Wansfell Circular via Troutbeck | Birkett FAR 5 | Graham’s Guides

A lovely walk heading out from the popular lakeland village of Ambleside.

Graham’s Walks Vitals

  • Distance: 7.1 miles/11 km
  • Elevation: 2122 ft/646 m
  • Difficulty: Moderate – boggy in places.
  • Map: 🗺️
  • GPX: 📁
  • Graham’s Cafe: None, but there are plenty of options for a cafe in Ambleside at the start or end of the route. There’s also The Old Post Office Tea Room in Troutbeck part way around.
  • Classification: Birkett, Wainwright

The Area

Bill Birkett muses: “A much loved hill, Wansfell is to Ambleside what St. Paul’s is to London.” I’m not really sure I know what he means by that because I’m not really sure I know what “St. Paul’s is to London”. I suspect it’s something to do with the way St. Paul’s stands above the London skyline.

Wansfell must have impressed the norse invaders if the common understanding of the origin of its name is correct – “Wans” pointing to “Woden” or, in English, Odin the leader of the Norse gods.

There are two peaks in this route. Birkett’s 541 counts Wansfell Pike and Wansfell. Wainwright’s 214 only counts Wansfell. Interestingly the OS map shows Wansfell Pike and Baystones, the word Wansfell is shown alongside the ridge between the two. The summit of this peak is the one marked as Baystones, and thus the summit of Wansfell. Clear? This confusion does mean that many people get to the top of Wansfell Pike and call it done but Wainwright has these words for hikers: “A grassy hummock, a little higher than many around, is the true summit of the fell: a few small stones confirm it. It is an unattractive place, rarely visited; better is the rocky top of Wansfell Pike, which at least is mildly interesting and unique in possessing an iron gate.” A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells: The Far Eastern Fells.

On this route you descend into Troutbeck where you’ll pass several roadside wells with different names above them. These are cattle troughs erected in the 1800s and the names above them most likely point to locals at the time despite them being marked as St. John, St. James, and Margaret. It’s also worth noting that what we know as Troutbeck today is really a set of hamlets within the Troutbeck valley with wonderful names like Town End, Town Head, High Green, High Fold and Low Fold which are still visible on the map.

An interesting name on this route is “The Hundreds” this refers to an ancient practice of splitting the land into areas that could sustain 100 cattle. The commoners in an area where then given a “hundred” to farm.

The Walk

This walk starts at the Low Fold Car Park between the A591 Lake Road and Old Lake Road.

Turn left out of the back of the car park on Old Lake Road. Turn right up Fisherbeck Lane and go with it as it turns left. At the t-junction turn right along Blue Hill Road. Continue along Blue Hill Road as it becomes a bridleway traversing the Wansfell hills.

The end of Blue Hill Road is marked by a gate with a path up to the right heading straight up the hillside. This path takes you all the way to the first peak – Wansfell Pike. This path is well defined and there aren’t any navigational decisions to make but it is advisable to take in the view (and let your lungs recover) as you ascend. At times it can feel a bit like you are climbing a staircase.

From Wansfell Pike follow the path along the ridge wall, with the wall on your left, to the summit of Wansfell marked Baystones on the OS Map. There’s a stile in a wall about half way along, the true summit is a short distance beyond a second wall.

It’s necessary to retrace your steps a little bit, back through the wall, to pick up the path heading down to Nanny Lane. The path you want heads to the left down hill. If visibility is reasonably good you should be able to see a wall which will take you to the lane as you descend.

Nanny Lane takes you all the way down into Troutbeck. At the end of the lane is a t-junction onto a road. Turn right along the road and proceed until you reach the Old Post Office Tea Room.

Just beyond the tea room is a lane off to the right marked as Robin Lane on maps which will start the traverse back to your starting point.

Robin Lane becomes Hundreds Road. Part way along Hundreds Road a footpath branches off to the left through a gate. This path takes us all the way back to Ambleside via High Skelghyll and Skelghyll Wood. The views on this section are spectacular. There are several benches to stop and take in the scenery.

The path becomes a lane and drops down onto Old Lake Road not far from the car park. Turn right towards the car park.

Alternatives and Extensions

If you are a lover of waterfalls you can adjust the start of this walk and head towards Stockghyll which is fabulous when water levels are high. This extension will also add in the option of a stop at Force Cafe and Terrace, personally, I prefer my refreshments at the end of a walk.

If you are looking for a slightly shorter route and the thought of descending into Troutbeck doesn’t excite you it’s possible to chop a corner off by aiming for the end of Hundreds Road. Part way along Nanny Lane there’s a kissing gate on the right from where a path heads back towards Wansfell. A short distance along this path there’s a route off to the left which goes across the moorland to the end of Hundred Road. You’ll need to keep a look out for the path to Skelghyll wood on the right.

Another alternative is to miss the Wansfell/Baystones summit out and head straight down to Nanny Lane from the summit of Wansfell Pike.

There are a few places where it’s possible to make your way down to the shore of Windermere from the traverse. While it might look like a nice thing to do, you’ll then be walking into Ambleside alongside the A591 which can be extremely busy. One of the routes down, though, takes you to Stagshaw Gardens which is a woodland garden where, in the spring and early summer, there is a wonderful display of azalea and rhododendron.

The Climb out of Ambleside with Loughrigg Fell in the foreground.
Blue Hill Road
The end of Blue Hill Road, take the path to the right
The path to the summit
Nearing the summit of Wansfell Pike and Wainwright’s iron gate
The view along Windermere from Wansfell Pike
The ridge wall towards the summit of Wansfell
Up and over the wall part way along
The summit is now in view
It’s not that much of a summit when you get there
The path to the left is the one you want
Either path works here, but the one to the right is the one I took
The stile onto Nanny Lane
Nanny Lane down to Troutbeck
Margaret’s Well
The Old Post Office Tea Room with the lane off to the right just beyond it
Views of Windermere opening out on Robin Lane
Hundreds Road to the right, the path you want to the left
Views of High Skelghyll
Views from Skelghyll Wood
Almost back in Ambleside
Onto Old Lake Road, head right back to your vehicle

Silver How and the Langdale Edge | Birkett LAN 2 | Graham’s Guides

A lower level walk that goes takes you from the softer southern fells into the more craggy Langdale fells. Including Birketts, Wainwrights and bird’s eye views of several lakes.

