lakeland | Jims Walking Journey

Allen Crags and Seathwaite Fell from Seathwaite

In March 1988 Andy and I were enjoying a few days walking in a cold and frosty Lakeland. Having walked up Grains Gill from Seathwaite we were taking a break when we noticed two red clad walkers who were motoring up the path at some pace behind us. “They’re not hanging around,” remarked Andy and as the two speedy walkers drew level we recognised one of them to be non other than Sir Chris Bonington, one of Britain’s best known and celebrated mountaineers. We chatted for a few minutes before Sir Chris went off with his companion to climb Central Gully on Great End which was nicely compacted with frozen snow and Andy and I went off to climb England’s highest mountain for the first time. I’ve walked past that spot in Grains Gill many times since and will do so again today, in the heat of an English summer as I walk up Allen Crags and Seathwaite Fell. Each time I pass by I remember with fondness the day I met a mountaineering legend.

Continue reading “Allen Crags and Seathwaite Fell from Seathwaite”

Three Wainwrights from Coniston Village

Before starting my book by book journey through Wainwright’s iconic 214 I had climbed many of them before, one hundred and one of them to be precise. Coniston Old Man was one of those and my walking journal tells me I climbed it on Friday 14th August 1987 with a couple of other guys and the weather was clear. To be honest I don’t remember much about that walk but the 80’s and early 90’s were years when long social evenings in the pub were as much a part of any visit to the Lakes as the walking itself so that may account for my somewhat hazy memory.

Continue reading “Three Wainwrights from Coniston Village”

Book Three The Central Fells

All the hills of the Central Fells listed in height order with the eleven walks that took me over them and interactive map showing hill location and route. Click on the hill or the walk to read the post. Scroll down to use the interactive map.

1. High Raise 762m 2,500ft	8. Loft Crag 680m 2,231ft	15. Calf Crag 537m 1,762ft	22. Grange Fell 415m 1,362ft
2. Sergeant Man 736m 2,415ft	9. High Seat 608m 1,995ft	16. High Tove 515m 1,690ft	23. Helm Crag 405m 1,329ft
3. Harrison Stickle 736m 2,415ft	10. Bleaberry Fell 590m 1,936ft	17. Eagle Crag 525m 1,722ft	24. Silver How 395m 1,296ft
4. Ullscarf 726m 2,382ft	11. Sergeant’s Crag 571m 1,873ft	18. Armboth Fell 479m 1,572ft	25. Walla Crag 376m 1,234ft
5. Thunacar Knott 723m 2,372ft	12. Steel Fell 553m 1,814ft	19. Raven Crag 461m 1,512ft	26. High Rigg 357m 1,171ft
6. Pike of Stickle 709m 2,326ft	13. Tarn Crag 550m 1,804ft	20. Great Crag 450m 1,476ft	27. Loughrigg Fell 335m 1,099ft
7. Pavey Ark 700m 2,297ft	14. Blea Rigg 541m 1,775ft	21. Gibson Knott 420m 1,378ft

A walk up Walla Crag and Bleaberry Fell.

It's the second day of a settled weather pattern that has brought crisp, calm and ...

Four Wainwright’s from Thirlmere Dam

Commitments and the never ending rain which makes planning clear summit days difficult have kept ...

A walk up High Rigg

From the campsite I can see a fair chunk of today's walk from the van ...

A walk up Tarn Crag (Easedale)

I have some personal rules which guide my journey through the Wainwright’s (here) one of ...

Four Wainwright’s from Grasmere

I’ve had company over the last couple of days. A Robin arrives regularly at the ...

Great Crag and Grange Fell from Rosthwaite

Over the last few years I have become familiar with every twist and turn of ...

Silver How and Loughrigg Fell from Grasmere Village

It’s summer, or at least that brief moment in time that passes for summer these ...

A walk up Eagle Crag and Sergeant’s Crag

It’s the second time I’ve stopped at Chapel House Farm campsite in the last few ...

A walk up Ullscarf from Thirlmere

My last visit to Ullscarf was thwarted when the clouds which had been hovering above ...

The Langdale Pikes

Just as autumn seemed to have arrived, summer sunshine and warmth has returned for one ...

An Outer Langdale Round

'If I should bow my head let it be to a high mountain' Maori Proverb ...

Book Two The Far Eastern Fells

All the hills of the Far Eastern Fells listed in height order with the sixteen walks that took me over them and interactive map showing hill location and route. Click on the hill or the walk to read the post. Scroll down to use the interactive map.

