Gable – one of the crowd-pleasing, climb-in-your-lifers – is a missed opportunity. You and I don’t get to the hills half as much as we’d like, so it’s forgivable to want the most prestigious in return for our time. But, status aside, the most popular walks really aren’t always the best. Slide your eyes left or right of the biggies and you’re likely to find walks that are hewn from the same geological genetics but see far fewer feet. They may even be better on every level, missing out on fame merely because of a few feet of height.

Among its many other merits, this walk resolutely isn’t the Mosedale Horseshoe. That circuit – which includes the justly famous Pillar – is the knee-jerk choice for anyone at large in Wasdale Head and facing north-west. It’s a splendid walk. Popular and splendid. Splendidly obvious. And not nearly as good as this. The Nether Beck Round is a route you don’t really hear about much. The whole round is an epic, but the best bits are eminently doable in an afternoon in

Wast Water and the stunning Screes. Sometimes the most famous views are even better in reverse.

Lakeland timewalk THIS HILLWALKING SAFARI THROUGH L AKE DISTRICT HISTORY WILL L AND YOU ON ITS MOST DISTINCTIVE MOUNTAIN WITH A WHOLE NEW POINT OF VIEW.

Words Simon Ingram Photographs Tom Bailey Hard Knott

mack in the middle of the most famous view in Cumbria, right next to the road, is a big boulder. And for a dozen decades or so, it’s been used by climbers honing the skill of skerfing or flaking (or whatever) while spidering all over it. It’s not unreasonable to assume that those climbers took a moment to consider who etched nonsensical scrawls all over the lower half of the boulder, and when. One of them might even have cracked a joke about it while using them for footholds, like, “Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if these turned out to be ancient symbols or something?” You know what’s coming. They turned out not only to be ancient, but the rock art discovery of the decade: 6,000-year-old prehistoric ‘cup and ring’ marks, scratched by hairy people in animal skins in a time before language. All of a sudden, the boulder’s decades of use for sport became archaeological sacrilege – the Neolithic equivalent of using the Dead Sea Scrolls as a colouring book. But the truth is, this sort of thing is pretty easy to miss in the hills, because hardly anyone bothers to look. Stand at Copt Howe Boulders as I did on this particular morning, and run your hand over its queer indented swirls, and your touch is bridging six millennia of human history. These boulders are evidence of some of the oldest of Lakeland’s inhabitants: the Neolithic people of the ‘new’ Stone Age, who walked the unchanged hills of the region in the incredibly distant past.

We had already visited Castlerigg Stone Circle near Keswick, seen the way the 40 rocks mirror the position of the surrounding mountains, and wondered aloud what these ancient people were thinking when they built this. It’s fantastic to have a place as dramatic as Castlerigg to wander around and wonder within, but if you walk further into the hills, there are other signs of ancient passage, discarded and forgotten, molested only by weather. Today, only those who walk the mountains can follow in these footsteps. And one superb walk allows you to do just this, before landing you on the most distinctive summit in Lakeland. This timewalk starts in Eskdale. Or, put slightly differently, 120AD. You may be able to think of three things bearing the name Hardknott: the wiggly Hardknott Pass; the hill of Hard Knott itself; and the hill-fort known as Hardknott Castle. I’d never visited the latter until now, and I must insist you do the same.

Looking towards distant Hardknott Pass from the remains of the Roman fort that once guarded it.

A cold TO THE NORTH -WEST, WHERE A WINTER HILLWALKING FEAST AWAITS AROUND A CURIOUSLY OVERLOOKED VALLE Y. Words Oli Reed Photographs Tom Bailey

any of life’s greatest adventures occur by accident. Sure, you can plan every journey or new experience down to the finest detail; but you often get the most satisfaction from an impromptu voyage into the unexpected – when you’re forced to switch tactics and think on your feet. And when it comes to outdoor adventure, it’s usually that feeling of delving into the unknown that creates memories that stick with you forever. Of course we’re not encouraging you to rip up the rulebook and make rash decisions in the mountains; quite the opposite. We’re talking about staying flexible with your preparations and using the changing conditions to your advantage. Nothing impacts

on the enjoyment of a UK hillwalk more than that pesky thing we call weather; but rather than becoming a slave to its unpredictability, there are ways you can manipulate it to your advantage. Take this to the Lake District, for example. Plan A was a winter wander over Blencathra’s Sharp Edge, which was swiftly abandoned when we doublechecked the forecast. Bucketloads of snow with a side helping of 60mph winds were

Evening sunshine illuminates the North Western Fells, providing a memorable finish to a magical winter day in the Lake District.

day in

Coledale Coledale

The Lake HAUTE 14 MOUNTAIN PASSES . EVERY VALLE Y. 13 L AKES . OVER 200 MOUNTAINS . 73 MILES . 6 DAYS . 1 ROUTE OF A LIFETIME.