Graham’s Walks Vitals

  • Distance: 6.9 miles/11 km
  • Elevation: 2172 ft/662 m
  • Difficulty: Moderate
  • Map: 🗺️
  • GPX: 📁
  • Graham’s Cafe: You are likely to drive past Chesters by the River
  • Classification: Birkett, Wainwright

The Area

This walk begins in the Langdale Valley starting at either the Lake District National Park Dungeon Ghyll Car Park or the roadside near Harry Place Farm. The National Trust Stickle Ghyll Car Park is also a reasonable starting place and is free if you are a member. When I recently did this walk, I forgot about the National Trust car park, where I had free parking, even though it’s only a few metres further down the road. There are regularly overflow arrangements for parking near to the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel.

This walk includes Sickle Tarn, the stream down from the tarn is Stickle Ghyll which I have seen confused with Dungeon Ghyll which is a different ravine to the west of Stickle Ghyll.

This whole area, Dungeon Ghyll in particular, became a popular Victorian tourist destination inspired by the romantic poets, most famously the Wordsworths and their friends. What is now the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel evolved out of a farm house that was there before the tourists arrived. The Lake District has been a tourist destination for a long time.

This walk includes Silver How which is renown for its views; Wainwright described the views of Rydal and Grasmere as “bird’s eye” which sums it up nicely. Linking Silver How with the Langdale Edge takes us from the softer fell profiles of the south Lake District into the more rugged profiles as you head north and west.

Silver How is a popular walk from Grasmere village as a family friendly 3 miles walk.

A few name details for this walk: A “How” is a derivation from the Norse for “hill”; “Blea” is again norse this time for “dark blue”; “Rigg” continues the Norse naming meaning “ridge.” We see “Lang” in “Lang How” and “Langdale” which is still in use today in Cumbrian dialect and means “long.”

This walk includes four Birketts – Silver How, Lang How, Castle How and Blea Rigg. Silver How and Blea Rigg also count as Wainwrights

The Walk

The walk can be done in either direction. I’ve described it in the direction outlined by Birkett, if I was to walk it again I would walk it in reverse of this description. The route starts by walking to the end of the Langdale Edge climbing slowly to Blea Rigg with a rapid descent down the side of Stickle Ghyll. There are paths down both sides of Stickle Ghyll which are tourist routes with high footfall making it necessary for both paths to be highly stepped to constrain erosion. Personally walking down uneven rough stone steps is one of my least pleasurable types of walking; I prefer to walk up this type of terrain.

Setting off from the National Park car park head down the bridleway alongside the river towards to start of the valley, this will bring you out onto the road near to Harry Place Farm. Follow the road for a short distance to the right until just beyond the farm buildings where you should see a sign showing the footpath up the hill to the left.

A short way up the hillside you’ll go through a gate from where the path will swing to the right and alongside a wall on your right.

You’ll follow this path around to the left and steadily up and around Thrang Crag above Chapel Stile. There are some great views to the south from this path.

The path will cross a waterfall and then a short distance beyond there is a path heading off to the left and up to the top of Silver How.

Take some time to enjoy the view from the top before heading off towards Lang How which is north-westward.

The path towards Lang How misses out the top so you do ned to head off to the right near to one of several unmarked tarns on the route. From the top of Lang How you head back to the path you just left a little further along.

The path continues on up the ridge towards Castle How. Birkett’s book doesn’t define a top for this hill and the book is a bit ambiguous. The Database of British and Irish Hills (DoBIH), which some regard as the definitive list for hill baggers, defines the top as grid reference NY307075 (wikipedia) and is what I have included in the route map. This reference is again a short distance from the main path. While, personally, I do like to reach a defined summit I’m not going to get worried about being stood on an exact point, especially if there are several potential summits, as there are in this case,

From the defined Castle How summit we return to the path and continue along the ridge to Blea Rigg.

Between Castle How and Blea Rigg the views down to Easedale Tarn open out to the right. The physical summit of Blea Rigg isn’t that well defined either; according to the DoBIH it’s NY301078 if you want to be precise.

As you continue along the path beyond Blea Rigg and if visibility is good you should be able to see the rocky crags of Pavey Ark and the protuberance of Harrison Stickle ahead. Further progress will extend these views to include Stickle Tarn which is where we are heading.

Most paths lead to Stickle Tarn; the path you need to avoid is the one to the right which will take you up onto Sergeant Man.

Continue on the path to the edge of the tarn heading to the left and the outflow of Stickle Ghyll. You can go down either side of Stickle Ghyll, you can even change your mind part way along. My preference is to cross the river near to the tarn and travel all the way down on the western side. As I’ve mentioned earlier these paths are mostly rocky steps and require care.

The paths from Stickle Gyle emerge near to the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel from where your vehicle will be a short walk easterly along the road; assuming you’ve parked at this end of the valley. The walk back to Harry Place Farm will take a while longer.

Alternatives and Extensions

You should seriously consider doing this walk in reverse of what I have described, as mentioned earlier.

There are several ways to extend this walk but most of them would add several miles onto the route. It would also be possible to do the same ridge walk but from the Grasmere valley heading up to Silver How from the more common route and returning from Blea Rigg via Easedale Tarn.

Leaving the car park
Early view of the route down
The car park at Harry Place Farm
the start of the ascent
The first little gate
Early views to the south of Langdale
The path does get narrow in places
The cairn at the summit of Silver How
A glimpse of Grasmere
Unnamed Tarn on the route to Lang How
Cairn at Lang How
Views down to Easedlae
Reaching the top of Blea Rigg
First view of Stickle Tarn
The route down Stickle Ghyll
Continuing the route down
Looking back on the ridge walked

Clougha Pike Circular from Riggs Lane | Graham’s Guides

A beautiful Lancashire walk with loads of history and interesting geology. A great place to enjoy the mesmerising sound of Red Grouse singing.
This walk includes a visit to the spectacular Three Chambers installation by Andy Goldworthy.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance5.7 miles/9.2 km
Elevation1283 ft/391 m
DifficultyModerate
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeNot on this one
ClassificationNone

The Area

I have a theory that many areas of the UK have places that are deliberately named to help identify outsiders. They like to do this by having a name that is pronounced differently to how they are spelled. This walk starts near to the wonderfully named Quernmore which is one of those places; if you want to reveal yourself as a visitor you will assume that this place is pronounced quern-more, whereas everyone local calls it kwor-mer.

Clougha Pike sits within the Forest of Bowland. When I was studying for my degree a fellow student from the south of England came in and said something to the effect of “We went to the Forest of Bowland at the weekend, but couldn’t find the trees, there weren’t any.” They were right, they hadn’t missed something, there aren’t many tree. Today we mostly associate the term forest with trees as the word has shifted meaning over time. A “foresta” is a Middle Ages term for a piece of land that is set aside for a King or a high ranking noble for hunting. This status that continues in the area with much of it being owned by the Duchy of Lancaster (the King) and the Duke of Westminster. The Forest of Bowland never had that many trees it’s always been too boggy.