1. High Street 828m 2,717ft	10. The Knott 739m 2,425ft	19. Tarn Crag 664m 2,178ft	28. Arthur’s Pike 533m 1,749ft
2. High Raise 802m 2,631ft	11. Kentmere Pike 730m 2,395ft	20. Place Fell 657m 2,156ft	29. Bonscale Pike 524m 1,719ft
3. Rampsgill Head 792m 2,598ft	12. Froswick 720m 2,362ft	21. Selside Pike 655m 2,149ft	30. Sallows 516m 1,693ft
4. Thornthwaite Crag 784m 2,572ft	13. Branstree 713m 2,339ft	22. Grey Crag 638m 2,093ft	31. Beda Fell 509m 1,670ft
5. Kidsty Pike 780m 2,559ft	14. Yoke 706m 2,316ft	23. Hartsop Dodd 618m 2,028ft	32. Wansfell 488m 1,601ft
6. Harter Fell 778m 2,552ft	15. Gray Crag 699m 2,293ft	24. Shipman Knotts 587m 1,926ft	33. Sour Howes 483m 1,585ft
7. Caudale Moor 763m 2,503ft	16. Rest Dodd 696m 2,283ft	25. The Nab 576m 1,890ft	34. Steel Knotts 432m 1,417ft
8. Mardale Ill Bell 760m 2,493ft	17. Loadpot Hill 671m 2,201ft	26. Angletarn Pikes 567m 1,860ft	35. Hallin Fell 388m 1,273ft
9. Ill Bell 757m 2,484ft	18. Wether Hill 670 m 2,198ft	27. Brock Crags 561m 1,841ft	36. Troutbeck Tongue 364m 1,194ft

Selside Pike and Branstree

Endings and Beginnings are, as Mufasa might say all part of the great circle of ...

A High Street Round

The low morning sun is glistening off the still waters of Haweswater and the bright ...

Grey Crag and Tarn Crag from Sadgill

I arrive at the little hamlet of Sadgill at the far end of Longsleddale just ...

A Harter Fell Round from Sadgill

It’s the second day of my stay in the little hamlet of Sadgill and I ...

A walk up Wansfell and Wansfell Pike

I knew that I had to get away before Christmas otherwise the festive season with ...

A freezing walk up Sour Howes and Sallows

When I leave my warm sleeping bag and look at the thermometer it tells me ...

A short walk up Hallin Fell

My wife and I have very different interests and hobbies. She is a creative, an ...

A walk up Gray Crag and Thornthwaite Crag

It’s a promising morning, the sun is shining and blue sky is all around. As ...

Brock Crags from Hartsop Village

From the car park at Hartsop the lush green tree peppered slopes of Brock Crags, ...

Five Wainwrights from St Peter’s Church Martindale

The morning sunlight is casting soft shadows over the quiet valley of Martindale as I ...

Stony Cove Pike and Hartsop Dodd from Brotherswater

Putting my boots on in the car park of the Brotherswater Inn, my eyes are ...

A walk up Rest Dodd and The Nab from Brotherswater

It’s a dank grey day in Lakeland with a cloud filled leaden sky hovering worryingly ...

A walk up Place Fell from Patterdale

Place Fell is one of Lakeland’s iconic and best known mountains. The walk up it ...

Cloudbusting in Kentmere

It’s been a while. My summer has been spent elsewhere but the seasons wait for ...

A walk up Troutbeck Tongue

Troutbeck Tongue is a small mound of a hill, separated from the higher hills surrounding ...

Beda Fell and Angletarn Pikes from Patterdale

Winter has arrived in Lakeland. Which is a day early for the Meteorological calendar and ...

The Langdale Pikes

Just as autumn seemed to have arrived, summer sunshine and warmth has returned for one last hurrah and I’m fortunate to be in Great Langdale to enjoy it. The Langdale Pikes are an iconic group of hills whose relative accessibility, moderate height and interesting routes have made them emblematic of all that is attractive about the English Lake District. From the moment their shapely and unique outline is glimpsed across Windermere on the road to Ambleside you know you have entered into the heart of Lakeland with its mountains, lakes and rivers. It’s time to relax, breathe out, and for a while leave your workaday stresses behind and allow your heart to be stirred in anticipation of adventures that lie ahead. And today, in the sunshine, I’m walking the Langdale Pikes.

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Book One The Eastern Fells

All the hills of the Eastern Fells listed in height order with the sixteen walks that took me over them and interactive map showing hill location and route. Click on the hill or the walk to read the post. Scroll down to use the interactive map.

1.Helvellyn 950m 3,117ft	8.Great Dodd 857m 2,812ft	15.Great Rigg 766m 2,513ft	22.Middle Dodd 654 m 2,146 ft	29.Low Pike 508m 1,667ft
2.Nethermost Pike 891m 2,923ft	9.Stybarrow Dodd 843m 2,766ft	16.Hart Side 756m 2,480ft	23.Little Hart Crag 637m 2,090ft	30.Little Mell Fell 505m 1,657ft
3.Catstycam 890m 2,920ft	10.St Sunday Crag 841m 2,759ft	17.Seat Sandal 736m 2,415ft	24.Birks 622m 2,041ft	31.Stone Arthur 500m 1,640ft
4.Raise 883m 2,897ft	11.Hart Crag 822m 2,697ft	18.Clough Head 726m 2,382ft	25.Heron Pike 612m 2,008ft	32.Gowbarrow Fell 481m 1,578ft
5.Fairfield 873m 2,864ft	12.Dove Crag 792m 2,598ft	19.Birkhouse Moor 718 m 2,356 ft	26.Hartsop above How 570m 1,870ft	33.Nab Scar 450m 1,476ft
6.White Side 863m 2,831ft	13.Watson’s Dodd 789m 2,589ft	20.Sheffield Pike, 675 m 2,215 ft	27.Great Mell Fell 537m 1,762ft	34.Glenridding Dodd 442m 1,450ft
7.Dollywaggon Pike 858m 2,815ft	14.Red Screes 776m 2,546ft	21.High Pike, 656 m 2,152 ft	28.High Hartsop Dodd 519m 1,703ft	35.Arnison Crag 433m 1,421ft

