Lake District: Place Fell & Ullswater

Date: Friday 18^th April 2014

Route: Place Fell and Ullswater Circular from Patterdale

Distance: 8.5 miles

For our last full day walk in the Lakes, we chose to move away from Derwent Water, which had dominated the week’s walking and tried a more challenging walk we hadn’t done before, overlooking the equally lovely Ullswater for most of the route.

Like the majority of our walks this week, this route is detailed in the Pathfinder Lake District Walks Guide, which quotes the final section, above the lake shore, as having been described as “the loveliest walk in the Lake District.” Wisely, the authors don’t comment on whether they agree with this or not, as there must be lots of suitable candidates for this description!

Once you have left the car park at Patterdale (get there early!) and Side Farm behind, the climb begins. Luckily the vast majority of sustained uphill walking on this walk comes right at the beginning and is never too dauntingly steep. It doesn’t take long until the snowy, sharp ridges of Helvellyn and the blue waters of Brothers Water come into view in different directions, then there is a bit more of a climb and scramble to Round How and onward and upward to the summit of Place Fell, with great views over the hillsides in multiple directions and down across Ullswater.

The path – and essentially there is only really one path, so it’s very difficult to go astray – continues down from the summit of Place Fell across a few grassy hilltops before descending steeply towards the hamlet of Sandwick (whose few inhabitants seem to be missing out on an ice-cream selling opportunity!).

From Sandwick the route takes the popular “one of the most beautiful paths in the Lake District” path back to Patterdale, above and alongside Ullswater, with lots of outstanding views and a couple of pretty bays. This path definitely deserves the praise – but it does still have a few ups and downs, so it’s best not to expect an easy, flat section (thankfully that comes when the path emerges at Side Farm again).

An absolutely beautiful walk that merits its challenging tag, but is absolutely worth the effort.

Lake District: Keswick Circular via Friar's Crag & Castlerigg Stone Circle

Date: Thursday 17^th April 2014

Route: Keswick Circular via Friar’s Crag and Castlerigg Stone Circle

Distance: 7 miles

Whilst you do see a few solitary ramblers, walking in the Lake District often doesn’t really fit the “I wandered lonely as a cloud” stereotype – there are lots of (usually smiling) people walking the well-trodden and well-maintained popular paths within easy reach of the main towns and sometimes it’s definitely more fun to combine a day’s walk with good company (and end it in the pub).

Today’s walk was a relatively easy route from the Pathfinder Lake District Walks Guide, starting by Derwent Water in Keswick before heading up into woodlands and over fields to reach Castelrigg Stone Circle. As we were accompanied by the lovely Jo and Sam, we needed a walk that was interesting, gave us the opportunity to chat and was not too strenuous (more for our benefit than theirs!).

The walk starts by the water’s edge, with a great view from Friar’s Crag across Derwent Water, taking in many of the areas where we had walked in the preceding days. From the lakeshore the route crosses the Borrowdale road, turning into a steady but not too taxing climb on an easy-to-follow path through the conifers of the Great Wood and Walla Crag, before crossing the Keswick-Windermere road and a few fields to arrive at Castlerigg Stone Circle.

While the stone circle isn’t on the scale of Avebury, it wins a prize for outstanding hilltop location, with views over imposing peaks in every direction, including Skiddaw, Blencathra, Helvellyn and High Dodd. Little is known about the 3,500 year old monument, but it is a fantastic spot to spend a bit of time and you can even buy an ice-cream, if you feel so inclined!

The path continues back to the main road down a quiet lane, on down a quieter lane, alongside a campsite and back into woodland before emerging on the outskirts of Keswick and returning to the lake. A lovely walk to do with great company and a good excuse for a few celebratory beers at the end of it!

Lake District: Ashness Bridge, Watendlath & Bowder Stone

Date: Wednesday 16^th April

Route: Ashness Bridge, Watendlath and Bowder Stone

Distance: 8.5 miles

A great companion piece to yesterday’s Borrowdale walk, this “more challenging” route from the Pathfinder Guide to Lake District Walks proved to be very straightforward to follow, full of fantastic views and actually not all that challenging at all, relative to our mountain-walking earlier in the week.

The route begins and ends at the south-eastern end of Derwent Water, with views over the lake, the river Derwent and many of the hills and mountains visited on the Borrowdale, Skiddaw and Cat Bells walks. The first stretch (and the biggest climb) includes a great view back over the lake, with Skiddaw in the background, from Ashness Bridge, a single-track packhorse bridge. Next up is Surprise View (hint: less of a surprise when described as such in advance!); luckily this panoramic viewpoint survives its own hyperbole by offering great views in multiple directions from a precarious ledge at the top of the hill. The trails through moss-strewn woodland also provide a break from some of the more exposed paths encountered elsewhere in the Lakes.

The next section of the route follows the stony (but never too steep) path alongside Watendlath Beck to the hamlet of Watendlath, a few remote houses around a tarn, with yet more beautiful views and the backdrop of imposing hillsides. From Watendlath comes a climb up the hillside which is rewarded with great views across the valley and down into Borrowdale, a steep downhill descent which requires concentration, a detour to see (and climb up) the 2,000 ton Bowder Stone, a gigantic piece of Ice Age era geology sitting incongruously in the middle of a wood, more walking alongside the River Derwent (on the opposite bank to the Borrowdale walk) and yet more tea and cake in the village of Grange.

Once fortified, you are ready for the final stretch – a great path along duckboards amongst the reeds and marshes of the southern end of Derwent Water, emerging to reveal the whole lake before you. A couple of lake-side stretches, a little more woodland walking and you are back to your starting point. A highly recommended walk, with lots of interesting views and plenty to keep you engaged, without necessarily wearing you out.