Clougha isn’t the highest point within the forest, but it does give some impressive views in every direction. On a good day it’s possible to see north to the Lake District Fells and south to North Wales. To the east the peaks of the Yorkshire Dales stand majestic and to the west are the lowlands of Lancashire and on a really good day views of the Isle of Man beyond Barrow-in-Furness.

The name Clougha hints at the rock formations within the grit stone on the walk; a clough is a gorge or narrow ravine of which there are several with some wonderfully named on the maps – Windy Clough, Little Windy Clough, Foxes Clough and on some maps Otter Geer Clough (confusingly also shown as Oter Geer and Ottergear).

There is more information on the local history here: Forest of Bowland: History, Culture & Heritage.

The Walk

This walk starts from Rigg Lane car park which is here on Google Maps, grid reference: SD 526 604. This is also known as Birk Bank car park describing the geological feature to the rear.

The path leads from a gate at the back of the car park up over a small hill and then keeping to the right down towards a boggy area. There is a duckboardss path across the boggy bit, fortunately. The duckboard has been replaced in recent years and follows a slightly different route to the one shown on most of the maps. Again keeping to the right head towards the wall and a stream which you will follow up through a wooded area with Birk Bank own your left and into our first clough.

You will reach an intersection of several dry stone walls and a pair of high-stiles. Take the one to the right and continue to follow the path uphill with the wall on your left. The path follows the wall as it turns right and then left, then through the wall (I think via a gate) from where you will see a clear route up to the top.

From this point on the path is quite bouldery with muddy areas between. Thankfully, being grit stone none of the stones are smooth or slippery. The path again follows a wall for most of the rest of the route to the top. If you haven’t already, this is the area where you are likely to get your first encounter of a Red Grouse, even if you haven’t seen them you are likely to have heard them.

The top is marked by trig-point and a dry-stone wind shelter which is a great place to stop and take in the view.

From the top head east towards the area marked on the map as Foxes Clough. After a short while you’ll head over a small stile from where you may notice a subtle change in the landscape. From this point, and for most of the rest of the walk, our route takes us across a managed grouse moor which is part of the Abbeystead Estate owned by the Duke of Westminster. Access to areas of this moorland may be restricted during the grouse shooting season which runs from 12th August to 10th December, it may also be restricted if there is a high risk of fires.

The path eastward heads towards the summit of Grit Fell, this is a great extension to this walk. We are going to follow this path for a while and then take a path off towards the left which works us across to an area marked as Quarries (dis) on the map. This disused quarry is the home of the Three Chambers, or Clougha Pike Chambers, an installation by Andy Goldworthy.

From the chambers head over to the gravel track heading left along the track.

The track curves to the left and then to the right up towards a plough of rocks on the right alongside which you will see a path to the right. This path is visible, but you do need to look for it. You follow this path across moorland downward and curving leftward. The path eventually works its way alongside a stream in a small valley, zig-zagging its way down towards a wall marking the edge of the moorland.

Turn left across the stream and either alongside the wall or up onto the ridge that overlooks the wall; both routes come out on another path with a wood on the right. This will bring you back onto the gravel track which will take you down another small valley and to the right over a high stile.

Before the gravel road heads out of the moorland there is a track to the left which will take you to a bridge across a valley, the Ottergear Bridge. The primary purpose of this construction though is as an aqueduct; it’s carrying water from Thirlmere in the Lake District to Manchester a 96-mile journey.

Having crossed Ottergear Bridge the path works its way around the base of Birk Bank to the path just above the duckboards; take a right hand turn down to the car park.

Alternatives and Extensions

The most obvious extension to this one is to carry on the Grit Fell from the top of Clougha Pike. This looks fine on the map, I’ve never done it but I have seen several people say that it’s very boggy.

You can reach the top of Clougha and Grit Fell from Jubilee Tower, this would get you to the top but it wouldn’t make sense to continue on the circular aspects of it. Several people also highlight that this can be very boggy.

You could shorten the route by staying on the gravel track all the way from the Chambers to near Ottergear Bridge and then around.

Beyond Ottergear Bridge there is a large brick built structure part way up the hillside. I think that this is still part of the aqueduct works. There’s a path up to this structure from where there are some more good views. From here you can choose to work down to the car park, or you can continue along to the top of Birk Bank until you reach the stream and wall at the beginning of the walk and then back along the duckboards.

I think I’ve walked a different route every time I’ve done this walk.

As you reach the top of the first hill keep to the right
Looks out for the duckboards across the bog
Follow the path through the woods alongside the stream
Reaching the top of the woods
Work your way up the cloughs
Can you spot the Red Grouse
Follow the line of the wall
Spot the well known Yorkshire Peak
Looking out across Morecambe Bay from the wind shelter at the top
The path towards the Three Chambers
The Clougha Chambers
The Three Chambers
Follow the gravel rack to the outcrop of stone in the middle of this picture. Take a right on the path before it.
Head down through the moorland.
Keep on the gravel track at this point
Heading off the gravel track towards Ottergear Bridge
Ottergear Bridge with the aqueduct below
Something else to look out for
You’ll see this on a hillside, feel free to go and explore.

Skeggles Water Circular including Cocklaw Fell and Hollow Moor | Birkett KEN 2 | Graham’s Guides

Get away from the crowds and explore some less visited fells and the gloriously names Skeggles Water.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance5.6 miles/9 km
Elevation1182 ft/360 m
DifficultyDifficult
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeYou will drive past More? The Artisan Baker
ClassificationBirketts KEN 2

The Area

I must admit that until I was reading though Bill Birkett’s “Complete Lakeland Walks” I’d never heard of Skeggles Water. I say that as someone who has walked most areas of Cumbria and completed a round of the Wainwright fells. My lack of knowledge is a reflection of how little attention is given to the areas at the edge of the Lake District and the draw of the big peaks. It’s not surprising that people go for the larger fells and the more dramatic lakes but in doing so they miss the opportunity for a quieter day.

Skeggles Water sits in the hills between the valleys of Kentmere and Longsleddale. There’s no obvious origin to the name Skeggles; it was likely the name of someone from the Norse era who had the nickname Skeggi (beardy). Both valleys have long histories of settlement with evidence of Neolithic and Bronze Age activity (2,000 to 4,000 BC), the Romans used the nearby High Street as a route between their forts (100 to 400 AD) and there’s a Norse heritage in many of the place names.

