The Central Fells

From fireside to fellside

This land of living dreams we call the Lake District is a cherished blessing to know, love and share. As we lead our normal lives far removed from there, we may take a fleeting moment to reflect that someone, somewhere, will be tramping up a lonely gill or along an airy ridge, peering from a lofty summit or gazing across a wind-blown tarn and taking lingering inspiration from its timeless beauty. The trappings of modern life thrust carpet and concrete under our feet, and it is always wonderful to walk the region’s sheep trods and rough trails, and to imprint our soles upon the fells. This guide sets out to give you the impetus and resolve to make time in your life to reclaim the fells.

I love to wander the fells alone, but I know too that they are for sharing, and the majority of fellwalkers choose a friend or two and turn a walk into a party. Yet among such a majestic mountain environment I feel a certain sorrow when I see trains of walkers traipsing up and down Stickle Ghyll and elsewhere, heads down, lost in conversations about everything under the sun, but oblivious to their surroundings.

The regular paths of long tradition deserve consideration. Progressively many of the main paths are being re-set with cobbles and pitching, all highly meritorious. But it has to be said that, in many instances, the best consideration we can give these pathways is rest. They came into being as lines of desire, yet perhaps the modern trail-blazer should show a new ‘green’ awareness by choosing to tread lightly on the land and to find new ways around the hills. Hence the underlying impulse of this guide is to increase sustainability by presenting a diversity of route options for each and every fell.

This guide

While the Central Fells are very familiar, few people think of it as a single area. Everyone knows of the Langdale Pikes, which in the mind’s eye belong to Great Langdale; of Loughrigg Fell, Silver How and Helm Crag around Grasmere; the escarpment of Walla Crag above Derwentwater; the exquisite setting of Watendlath and, threading through the Jaws of Borrowdale, Eagle Crag above Stonethwaite. Yet somehow the relationship of these separate parts – all wonderful subjects for a day’s walk – fails to register as a coherent whole. Perhaps it is because the range is generally of a lower elevation, with few narrow ridges, and has no incisive roads that marvelling eyes are averted. But the range does harbour heather-clad fells, quiet dales such as Wythburn, Greenburn and Shoulthwaite, and, to cap it all, superlative viewpoints at many levels from Loughrigg Terrace to High Raise.

The Central Fells offer the chance to leave the car some distance from your walk by using either the 555 ‘Lakeslink’ service from Windermere to Keswick via Ambleside and Grasmere, or the 79, the ‘Borrowdale Rambler’, from Keswick to Seatoller. Both of these Stagecoach bus services are as regular as clockwork, run all year round and give genuine flexibility to your walk plans.

The 555 service with top-deck viewing is enhanced by the booklet ‘From A to B to SEE, a guide to your ride’, which was prepared for the service whilst researching this guide to give all visitors a sense of the wonderful backdrop of fells seen during the journey. The Derwentwater launch might even be used for walks beginning from either the Ashness Gate or Lodore landing stages. These jetties are convenient for the escarpment from Walla Crag to Grange Fell.

The purpose of this guide is to show the fullest complement of walking routes on each fell. The pressure of boots down the years has taken its toll. Costly capital projects, along with pre-emptive works, have been and continue to be undertaken by the Fix the Fells project, a working partnership between the Lake District National Park Authority, the National Trust and Natural England. Yet ‘official’ advice on your choice of routes has always been strict, limiting route information to the modern variations of traditional paths and thus concentrating walkers on limited routes. In contrast, Lakeland Fellranger provides a solid reference to the fullest range of reliable contemporary options, a valuable by-product of this being to spread the load more widely over the path network.

For ease of reference the 28 fell chapters are arranged in alphabetical order. Each chapter begins with a customised HARVEY map that illustrates the routes of ascent described in the guide, and shows ridge connections to neighbouring fells to assist in the planning of extended walks. The corresponding text describes routes up the fell from given valley starting points, identified on the map by a number (shown in a blue box). The starting points are listed in the ‘Starting Points’ table on page 18, and are also given in blue (in brackets) after the ascent route headings in the walks. In many instances there is also a diagram that shows the routes from a given perspective to assist visualisation.