My Journey Through the Wainwright’s, One Book at a Time.

My first visit to the Lake District was in 1982 and from that day on, ...

A Winter’s Walk up Hart Side

I arrive early at the National Trust car park just South of Dockray and am ...

A Mell Fell Double

So today is the day. The day when I start my quest to complete all ...

Glenridding Dodd and Sheffield Pike from Glenridding

Glenridding Dodd and Sheffield Pike, the objects of today’s walk form the northern wall of ...

A walk along the Dodds

It’s a bright, sunny morning and the birds are singing as I’m dropped off at ...

Aira Force and Gowbarrow Fell

I last walked up Gowbarrow Fell in the summer of 1992. We were stopping in ...

St Sunday Crag via Arnison Crag and Birks

As I leave Side Farm campsite I can see the three hills of my intended ...

A walk up Seat Sandal

The cloud is hanging low in the valleys as I leave the campsite. It is ...

The Helvellyn Ridge, Dollywaggon Pike to Raise

Starting today’s walk at Dunmail Raise, nearly 800ft above sea level does seem a little ...

Hartsop above How and Dovedale

Last night I stepped out of the campervan at Aira Force and was greeted by ...

High Hartsop Dodd and Little Hart Crag in the Snow

Standing on top of High Hartsop Dodd with the snowfall becoming increasingly heavy I wondered ...

Red Screes and Middle Dodd

I’m back at Sykeside campsite to complete a walk that was cut short a few ...

A Walk up Stone Arthur

It’s not often, hardly ever in fact that you get to see the summit of ...

The Pikes and Dove Crag from Ambleside

It’s my first trip to Lakeland this year. The busyness of life has kept me ...

Hart Crag and Fairfield from Dovedale

Having had the pleasure of walking down Dovedale last summer after climbing Hartsop Above How, ...

Great Rigg, Heron Pike and Nab Scar

Gazing out at the glorious views of Lakeland from the summit of Great Rigg I ...

Birkhouse Moor and Catstyecam

It’s the Queens Platinum Jubilee Weekend and Seventy years of Her Majesty on the Throne ...

Silver How and Loughrigg Fell from Grasmere Village

It’s summer, or at least that brief moment in time that passes for summer these days. It’s also a Sunday on one of the hottest days of the year so I know today’s walk up Silver How and Loughrigg Fell, two of the lower lying and popular fells around Grasmere is likely to be a busy one.

Continue reading “Silver How and Loughrigg Fell from Grasmere Village”

A walk up Tarn Crag (Easedale)

I have some personal rules which guide my journey through the Wainwright’s (here) one of these ‘I will get a view from each top’ has already entailed some return visits over the first two books. The awful weather and cancelled plans over the first months of the year have got me thinking that I may have to take more risks with the forecast if I am ever to finish my Wainwright journey before I go to rest with my ancestors. For a man who likes certainty and all his ducks in order it’s an uncomfortable prospect, but here I am, heading up Far Easedale looking up at a cloud topped Tarn Crag hoping that by the time I get there it will be clear. I can hear the roulette wheel spinning.

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A walk up High Rigg

From the campsite I can see a fair chunk of today’s walk from the van window. A short climb up through trees to a undulating ridge that eventually leads on to the summit of High Rigg. Stopping at High Bridge End gives me the rare treat of being able to walk from the campsite two days running and saves the hassle of packing the van up before setting off. In fact the Central Fells, being quite compact means I’m going to be able to do this often whilst working my way through book three. Life’s simple pleasures, or alternatively, simple things please simple minds, take your pick.

Continue reading “A walk up High Rigg”

Four Wainwright’s from Thirlmere Dam

Commitments and the never ending rain which makes planning clear summit days difficult have kept me away from the hills so far this year. But the weather seems to have finally turned and it looks like spring has arrived, soon to be merged straight into summer. As I park up at High Bridge End the sun is shining, lambs are gamboling in the fields, new life abounds and a chirpy chaffinch heralds my arrival back to Lakeland. The air is fresh and clean and the mountains green and lush. I’ve missed the reassuring presence of these hills and it’s good to be back.

Continue reading “Four Wainwright’s from Thirlmere Dam”

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