We don’t really have strict rules for the way that we name things in English even though some people think we do. Kentmere suggests a mere (lake or pond) from the river Kent. However, it’s the valley and village that have become known as Kentmere and the mere is is known as Kentmere Tarn, further up the valley is Kentmere Reservoir. Confused?

Most of this walk is across an area of Kentmere known as Green Quarter. In more feudal times the grazing around Kentmere village was separated into four areas with the village church at the centre. Each grazing area had an allowance of tenants, each tenant had an allocation of cattle. In 1760 each quarter had 15 tenants, each tenants was allowed to graze 10 cattle. Green Quarter appears to be the only one of the quarters still visible on the map.

The Walk

The route of this walk isn’t on all, or even most, maps. The first third is on a well defined bridleway; the second third takes a path around the tarn and up onto the fells, most of it looks like it is regularly travelled by a quad-bike but can be tricky to stick to as it’s not on many of the maps; the final third is back onto well defined bridleways. The navigational challenges are why I’ve marked it as Difficult.

This walk starts from the village where there is very limited parking outside the Kentmere Institute for a donation. For most people this is also the start of the Kentmere Horseshoe a popular walk that contains numerous Wainwrights. In the summer there is also a car park in a field just before you enter the village. Away from these two parking areas there are very few areas to park and the roads are narrow. Don’t be that person who causes havoc for everyone else.

From the Institute head back along Hollingrigg Lane past the church and across the river; then turn left up Hellwell Lane.

Part way along Hellwell Lane you’ll see a footpath fingerpost on the right and a small gate up some steps which has the nameplate Lucy’s Wood. The path goes pretty much straight up to another gate onto a farm lane which will bring you out onto Lowfield Lane. Turning left and up the hill a short way. There’s a bridleway on the right through a farm gate; this is Cornclose Lane.

The route follows the bridleway for a little while until there’s a fork where we take the left hand option, the righthand route is marked as private. The path steadily ascends along the edge of the hill sweeping to the left.

The path reaches an apex from which it descends into a shallow valley and you will soon be able to see Skeggles Water in the middle. Just off the path before you reach the water there is a barn ruin; just beyond it is a path leading to the southern edge of the lake through a gap in a drystone wall.

Keep on the path around the southern end of the water and you’ll come to a footbridge across the outflow stream. Continue around, taking in the views until the path meets a more defined path heading north-westerly. Many of the maps only have a path as far as the footbridge but the path beyond is reasonably clear. At one point the path takes a detour away from the lake to find a gate through a fence.

Along this path you can see Cocklaw Fell rising steadily to the right. You are looking for a path to the right heading pretty much straight up to the top of the fell. This path probably isn’t on your map and isn’t easy to find on the ground; sometimes you just need to set a baring and follow it. The summit of Cocklaw Fell is little more than a hillock and you may need to take a baring to convince yourself you are really at the top. The views over into Longsleddale open out at this point.

From the small summit of Cocklaw Fell you should be able to see a fence just below it to the north-west. Turn left at the fence and follow it along and down to the main track and to a point where a couple of paths meet at the intersection of a couple of fences. At this point there is a path that heads up towards the summit of Hollow Moor off the main track to the right. This path, again, looks like it’s regularly travelled by a quad-bike but it isn’t on the normal OS topographic maps, but is on the OSMaps app standard view and OpenStreetMaps variants like CoMaps.

This path opens out the views towards upper Kentmere and the fells beyond, climbing steadily until you reach the summit of Hollow Moor. Near the summit of Hollow Moor it’s worth taking a few steps towards the valley to get the best views. Near to the top there is a stone that used to part of fence. According to the various maps this isn’t the summit, but it’s near enough to mark it.

The path off the summit is a continuation of the path you came up on. This will take you down the side of the fell towards another bridleway that crosses Kill Gill and into Kentmere. There are a couple of routes through Kentmere, the simplest is to take the path along the side of the stream onto Hellwell Lane. Turn left on the lane back to the bridge across the Kent and up to the church, the institute and your transport.

The church is often open and is lovely inside. There’s a also a really good local history and natural history display.

Alternatives and Extensions

There are probably simpler ways of ticking off Cocklaw Fell and Hollow Moor if you are trying to fit your Birketts list but this isn’t an arduous walk as it is. Perhaps you could miss out the circumnavigation of Skeggles Water but that feels like you’d be missing out on many of the best views. You could also do the fells from Longsleddale but it would be difficult to make it a circular route.

Crossing the Kent in the village
The steps up to Lucy’s wood
Walking the bridleway
The view back to the village and Sallows beyond
First glimpses of Skeggles Water
The barn ruin and the path to the lake
First views by Skeggles Water
Skeggles Water
The gate part way around Skeggles Water
The path along the fence after Cocklaw Fell
View of Hollow Moor
Views of Upper Kentmere
The fence post near the summit of Hollow Moor
Follow the track down from the summit of Hollow Moor
The view back to the church
Kentmere church
The summer car park

Loughrigg Fell Circular from Ambleside | Birkett LAN 2 | Graham’s Guides

This walk gives a lot of views for just 300m of ascent across a little over 6 miles.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance6.3 miles/10.1km
Ascent1391ft/423m
DifficultyModerate
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeParking is in Ambleside where there are several cafe options.
ClassificationBirketts LAN 2

The Area

Loughrigg Fell sits as a viewing platform at the junction of several valleys giving it views across much of the southern Lake District. On a good visibility day the walk starts with views of Windermere, Coniston, Coniston Old Man, and the Lancashire Fells to the south. As you ascend the vista opens out to the Langdales, Loughrigg Tarn and Elterwater. Nearer the top the panorama adds in Grasmere and the surrounding hills including Helm Crag and Fairfield. If you are really fortunate you can view some of the northern lakeland fells through Dunmail Raise with the Helvellyn massif standing alongside. The later stages of the walk add in Rydal and Nab Scar.

There are so many hills visible on this route that it can be difficult to distinguish all of them; an App I find particularly useful for this is PeakFinder which allows you to point at a panorama and see the hill names above each peak.

Loughrigg Fell has been heavily quarried over many years making it pitted and potholed especially at the top. This has removed any straightforward ridge to the top, near to the top the available paths can feel a bit like a maze, up and down. Bill Birkett notes: “A proliferation of paths makes route finding rather tricky along the top.”

This walk follows quite closely the route described in Bill Birkett’s Complete Lakeland Fells as LAN 2. Loughrigg Fell is also a Wainwright.

The Walk

This walk starts from the main carpark in Ambleside, the one on Rydal Road near to Bridge House. There’s a Public Toilet in the car park.