The primary routes to the summit are described, with optional variations given, up to their natural point of connection with the more common route. Where a route follows a defined path this is shown in red dashes, and where the recommended route follows an intermittent path (or there is no path on the ground at all) this is shown in green dashes. Where a route follows a road it is not picked out by dashed lines. Being aware of the safest lines of descent is important and advice is given on these except on the most straightforward of fells. There are far more paths on the fells than are shown on a conventional HARVEY map, and for clarity this guide only shows the paths and routes that are described here.

As a good guide should also be a revelation, a full panorama is provided for each fell summit or better nearby viewpoint. This names the principal fells and picks out key features in their midst, with some more distant features beyond the national park to intrigue. When undertaking the walks in the guide, you are advised to take a map and compass with you (and know how to use them). The map can enhance your day by showing additional landscape features and setting your walk in its wider context, as well as being useful for your own safety. And remember that representation of a route in this guide, in whatever form, does not infer safe passage for all, at any time. The onus is on each individual to weigh up their own capabilities and the prevailing conditions. In fellwalking, as in any mountain travel, knowing when to retreat is often the greater part of valour. The author has taken care to follow time-honoured routes, and kept within bounds of access, yet cannot guarantee rights of way in all cases.

Fix the Fells

This series highlights the work of the Fix the Fells project in pitching the most seriously damaged fell paths. The process has been a great learning curve and the more recent pitching is superb, ensuring a flat foot-fall where possible, and being easy to use in ascent and descent. However, invariably these trails are not rights of way, and are therefore beyond the statutory responsibility of the highway authority. Hence this partnership of the National Park Authority, National Trust and Natural England, with additional financial support from the Friends of the Lake District, has worked to make good the hill paths. The whole effort has been made possible by third-party match-funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Much work remains to be done, most especially pre-emptive repair to stop paths from washing out in the first place. The Tourism & Conservation Partnership also contributes significantly to this work, but with a metre of path costing up to £100 there is every good reason to cultivate the involvement of fellwalkers in a cause that must be dear to their hearts… and soles! Make a beeline for www.fixthefells.co.uk to mark your commitment to the well-being of the fells by giving a modest donation. Clearly the occasional donation is welcome, but as yet this is still only a tiny injection. If it were the culture for regular fellwalkers to make small regular donations, so much the better.

Access

May 2005 saw the implementation of the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act in Cumbria, from which time most rough open country became conditionally accessible to walkers. The so-called ‘right to roam’ legislation is in truth something of a sledge hammer to crack a nut. Quite the majority of fellwalkers only feel at ease when striding upon a clear path, especially one that has a time-honoured sense of purpose. The roving instinct, a broad-brush freedom to randomly explore trackless country, appeals to a narrow band of walkers. I love the liberty of exploring open country with a map, but being wedded to the preparation of practical guides, my liberty always has an eye on sensible routes that give the security that guidebook users expect. This guide shows only a few such ‘roaming’ routes.

The mantra of Open Access should be stressed – Respect, Protect and Enjoy – for liberty to roam brings responsibilities. As wanderers we acknowledge that land has value, not confined to its ownership, and we above all should play our bit-part in its sustaining care. This new liberty has a further purpose, and is seen by Natural England as a flagship for a walking revolution. The notion of biophilia (a love of living things), and an inclusive joining up of natural heritage and people, has broadened the message, for alongside the well-being benefits of stepping out – see Walking the Way to Health (www.whi.org.uk) – Open Access brings new impetus for encouraging a wider range of people to experience the outdoors.

Safety

Being constantly alive to, and aware of, the potential dangers of walking in high fell country is essential for everyone, and most especially those who come new to this activity. The National Park Authority provides practical, up-to-date advice from daily weather checks (Weatherline 017687 75757, 24-hour fell forecast) to guided walks aimed at absolute beginners. As a first recourse obtain a copy of their leaflet ‘Safety on the Fells’ and consult their website: www.lake-district.gov.uk.

ADVISORY NOTE

The National Park have prepared a short advisory note for conscientious walkers:

• Place your feet thoughtfully; every single footstep causes wear and tear on the environment. The slow-growing plants that can survive on mountains are particularly vulnerable.
• Keep to the path surface; do not walk along the vegetation at the edge of the path.
• Do not build or add to cairns – paths need stones more than cairns.
• Do not take shortcuts – water will soon follow your tracks and an erosion scar will develop. Remember, there may be only one of you, but there are another 12 million pairs of feet treading Lake District paths every year.

Let us long love Lakeland and care for its future. May its magic remain an inspiration for each new generation.