It’s always nice to start a walk straight from the campsite and Chapel House Farm has the added benefit that I can have breakfast looking up at my first hill of the day, Rosthwaite Fell. Wainwright dedicates his book on the Southern Fells, the book I’m currently walking through to “The Sheep of Lakeland, the hardiest of all fellwalkers”. In what has been a sustained spell of dry weather these hardy Herdwicks are suffering a little. Richard, the farmer and campsite owner tells me the dry weather has not been good for his flock of a thousand Herdwicks who are suffering from the lack of water and parasitic infestations growing in their wool. For his livelihood and the sheep’s well-being I hope Lakeland has some rain soon, maybe just not today.
Continue reading “Rosthwaite Fell and Glaramara from Rosthwaite”
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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”
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The day is turning into a very fine one for walking as I park in the very same spot I occupied two months ago. The sky is cloudless and eggshell blue, the sun is beaming but it’s April and the temperature is still pleasant and there is not so much as a breath of wind to rustle the leafs. Busyness has been ruling out any visits north but the diary and the weather have both become clear and my season opener is to be a not too taxing leg stretch up Holme Fell.
Continue reading “A walk up Holme Fell”
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The unpredictable weather of January and trying to sync available time with rare windows of opportunity proved fruitless so it was the beginning of February before I headed up the M6. Knowing that commitments would be ruling out the rest of the month into March I was hoping, despite the mixed forecast, for a couple of cloud free days to keep some forward momentum on Book Four.
Continue reading “A walk around Tarn Hows taking in Black Fell”
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My walk up Lingmoor Fell starts conveniently at the National Trust campsite at the head of Great Langdale. I don’t even have to move the van and take full advantage by having a lazy breakfast. This may be my first walk of book four but it certainly won’t be my last from this location as Great Langdale is the launch pad for some of the big ones and a place I will get to know well over the coming months.
Continue reading “Lingmoor Fell from Great Langdale”
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My journey along Wainwrights Coast to Coast Walk from St Bees Head to Robin Hoods Bay. Walking from the Irish Sea to the North Sea through three National Parks this walk has everything, Mountains, Dales, Moorland and Ocean and is soon to become a National Trail. Click on the walk to read the post or use the interactive map to see the route.
Introduction. I’m sitting in the bedroom at our bed and breakfast in St Bees the night before I set off ...
Day 1 St Bees to Ennerdale Bridge 14 Miles. It's a rainy start to our adventure. Gwen and I picked ...
Day 2 Ennerdale Bridge To Rosthwaite 14 1/2 Miles. Day two dawns dry but misty. We set off from our ...
Day 3 Rosthwaite to Grasmere 9 1/4 Miles. Today was the day I got a twenty six year old monkey ...
Day 4 Grasmere to Patterdale 8 1/2 Miles Today turned into a very eventful day for what was meant to ...
Day 5 Patterdale to Shap 17-18 Miles Overnight, Gwen and I had talked and we decided that if the wind ...
Day 6 Shap to Kirkby Stephen 20 miles Had a leisurely breakfast catching up with Bob and Alan who were ...
Day 7 Kirkby Stephen to Keld 12 miles We don’t often consider it, but sleep is a powerful healer. Despite ...
Day 8 Keld to Reeth 12 Miles Keld sits right in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales. If you are ...
Day 9 Reeth to Richmond 10 miles After a comfortable night in the Dales Bike Centre we enjoy a leisurely ...
Day 10 Richmond to Danby Wiske 14 miles When I first walked this section of the Coast to Coast 26 ...
Day 11 Danby Wiske to Osmotherley 10 miles We had breakfast with a couple who had stayed in the same ...
Day 12 Osmotherley to Clay Bank Top 11 Miles Having spent two days crossing the Vale of York we are ...
Day 13 Clay Bank Top to Glaisdale 18 Miles The end of the walk, which for a couple of weeks ...
Day 14 Glaisdale to Robin Hoods Bay 19 Miles Day fourteen, the last day, starts with a wholesome farmhouse breakfast ...
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‘If I should bow my head let it be to a high mountain’ Maori Proverb
I’m back in Great Langdale just a couple of weeks after my previous visit when I was fortunate to walk the Langdale Pikes in glorious weather. The weather isn’t so good today but it’s dry and the tops are clear which is what matters. I’m heading for a group of hills that form an outer circle around the rather compact Pikes, Blea Rigg, Sergeant Man, High Raise and Thunacar Knott. And in visiting these, I’ll also bring to a conclusion my journey through Wainwright’s Book Three, The Central Fells.
Continue reading “An Outer Langdale Round”
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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 |
Endings and Beginnings are, as Mufasa might say all part of the great circle of ...
The low morning sun is glistening off the still waters of Haweswater and the bright ...
I arrive at the little hamlet of Sadgill at the far end of Longsleddale just ...
It’s the second day of my stay in the little hamlet of Sadgill and I ...
I knew that I had to get away before Christmas otherwise the festive season with ...
When I leave my warm sleeping bag and look at the thermometer it tells me ...
My wife and I have very different interests and hobbies. She is a creative, an ...
It’s a promising morning, the sun is shining and blue sky is all around. As ...
From the car park at Hartsop the lush green tree peppered slopes of Brock Crags, ...
The morning sunlight is casting soft shadows over the quiet valley of Martindale as I ...
Putting my boots on in the car park of the Brotherswater Inn, my eyes are ...
It’s a dank grey day in Lakeland with a cloud filled leaden sky hovering worryingly ...
Place Fell is one of Lakeland’s iconic and best known mountains. The walk up it ...
It’s been a while. My summer has been spent elsewhere but the seasons wait for ...
Troutbeck Tongue is a small mound of a hill, separated from the higher hills surrounding ...
Winter has arrived in Lakeland. Which is a day early for the Meteorological calendar and ...
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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.
Continue reading “The Langdale Pikes”
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My last visit to Ullscarf was thwarted when the clouds which had been hovering above it all day decided to lower onto the summit plateau just as I reached it. As I have a rule that I will be able to see the view from each top on my journey through the Wainwright’s this unfortunately meant a return visit. At least going up again gives me a chance to try a different route and today I’ll be ascending via Harrop Tarn and returning down the Wythburn valley which means I don’t have to walk back on myself.
Continue reading “A walk up Ullscarf from Thirlmere”
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