The route starts with a little bit of navigation. Head back to Rydal Road and head to the left out of Ambleside past the Fire Station. Just beyond the Fire Station head left down Storey Lane. At the end of the lane is a paved path that leads alongside Stock Ghyll as it flows towards its confluence with the Rothay. There’s a stone footbridge over the River Rothay onto Under Loughrigg road.

Turn right over the bridge and after a short while left onto a paved lane that heads up the hill. There’s currently a post at the end of the lane indicating it’s a public bridleway. The lane heads pretty much straight up until it turns to the left and then switches back to the right. At the right-hand switch there’s a footpath off the bridleway to the left. There’s a small wooden footbridge at this point. There’s also a gate before you get to the tarn.

Beyond this point the path winds its way up to Lily Tarn where it’s worth a bit of an explore. There are some glorious views from the various hillocks that surround it. Lily Tarn is apparently good for a swim, but quite shallow.

With the tarn on your left follow the path up the hill towards the sheepfold.

The path is well defined at this point and continues until it intersects the path from Skelwith Bridge. Continue uphill on the other side as the path fringes Loughrigg Fell to the top. The top is defined by a stone built trig-point.

There are several path away from the top, picking the right one can be a challenge. The one you want is directly opposite the one you walked in on. You should be able to see Grasmere, where you are heading, which will help you get your bearings.

The path down is well used and in the latter stages becomes stepped until it reaches Loughrigg Terrace above Grasmere. Turn right onto the path along the terrace with the mere on your left.

The walk here is the popular walk to Rydal Caves which you will reach by following the contour around. On most days you’ll be able to see the path without any problems as it will be dotted with people.

At Rydal Caves take the path down until it reaches the lane that leads down to Pelter Bridge past the small car park. Before the bridge take Under Loughrigg which is the road to the right. This road will take you alongside the River Rothay all the way back to the footbridge and the path alongside Stocks Ghyll, Rydal Road and into Ambleside.

Alternatives and Extensions

It’s difficult to know where to start on the alternative routes for this one, there are many. I’ll give a few.

On your way back from Grasmere you can choose to take the lakeside route back along Grasmere, via the river Rothay alongside Rydal. That’s straightforward enough.

From the top you can miss out Grasmere and head straight across the top to the caves. It’s probably quicker, but misses out several views.

There are a set of stepping stones part way along Under Loughrigh which, given the right conditions, would allow you to cross over to the A591 a little earlier. It’s fun, but not with the payback of walking down the busy A591. There are several places where you can cross to the A591 if the need arises.

You can take a swim in Grasmere or Rydal joining someone most days. There’s also the option of descending to Loughrigg Tarn before reascending to the summit. Loughrigg Tarn is one of the best swimming spots in the lakes, but it’s a lot of down and then back up. Probably better to plan that for another day.

Parking at the main carpark in Ambleside can get busy. There are various options in Ambleside itself probably the best alternative is Miller Bridge Car Park which is only just the other side of Rothay Park. Also, it’s not too much further to walk from Waterhead via the Rothay Bridge and onto Under Loughrigg from the other end. Another alternative is to use the Rydal car parks, but they are often busier than the ones in Ambleside.

Although it might look like it can be done, please don’t expect to be able to drive the length on Under Loughrigg it’s closed part way along.

The Bridge Across the Rothay
Under Loughrigg
The Footbridge on the way to Lily Tarn
There’s a gate on the way to Lily Tarn
This is Lily Tarn
The view across Windermere from near to Lily Tarn
Loughrigg Tarn and Elterwater beyond
The top is in sight
The view from the top toward Grasmere
On the way down to Loughrigg Terrace
Along Loughrigg Terrace
Looking back towards Rydal
The stepping stones

Sallows and Sour Howes above Kentmere Park | Birkett KEN 3 | Graham’s Guides

A lovely 7 miles walk, away from any crowds in a less visited valley to the south of the Lake District.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance7.3 miles
DifficultyDifficult
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeYou drive past More? The Artisan Bakehouse, Staveley
ClassificationBirketts KEN 3

The Area

To the side of the main route into the Lake District, the A591, is the small town of Staveley and through its narrow streets you access a hidden gem of the Lake District, Kentmere a glorious valley on the southern edge of the National Park. Every day thousands pass by on their journey to the bright lights of the central Lakes favouring the car parks, cruises and high peaks. For those who prefer something quieter Kentmere is a fabulous, and accessible, choice if you are travelling from the south.

Some walking days are defined by fine weather and open vistas, others are dominated by low cloud and reduced visibility, the pictures in this post are from one of the latter days. For me, hiking is a state of mind, and each day gives you a set of choices. You can choose to make the best of the weather or to be frustrated that it isn’t something else. You can choose to complain that the fells aren’t very impressive, as was one of the few hikers I met, or you can see each summit as a goal reached. A good day hiking is a choice. Having said all of that, the clouds lifted a bit for the latter half of the walk and the views were spectacular.

The start of the walk is from the end of a lane above Browfoot. This is the recommended start point in the Birkett guidebook being commended as a way to avoid the parking congestion that can occur near to the church in Kentmere village. While this sounds like a sensible thing to do, the track above Browfoot is currently highly potholed and the parking options at the end of the lane are extremely limited. If you don’t want to take your chances at Browfoot you will see on the maps that there several routes to the start of the walk nearby including from Ings where there are more parking options. There are also several parking options on the side of the road to Kentmere near to the pottery entrance in the area which is marked as Philipson’s Wood on the OS Maps.

This walk is classified as KEN 3 by Bill Birkett in Complete Guide to Lakeland Fells.

The Walk

The start, and end, of this walk is on the bridleway from Hugill Hall to Kentmere Hall. The bridleway takes you through open moorland for a couple of miles until just before a good-sized stream from where you follow the fence to the left which becomes a wall.

I’ll describe some of the main features of this walk, but the reality is, you need to navigate this walk by the map and by what you see on the ground. There aren’t any nicely worn paths to follow for much of it and not too many distinguishable waypoints.

Once you leave the main bridleway you travel along a wall until it takes a turn to the right from where you head across open moorland to the top of Capple Howe. Capple Howe is so small that it doesn’t make it to the title of the walk in Complete Guide to Lakeland Fells.

From the top of Capple Howe you should be able to see one of the few waypoints, a small triangular shaped, wall enclosed, wood. The path to the top of Sour Howes is to the left of the wood. More open moorland takes you to the top of Sour Howes.

Sour Howes is in a few routes so from here the path does become a little more distinct following a fence around Moor Head and over a stile to the top of Sallows. The top of Sallows is marked by an Ordnance Survey trig-marker plate.

