Lakeland Fellranger: North-Western Fells - Walks in the Lakes

• Location
• Description
• Contents
• Introduction
• Sample Route
• Maps
• Reviews

FROM FIRESIDE TO FELLSIDE

Free time spent out on the fell is always the very best of time. You may sit at home poring over maps and consulting guides, letting the imagination run riot, but nothing beats the fun and thrill of actually being out there, walking the dream. To wander by lonely becks and over rough fellsides, to climb to high cairned summits, to sense the freedom, space and sheer beauty of it all is a holistic experience beyond poetic words and pictorial expression. Walkers notice the contrasts of seasons and time of day, the play of light and shadow, the mischievous antics of mist and cloud. They cope with wind and rain, snow and ice in an environment that they come to know by stints and stages. The form and character of each fell become recognisable, like friends from childhood – reliable, and happy in reunion whatever the time span since the last acquaintance. The walker harbours memories of times past with these companions, and relishes new days in their company.

How grateful we are for their existence, these magical fells. Within the small compass of the guide you will find great mountains, deep green dales, wind-whipped lakes, still tarns reflecting the sky, dancing becks, fearsome buttresses, whispering woods, and clouds racing across sweeping pastures inhabited by bleating sheep, the air tingling with the rippling call of skylark and the hoarse rasp of the high, rolling raven – the genius of vintage fellwalking days. And for all our pleasure in solitary wanderings, who has not smiled upon a happy encounter with the best of all fell creatures, fellow fell-wanderers?

This guide

After seven wonderful months devoted to roving research in this group of fells, I feel honoured to know them as good friends, their magic enduringly distilled and instilled. In terms of writing this guide, the present mission is accomplished; in terms of my bond with these mountains, well, that has just begun. No survey of this kind is finite – one can know the fells spatially, but to know them elementally and emotionally is an entirely different journey.

The area covered in this guide is home to 29 fells – each distinct from each other, and each a worthy reward for the energy committed to its climb. Two of its fell-rounds, the Newlands and Coledale Horseshoes, rank with the best in the district. The region’s summits include among their number fells for all the family – such as Catbells and Castle Crag; fells for lovers of mountain stature and structure – notably Hindscarth and Grisedale Pike; great rocky escarpments – like High Spy and Whiteside; great individualists – such as Causey Pike and Barf; impressive situations – like Dale Head and Grasmoor; and those that sit in picturesque settings – such as neighbouring Rannerdale Knotts and Whiteless Pike.

The group is bounded by four of the most beautiful of Lakeland lakes – Bassenthwaite, Buttermere, Derwent Water and Crummock Water – yet, remarkably, within its bounds there is hardly a sheet of water to be found. There are beautiful dales – some secret, like Wythop and Aiken Beck; some open for all to see, such as Coledale and Newlands; and one, shared with the Central Fells and all the world, Borrowdale, has the finest qualities of any glen, finding its most exquisite expression in the famous ‘Jaws’. There are mountain passes to drive over – Honister, Newlands and Whinlatter – and to walk over – Coledale Hause and the Rigg Beck/Sail Beck passage between Newlands and Buttermere. And there are forest tracks to explore in the Whinlatter Park and Wythop sections of Thornthwaite Forest. In fact, this is a mountain range of choice experiences.

Although this guide aims to help readers experience the area from a leisured and recreational perspective, it also takes care to point out that this is a contemporary and historic working landscape, as evidenced in sheepfolds and mine spoil. The hard labour and deprivation associated with both activities is evident for those who choose to see. Now long abandoned, the wreckage of mineral extraction is melding quietly into the fabric of the fells, but the quiet backdrop of pastoral agriculture is the continuing life-blood of this land. A fascination in mining is well rewarded by a visit to the Keswick Mining Museum and its sister site at Threlkeld. As a special treat the Force Crag Mine is occasionally open for guided tours by its owners, the National Trust. Traditional and contemporary farming is much in evidence at such enterprises as the Flock-in tearoom at Rosthwaite and on the Slow Food shelves of Booths supermarket.

Access to the range is good for the motorist, and in addition there are the excellent Stagecoach bus services, all of which have a Keswick focus – the Borrowdale Rambler plies the valley road to Seatoller, and the trans-Cumbria service runs along the A66 (both run all-year round). From Easter to the end of October, the Honister Rambler (77/77A) service runs four times a day clockwise and anti-clockwise froom Keswick, making the area particularly accessible. Also written by this author is the bus-stop-to-bus-stop ‘StagePath’ – a free 36-page full-colour descriptive guide, based on the principles of sustainable transport and green tourism, which is the perfect companion to this specific volume of Lakeland Fellranger. Copies are available at the Moot Hall Tourist Information Centre, Keswick.

For ease of reference the 29 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 xx, 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 on the map and diagram 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 for nearly all 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.

Fell review

Visit www.markrichards.info (Lakeland Fellranger section) to study the Fell Review. This contains dedicated galleries that provide a more thorough pictorial record of the author’s research, focusing on each individual fell, and a downloadable PDF of the summit panorama.