Words Graham Thompson Photographs Ashley Cooper & Graham Thompson Illustrations Jeremy Ashcroft

District ROUTE ne step is what made all the difference. Somewhere between lifting my right foot, swinging it forward and placing it back down in front of me the world changed. The erratic sounds and smells of the towns were replaced by a calming breeze, the rich green views of pastures and the refreshing aroma of the countryside. That one step was on the Walna Scar Road, a man-made bridleway linking the Coniston valley to the Dunnerdale valley in the Lake District. It was the moment we stepped out from day walking into long distance paths; the moment we started to sense the magic of Trail magazine’s Lakeland Haute Route. A month earlier I had been in a pub with Trail’s long-serving mountaineering editor Jeremy Ashcroft and former editor Matt Swaine, reminiscing about great days on the hills while trying to work out how to do something special for the magazine. “When Trail started back in 1990 we definitely did more multi-day backpacking routes,” I said. “Europe’s haute routes are some of the finest multi-day walks in the world. Why don’t

we create one for the Lake District?” Haute route means ‘high route’, and in the Alps they take in the high mountain passes between valleys and give walkers stupendous views of the major peaks. Our Lakeland Haute Route would need to do the same thing, taking advantage of Youth Hostels rather than mountain huts, offering ascents of the big-name Lakeland peaks for those who wanted to tailor their route, and making sure that every night would bring us back to great food and public transport links. It would be a celebration of the Lakes: a way to see the area at its very best. But before we could take our first step we would spend months studying maps, working on route options to make sure it met our expectations...

Looking over Buttermere towards Grasmoor from Scarth Gap Pass: one of the many knockout views on this six-day route.

Trail Haute Route

Life on a m

Scafell Film-maker Terry Abraham dedicated over a year of his life to filming and photographing Scafell Pike, documenting the impact of the changing seasons. An obsessive wild camper, Terry didn’t just walk on the mountain; he lived on it, exploring it from every angle and experiencing every type of weather it could throw at him. His resulting film, Life of a Mountain: Scafell Pike, has received widespread acclaim, and here – using a selection of his own stunning images – Terry paints an intimate picture of life on England’s highest mountain. Words & photographs Terry Abraham

THE ROOF OF ENGLAND Scafell (left) and Scafell Pike (right), traditionally known as ‘The Pikes of Scawfell’ are seen here at dawn from the summit of Bowfell, arguably one of the best vantage points in all of Lakeland. Thanks to deep consolidated snow during December 2012, I was fortunate (depending on your point of view) to camp nearby and savour the dawn light caressing the distant massif. Battling strong winds and sub-zero temperatures, I very nearly didn’t capture this photo as I was too engrossed filming the whole scene!

ountain:

Pike

ALONE IN THE WILD I spent 18 months of my life, mostly alone, filming the Scafells documentary. You’d think I’d be sick of the place – but far from it. I regularly return to the area to clear my mind and re-energise my soul (if not my weary limbs). I adore Upper Eskdale; it’s a vast upland valley that’s essentially the crater of an extinct

Scafell Pike

volcano. For the discerning hillwalker, this is the place to visit. Herdwicks and ravens and tumbling waterfalls will be your only company while exploring England’s finest mountain arena! My cameras are always nearby, because I never know if something special will appear at any second. It often does when I’m here.

CLASSIC ROUTES

The Coniston WITH CLIMBING CRAGS, AIRCRAFT REMAINS, DISUSED MINES, SECRET TARNS AND STUNNING SUMMITS, THIS IS AN AREA YOU MUST EXPLORE.

Grey Friar G

12 Coniston Fells

Illustration Jeremy Ashcroft

umbria’s Coniston Fells have a very distinct, independent feel. This is in part due to them being separated from their neighbours by the deep trench-like valleys of Dunnerdale on one side and Tilberthwaite and Yewdale on the other. It is also due to the fact that for most of their history they were a fiercely loyal part of Lancashire until they were cruelly separated under the 1974 county boundary changes. This independent nature is also reflected in the outdoor entertainment this fine collection of Lakeland mountains provides. For tucked away among their high folds are wild corners, towering crags of pristine rock, shapely ridges, glistening rock-ringed tarns, deep secretive gullies and ghylls, and no end of perfectly graded tracks and paths. If you had to select one corner of the British Isles to limit your mountain activities to, then you would not go far wrong in choosing the Coniston Fells – and that applies to walkers, climbers, scramblers and mountain bikers. Amid these fells are world-class routes for each discipline. The starting point for many who visit the Coniston Fells is a peak-bagging round. This is often driven by the desire to top out on as many summits as possible in one trip. There is nothing wrong with this; but even if you don’t plan to visit again once you have finished it, it is worth setting off with an open mind and walking the round as an introduction rather than a means to an end. The point of this is that the Coniston Round, while done almost entirely on well-trodden paths, passes above and close by all manner of remote corners and challenging crags that are just crying out to be explored. By embracing this route in this way, you will at the very least have a fuller perspective of what wonders these fells hold. But, as is more likely, you will fall under their spell and have a lifelong list of adventures to IS IT pursue among them. FOR ME?

Classic Lakes fellwalk over rocky ground but almost always on clear paths. The route is long, but not technical.

The rock-strewn Coniston Fells, viewed from near YHA Coppermines.