The paths away from the top of Sallows become even more distinct but following the theme of this walk we aren’t going to follow any of them. Our task is to head across open ground to meet up with the former access lane to the nearby quarry, this is now little more than a path but still quite distinguishable on the ground.

The quarry lane will take you down to the bridleway on which we started the walk. Turn right as you meet h bridleway and it will take you back to the stream and a set of stepping stones. From the stream walk the two miles back to your vehicle.

Alternative and Variations

One extension that looks sensible on the map would be to add in High Knott and the Williamson’s Monument which isn’t a Birkett, but it is in Wainwright’s Outlying Fells. The monument looks to have a great view across to Staveley, the lower Kentmere area and Morecambe Bay beyond. While you will see several routes on maps to the monument, the owner of the land does not appear to want anyone visiting. When I tried to follow the paths recently, I was met by a dry-stone wall topped with barbed wire and a sign telling me that I would be prosecuted if I tried to get to the monument. I decided that it wasn’t worth it, but others have chosen to trespass to get their tick as a point of principle.

Some days are just misty…
I suspect that there is a view beyond this tree, but not today
Even on the top it was misty
The trig-plate on Sallows
The view along Kentmere decided to make an appearance
The view south with just a glimmer of Morecambe Bay in the distance. The silver line in the middle is the route back.
Descending below the clouds
We even had some blue skies…
Walking the bridleway back
Walking the bridleway back

Arnside Knott and Far Arnside Circular from Arnside | Grahams Guides

A walk of hills and coast, open views and woodland meandering. Starting and finishing in the beautiful coastal village of Arnside where there are several good cafe options and free parking.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance5.3 miles
DifficultyModerate
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeSandpipers (at the start/end of the walk on Arnside promenade)
The Wolf Cafe (short drive away in Silverdale)

The Area

The village of Arnside sits on the side of the Kent Estuary with glorious views of the southern Lake District fells. The views extend even further from the top of the relatively small Knott which we will ascend on this route. The Kent has its source in Kentmere in the southern Lake District and makes its way down through Staveley and Kendal (a derivation of Kent Dale) and past Levens through the Deer Park. It then makes its way through the varied landscape of the Kent Estuary and into Morecambe Bay.

Arnside is mostly a product of the railway. Prior to the arrival of the train, it was a small fishing village; the Furness line turned it into a fashionable place for the Victorians to visit for recuperations and health retreats. Its development stayed small without a large hotel or theatres which helped it avoid much of the impact caused by the switch to foreign holidays.

We start this walk from the shorefront in Arnside from where you will notice the Arnside Viaduct which was built in the 1850s. It’s still the only crossing of the estuary and when it was opened made a huge difference to the travel times to and from Barrow and beyond. There are plans to widen the viaduct for cycling and walking with a funded feasibility study being undertaken in 2023, there doesn’t appear to have been much activity since then though.

The views on this walk are dominated on one side by the huge expanse of Morecambe Bay which is “largest intertidal area in the whole of the UK“. Its huge expanse has meant that people have often braved the perils that lurk there to save on the long journey going around. As you look out on the view imagine that people used to ride stagecoaches across the sands and that Romans and Monks once walked this route.

As another short aside, while currently part of Cumbria, much of land on the other side of the bay from Arnside was historically part of Lancashire.

There is lots of good walking from Arnside, but please note, the Kent Estuary is not suitable for swimming.

The name Arnside is widely understood to come from a Norse heritage meaning Eagle (arn) Headland (side). The nearby RSPB Leighton Moss is frequented by several raptors, Foulshaw Moss on the other side of the Kent is a nesting please for Osprey and Warton Crag to the south has resident Peregrin Falcons; but I’ve never seen anything more than a Buzzard around Arnside. Knott is also a Norse word meaning rocky hill.

The Knott is one of several limestone crags along this area of coastline most of which have been used as quarries at one time but now are mostly open for walking and looked after by different organisations. Arnside Knott is owned by the National Trust who provide a small car park on the Knott itself.

The Walk

We start this walk from the village of Arnside parking on the shoreline. There’s normally ample parking on the promenade road, but there’s also the option of Arnside beach Car Park.

Depending on where you parked there are several options for getting to the top of the Knott. The easiest to navigate is to follow the main road out of Arnside towards Silverdale, called Silverdale Road. Turn right onto Red Hills Road and then take a left up onto High Knott Road heading left as it reaches a T-junction. The OS Maps route that I’ve made available shows a route that cuts through to Red Hills Road from the shoreline near to the Arnside Beach Hut cafe.

From High Knott Road take a right through the woods and up the hill to the top of the Knott.

The woods will give way to a field. At the other side of the field, you pass through a gate into open limestone thickets to the top. This is limestone which can be slippery when wet.

Make sure you take some time to enjoy the views on your way up. From the tops of the Knott you can see across the Cumbrian Fells, across into the Yorkshire Dales and along the Lancashire coastline.

If you are someone who likes to bag a trig-point you’ll find one hidden in the middle of a thicket to the left of the main path. Although it marks the top the trig-point isn’t where the best views are. From the trig-point work your way back to the path that you left which you can either do by retracing your route, or by taking the path that’s shown on the map.

The main path will take you past several open viewing areas; some with seating. The path will also take you downhill eventually reaching a fork. At the fork take the left-hand option which will take you down to a gate into Hollins Farm. If you miss the fork carry on down until you reach a wall where you can take the path on the left to the gate.

From Hollins Farm take a stile across another field onto the driveway for the Far Arnside Holiday Park.

Take the driveway into the park and across it to the gate on the far side into a wood. This path will take you around the outside of the Knott on the Cumbria Coastal Way back to Arnside. The path meanders its way through the woodland sometimes along cliff tops. At various points paths branch off to a pebble beach or a rocky cove, feel free to explore these paths the views are ever changing. The coves and beaches are excellent places to stop for refreshments, and the bay looks different each time you visit.

I’ve never known this route be busy, but it is especially peaceful beyond Far Arnside until you reach The Bob-in Cafe by which time you are almost back into Arnside.

At The Bob-in Cafe the path goes around the outside of a grassy bay and returns to woodland on the other side known as Grubbins Wood and cared for by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

Extensions and Variations

There are many different interconnecting paths on the Knott; feel free to explore this fascinating place. Different paths will give you different panoramas to enjoy.

You can choose to do some of the walk on the shorefront but please make sure that you understand what the tides are going to be doing. Also, even if the tide is out there is still the possibility of quicksand.

The National Trust publish a shorter circular route (1.7m) from their car park on the Knott itself.