Lake District: Borrowdale Circular

Date: Tuesday 15^th April 2014

Route: Borrowdale Circular

Distance: 7 miles

After a punishing ascent of Skiddaw the day before, the circular walk around Borrowdale from the Pathfinder Guide to Lake District Walks seemed like a good option – not only because it goes through possibly “the loveliest valley in England”, but also because it contains the very welcome introductory sentence, “this is a low-level walk throughout.”

I have to confess that our previous experience with this walk was not a good one – when we tried it in May 2009 we got soaked to the skin by the unrelenting rain and ended up walking along the top of a (very wet) dry-stone wall and finally the road to escape the rising waters of the overflowing river Derwent.

Luckily, this time around we had the benefit of a perfect day – lots of sunshine, clear blue skies and all of those stereotypically lovely Lake District moments – spectacular scenery, sunlight reflecting off the water, lambs leaping around on the hillsides and Wordworthian daffodils swaying in the breeze.

The walk begins and ends at the village of Seatoller, at the base of the Honister Pass, and quickly leaves the village behind to head over the hillside and on towards the imposing Castle Crag, looking down on the village of Rosthwaite before joining the banks of the River Derwent. The walking is easy, the scenery is spectacular and the temptation to take photographs is constant.

Once past a campsite it is an easy walk to the village of Grange, where unhappy memories of sitting dripping wet and miserable a few years are replaced by the warm and fuzzy feeling that only a big pot of tea and home-made gingerbread can dispel.

The route back to Seatoller is less taxing and mainly follows the river, first through woodland and then across fields, with plenty more “wow” moments in terms of views.  A lovely, straightforward walk through beautiful Lakeland countryside.

Lake District: Skiddaw Circular

Date: Monday 14^th April 2014

Route: Skiddaw Circular from Dodd Wood

Distance: 6.75 miles

The first walk that we have tried from Country Walking Magazine’s Best 100 Walks in the UK is described as “a sublime way for anyone to explore England’s fourth highest mountain.”

Despite being given a “moderate” grading, this is a pretty challenging walk. After a gradual ascent through pine woods on a path that feels as if it has been transplanted to Lakeland from the West Highland Way, the steepness kicks in on the ascent to Ullock Pike, which has some breathtaking climbs. Although the path from Ullock Pike across to Skiddaw looks pretty intimidating from a distance, it is actually pretty straightforward, though the climb up Skiddaw itself, whilst on an obvious path, is exceptionally steep in places and best taken slowly.

The grey rocky surface of Skiddaw adds to the feeling of remoteness and other-worldliness but the spectacular views in all directions, including the still-snowy peaks of other Lake District icons, the lakes of Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite and the Irish Sea and Solway Firth, justify all the effort.

Having climbed up to 930m, the only way is down – and initially the path is pretty steep too, descending sharply along a stony path on Carl Side before re-entering the woodland and slowly ascending more gently.

I would not recommend this walk to anyone other than reasonably fit and experienced walkers who want a challenge – it really is not easy! But if you are up for trying something different and don’t mind the impact of lots of steep climbing and descending on your knees, this walk comes with a built-in sense of achievement and some fantastic views. 

Lake District: Cat Bells & Derwent Water

Date: Sunday 13^th April 2014

Route: Cat Bells and Derwent Water

Distance: 4.5 miles

Once upon a time, I used to write a blog about country walks. Then, it rained… and it rained… and most of the paths that we walked on disappeared underneath flood water, became impassable due to huge puddles or turned into extended fields of churned-up mud. So I stopped blogging for a while and walked through the city instead. And honestly, whilst I could have blogged about walking from Notting Hill to St Paul’s or Embankment to Fulham, given that our walks were largely improvised, often pretty functional and not necessarily very picturesque,  I decided to give the blogging a rest until I had some more interesting walks to talk about.

We have had a couple of weeks’ walking in the Lake District in the past – a week in Ambleside in 2002, when we invested in a book of easy circular walks, then another week in Keswick in 2009, when the walks and weather both got a bit more difficult – but both of these pre-date the existence of the blog, so this is the first time that I have blogged about one of the most beautiful areas to walk in in the UK.

Our first day in the Lakes this year seemed like an ideal opportunity to revisit a classic walk close to Keswick. This is the Cat Bells and Derwent Water walk from the Pathfinder Lake District Walks Guide and whilst it includes both a strenuous climb and a steep hillside descent, it is not too long, with the return section on an easy and relatively flat path through woodland and alongside Derwent Water, so it is a great way to immerse yourself in Lake District walking after a break.

There is no way to escape the climbing at the start of the walk – and there is a certain amount of clambering over rock faces too, especially at the top of the first hill – but being surrounded by families with kids and active pensioners scaling the paths at speed is a massive motivator and the prospect of great views back towards Keswick and across Derwent Water keeps you going through the breathless moments. The walk offers a classic combination of rolling hillsides, green fields and sunlight reflecting off the lake, with a fair amount of breeze on the exposed hillsides to blow the cobwebs away.

If you do this walk at the weekend, it is pointless to expect solitude – this is a popular walk and you will spend a lot of time chatting with fellow walkers (and dogs), as well as shooting the occasional envious glance at anyone lucky enough to secure a lakeside picnic bench or seat with a view, but the Pathfinder Guide describes this as a “superb walk” and I cannot help but agree.  The perfect walk to get you re-acquainted with the Lake District National Park.