THE ROUTE

Dow Crag

SD302975 Head up the Coppermines Valley access road, which starts just beside the Black Bull Inn then turns into a track running along Church Beck.

Buck Pike

Walna Scar

Blind Tarn

Wa lna Scar R

The Cove

oad

SD286987 Ignore the water works to the left of the track, and instead climb up to Levers Water.

SD281992 Levers Water was originally dammed to provide power for the copper mines, and it is now used for local water supply.

SD280995 Head along the path on the eastern side of Levers Water, then climb steadily to the narrow col at Swirl Hause. NY278007 Swirl Hause marks the start of the

main ascent onto Swirl How up the narrow arête of Prison Band. The crest is narrow and rocky, but it is steep walking rather than full-on scrambling. NY272005 Set at the wildest part of the Coniston Fells, Swirl How’s pyramidal summit makes a fine first peak for the round.

NY270006 Just below Swirl How at the top of Broad Slack are the undercarriage and memorial cairn that mark the spot where a Royal Canadian Air Force Handley Page Halifax

Goat’s Water

SD289985 At the head of the access track is the Coppermines Youth Hostel. The route continues on the track to the left of the hostel.

Goat’s Hause Hawse

Brown Pike

SD293981 The mine workings that litter the lower flanks of Coniston Old Man are fascinating to look at, but don’t enter unless you have the right experience and equipment.

Brim

Cove Bridge

Fells 10

r Great Carrs

Brim Fell

11Fairfield 13 15

ROUTE STATS Distance 20km (12½ miles) Total ascent 1350m Time 8 hours Start/finish Coniston,

SD302975

Wetherlam Swirl How Black Sails Swirl Hause 8

7 Hause Levers Hawse

Coniston Old Man

Levers Water

Red Dell

Above Beck Fells

Kitty Crag

Simon’s Nick

C O

Yew

YHA

V A

The Bell 3

water works

Terrain high-level mountain walk with one steep, narrow ridge. Mostly it’s a typical Lakes adventure with a mixture of valleys, broad ridges and packhorse trails Maps OS Landranger (1:50,000) 90; OS Explorer (1:25,000) OL6; Harvey Superwalker (1:25,000) Southern Lakeland; British Mountain Maps (1:40,000) Lake District Accommodation Coniston Holly How Youth Hostel 0845 371 9511; Coniston Coppermines Youth Hostel 0845 371 9630 Tourist info Coniston, (015394) 41533, www.conistontic.org Pike Public transport Traveline buses, 0871 200 2233 Guidebooks A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells: The Southern Fells by A Wainwright 93 A5 LE A D W YHA YE

START/ FINISH

Holywath

Walna Scar Road

ve ge

Explore any mine workings around the Coniston Fells with extreme caution.

path from Low Water. Even on a bleak day you’re unlikely to find the summit empty. SD269982 Crowds soon diminish as you descend to Goat’s Hawse. Don’t retrace your steps on the main ridge; instead follow the narrower path that trends left.

SD265982 From Goat’s Hawse you get a superb view across Dow Crag. Its clean, grippy rocks hold great rock-climbs and an interesting selection of scrambles.

SD262977 Dow Crag has no trig point or cairn, but its exposed summit rocks make it one of the most memorable tops in the Lakes.

SD262975 The descent

Coniston

Little Arrow Moor

20 south passes the head

of Great Gully and Easy Gully; both great views from above. SD262972 Buck Pike is easily reached along the airy main ridge. From here you can peer down to the secretive waters of Blind Tarn.

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crashed in 1944. This isn’t the only aircraft that’s come to grief in this spot. Earlier the same year an Avro Anson, also on a training exercise, crashed on Swirl How. During the search for the Anson the rescue team came across further wreckage of a Spitfire. The crew of all three aircraft sadly lost their lives.

NY266006 A gentle slope leads down to the broad col at Fairfield that connects Grey Friar to the main Coniston Fells.

SD270995 Below Levers Hawse is the expanse of Seathwaite Tarn. This was dammed in 1904 to provide water for Barrow-in-Furness.

NY260004 From the summit of Grey Friar you get great views of the Duddon Valley, and all the way to Blackpool Tower.

SD270985 Brim Fell is a broad, flat plateau and its summit is easily walked past. A superbly built and shapely cairn marks the top.

NY270009 Great Carrs marks the northernmost tip of the walk. It overlooks the lovely and lonely hanging valley of Greenburn.

NY268004 On the return there is no need to reascend Great Carrs or Swirl How, as a traverse path cuts across to Levers Hawse.

SD272978 Coniston Old Man is easily reached along the main ridge. It is a very busy mountain with most people toiling up the

SD258964 After Brown Pike a short, steep descent leads down to a broad, lofty col at Walna Scar. This high pass is crossed by the Walna Scar Road, an ancient packhorse route that links Coniston with the Duddon Valley.

SD264963 The Walna Scar Road provides a steady descent for tired legs and should be followed directly to Coniston, where you’ll find plenty of pubs providing post-walk pints.

CO M P L E T E G U I D E TO T H E L A K E S