There aren’t too many places to extend this walk as at least half of it is framed by the coast. Where it can be extended it to include Arnside Tower by heading over the Knott and then on down to the coastal walk from the tower. If ancient towers are your thing then this may be something you want to do but by taking this detour you will be missing out on many of the views from the Knott. The tower is a ruin and there really isn’t very much to see.

Arnside Viaduct with the tide out
Arnside Viaduct with the tide in
Promenade Parking
Finding the Trig Point
Looking south from the summit
The Kent Estuary looking north
Joining the path through the woods at Far Arnside
Meandering the coastal path
Meanding the coastal path on a different day
Exploring a pebble beach
I wonder where this path goes?
Grubbins wood
Looking across the estuary towards Grange

Top o’ Selside Circular from High Nibthwaite | Birkett OUT 3 | Graham’s Guides

Taking a walk on the quieter side of the Lake District. This route crosses open moorland where you are likely to be on your own with the fabulous views across the fells and over to Morecambe Bay.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance4.8 miles
DifficultyDifficult
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeNearest is Bakehouse Born and Bread

The Area

If areas of the Lake District had a league table this one would be somewhere in the second or third tier, and it’s all the better for it.

I’ve covered several walks that are in premier league areas like Grasmere which are beautiful, but also visited by lots of people. These areas define most people’s perspective of the Lake District, and I’m happy for them, but there are significant areas of Cumbria that don’t get this treatment and today’s walk is in one of those areas.

High Nibthwaite is at the southern end of Coniston and on the less visited eastern shore.

There isn’t really anywhere to park in the hamlet, but there is a small unmarked car park just outside to the north. There is also a field opposite this small car park which occasionally gets recommissioned as a place to leave your car, although on the day I last visited the field was full of impressive white cows. You will need the RingGo app for the field, the small carpark is free. When I say that the small car park is unmarked I mean that there are no signs at its entrance, you can’t see where the cars are parked from the road, and the entrance is down a rough track which immediately makes you doubt that a car park could be at the end of it. There is a grey metal post, but it doesn’t have any signs on it and it is shown on the OS Map. Here’s the link to the location of the small car park, if you zoom in close on Google Maps satellite view you’ll see a car parked in it.

High Nibthwaite has its own artistic connections with Antony Gormley of Angel of the North and Another Place fame. At the edge of the hamlet is a house called The Stable at Lake End where Anthony visited in the 1980’s and where, in a field next to the boat house and quay he has left one of his famous iron sculptures looking out towards the Old Man of Coniston. It’s worth a visit to the sculpture and to take in the view at the quay by taking the footpath across the field (The footpath doesn’t go anywhere other than to the quay).

Much of this walk is across Bethecar Moor which is mostly trackless so you will need you map reading skills for this walk. The moor is a mixture of small rambling hills, gullies and bogs. There are marked paths on the map, but they aren’t as clearly defined on the ground. Don’t be fooled into thinking of this as a natural landscape though, like much of the Lake District this area has been shaped by people over a long time with some mining, coppicing, peat extraction and charcoal burning.

Near to the summit of the walk is Arnsbarrow Tarn which is a beautiful peaceful glacial tarn. The name “barrow” hints as the Bronze Age burial mounds nearby. People have been shaping this landscape for a very long time indeed.

This walk includes three Birketts – Stang Hill, Arnsbarrow Hill, and Top o’ Selside.

The name Top o’ Selside is a combination of Norse and English meanings. The Norse part Selside means seasonal pasture on a hillside, more Viking influence. The English part Top o’ says that it’s the highest point of.

The Walk

This is a medium length walk but I’ve marked it as difficult because of the need to navigate open moorland where the tracks are few and far between. In good weather the features are distinct, but in poor visibility it would be easy to become confused. Also, walking in this kind of open moorland is more tiring and slower going than on defined well marked tracks. The lack of tracks does give lots of opportunity to explore though.

We start this walk from the small unmarked carpark to the north of Coniston which is here. We are going to do this circular in an anti-clockwise direction, but you could do it the other way around. My choice of direction is solely down to a preference for coming down through the woods at the end rather than working my way up them at the beginning.

From the car park we head south along the road back into High Nibthwaite taking a short detour to visit the Gormley statue and to take in the views along the lake from the quay.

In the middle of the hamlet is a track off to left. This track is often used by off-road enthusiasts and mountain bikers, it forms part of our route down later on. For now, though, we are only following it for a short distance before heading along the path to the right along following route of a drystone wall to our right.

This path will take us along the route of Caws Beck which is in the woodland, to our right, and below the crags of Brock Barrow, on our left, to the farm at High Bethecar. This farm has fabulous views across the fells and Morecambe Bay but feels very isolated.

From High Bethecar we head out onto the moorland through a gate and along a track that steadily diminishes. We are looking for a fork in the path that takes us off to Stang Moss to the right. This is where you will need your map reading skills because it isn’t very clear on the ground where this fork is.

The route from Stang Moss to Arnsbarrow Hill is along a small ridge. If you are fortunate you can see the top of Arnsbarrow from Stang Moss and the route is almost straight there.

When we are picking our way along a route it’s easy to get engrossed in the few metres in front of us, be sure to lift your head and take a look around, this route has fabulous views.

Onward to Arnsbarrow Tarn which is worth a visit to take in the tranquility of it. You should be able to see the tarn from Arnsbarrow Hill. Work your way around the eastern side of the tarm up onto the Top o’ Selside.

The track down from the Top o’ Selside is probably the clearest part of this moorland part of the walk. The views across to the Old Man of Coniston are glorious on a good weather day. Part way along this part of our bimble you will start to see the bridleway that will form the next part of our exploring.

Once you’ve reached the bridleway turn left along it as it descends.

The last time I did this route there were two groups of off-road vehicles making their way up the hill. The noisy engines and tires felt like an invasion of privacy having been on my own in the quiet moorland. I can see why people would choose this route though, the views are fabulous.

The bridleway will eventually draw alongside a wood on the right and then a little further along there is a gate into the wood. There’s only really one path down through the woods back to the carpark. This wood is nicely isolated and you should watch out for wildlife, when I last visited I saw a woodcock, a bird I’m not sure I’ve ever seen before.

Extensions and Variations

This route is mostly across moorland and this makes for infinite possibilities and variations.

Near the beginning of the walk you can choose to branch off and climb Brock Barrow which would be quite steep. Even if you don’t climb up the front you can branch off the defined path to the left to get some early views of the surrounding hills. From there you can cross moor to High Light Haws before branching off to Stang Moss.

If you were really wanting to maximise the number of Birketts that you covered on this walk you would take the route from Top o’ Selside to Carron Crag which is the only other Birkett in the area. Doing this would more than double the length of the walk and I’m not sure would add much more interest.

The entrance to the small carpark
It’s a small carpark
Initial views across Coniston and the White Cows, this is the field which sometimes becomes a carpark
Antony Gormley was here
The view from the quay
High Bethecar
Out on the moors, managed to find a bit of a path
Arnbarrow Tarn
Arnbarrow Tarn
Top o’ Selside with Morecambe Bay glowing in the background
The views along Coniston and the Bridleway
The gate into the woods

River Lune and Lancaster Canal Circular from the Lune Aqueduct | Graham’s Guides

A lovely 5 mile meander into the centre of Lancaster using the River Lune and the Lancaster Canal as our guides.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance5.3 miles
DifficultyEasy
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeAtkinsons The Castle
Atkinsons The Hall

The Area

This walk takes us alongside two waterways – the River Lune and the Lancaster Canal.

The origins of Lancaster date back to the Romans who established a fort on the hill where the current castle resides somewhere between 60 and 73 AD. This enabled them to oversee the river crossing at this point and monitor ships coming in from the Irish Sea. The name “Lancaster” is a corruption of the Old English Loncastre, meaning “the Roman fort on the River Lune”. “Lon” being the name of the River Lune, and “castre” originating from the Latin castra, meaning “camp” or “fort”. No one seems to be clear about the meaning on “Lon.”

The current castle, which we will visit on the walk, was started by the Normans somewhere around the 1090s with alterations and additions taking place across the centuries.

In 1792 work started on a new waterway across Lancaster – the Lancaster Canal. The history of the canal follows a similar one to many of the canals across the country. An initial construction was based on transporting heavy good, not long after construction it was made obsolete by the railways and fell into disrepair, being restored into a new role as a place of leisure. Lancaster Canal became known as “the black and white canal” because of the transportation of coal north and limestone south.

The two watercourses intersect at the Lune Aqueduct which is where we start our walk. The Aqueduct is the largest stone built aqueduct in the country and is worth a visit even if you aren’t going to walk too much further. The costs of the aqueduct were nearly three times those originally planned and lead to the cancelation of an aqueduct over the Ribble at Preston and the connection to the Leeds Liverpool Canal being replaced by a tram.

(As I write this the tram bridge across the Ribble, that replaced the aqueduct, is itself being replaced. The original canal bridge was never as impressive as the Lune aqueduct. They were clearly being far more careful with the money by then.)

On this walk we follow the river into Lancaster and the canal on the return journey.

The Walk

We start this walk at the small, free, Canal and Rivers Trust Car Park next to the Lune Aqueduct on the A589. The entrance to the car park is right next to the car park for McDonalds.

In one corner of the car park is a path leading you alongside the canal embankment to the river.

Once you get to the river turn left and follow the path into Lancaster.

This is a well paved path which is shared with cyclists.

There are a few places where it’s possible to get a view of the river, but for much of this early section the view is regularly obscured by trees. The closer you get to Lancaster, the fewer the trees.

Nearing the end of this section you will arrive at several bridges carrying roads and footpaths across the river. Don’t cross any of the bridges, carry along the footpath until you see a fingerpost pointing up the hill to Priory on the left.

On your way up the hill you will pass the ruins of the Roman Bathhouse.

At the top of the hill is Lancaster Priory with Lancaster Castle next to it. Both the priory and the castle are worth a visit while you are here. Inside the castle is the Atkinsons The Castle location, there’s more about the castle in the Graham Guide for the cafe. There is a huge amount of history in this small area.

Having refreshed yourself at the castle we are going to make our way across to the canal. There are several routes to the canal depending on your appetite to explore. You could head down to King Street, which is the main road into Lancaster, and head up the hill towards the hospital. You’ll arrive at the canal next to the Toll House Inn. Alternatively you can avoid the main road and take in the urban splendour of Fenton Street, High Street and Regent Street. Another alternative is to head a little way up the hill of Meeting House Lane towards the train station and then left onto Dallas Road. It doesn’t really matter where you meet the canal but you shouldn’t cross the rail tracks on any of these routes.

Follow the canal towpath towards the aqueduct which would mean heading left on the routes outlined above. If you are at all doubtful about your direction the aqueduct is labelled on many of the fingerposts on the towpath. There are a couple of places where the towpath crosses to the other side of the canal, these are well labelled.

The towpath will head out of Lancaster and bring you onto the aqueduct from where you will be able to find the car park.

The map shows crossing the aqueduct at the end of the walk. This is a short, non-circular part of the walk, traversing the structure and then returning to your car. You can do this at the beginning if that’s what you choose to do. Whether at the beginning or the end of the walk don’t miss this part out, the views are wonderful.

You shouldn’t need boots for this walk unless, like me, you like tramping away from the footpath.

Extensions and Variations

There are a few variations for this walk but they’re quite minor. As well as the ones I’ve highlighted you can walk a little further along the riverbank before cutting back to the castle area.

Atkinsons at the castle is lovely, particularly on a sunny day. On a wetter colder day I, personally, find Atkinsons The Hall a bit more cosy. The Hall isn’t far from the castle.

The Lancaster Canal
The View from the Aqueduct
The Weir
Inside Lancaster Canal

Skipton Coffee House, Roastery and Shop | Graham’s Guides

Travel back in time to a lovely warm lounge with freshly roasted coffee from the shop downstairs.

Graham’s Guidelines* Rating (1 to 5)
Coffee5* (Normally)
Food4*
Conversation4*
People Watching4*

The prevailing design of the current generation of coffee shops is sleek, simple, minimalist with a heavy dose of stark white and millennial grey. Sometimes the decor can feel a bit like you have been transported into the Heart of Gold on the TV version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (old man reference), or the Tardis in series fourteen and fifteen of Dr Who (for the younger ones).

The Skipton Coffee House is about as far removed from this design ambiance as it is possible to be.

The Coffee House is situated within a small set of terraced shops on the outskirts of Skipton on Gargrave Road.

There is room for a couple of cars on short-stay parking just outside, but this is the type of place where it’s worth lingering a while. I recommend finding parking on one of the streets opposite, this has never been a problem when we’ve visited. It is worth saying, though, that the street opposite are steep so you’ll need to be able to navigate a bit of a hill on your Shanks’s pony.

The cafe is upstairs which you access via a narrow stone staircase at the rear of the shop.

Before you dash upstairs, though, it’s worth taking a look around the shop. I suspect that apart from the point-of-sale machine (cash register) little has changed in many decades. It has been operated by the Exchange Coffee Company since 1997 before that it was owned by one Charles A Hallas who roasted on this site for many years.

The decoration upstairs is also little changed, other than in the kitchen area, which you pass on your way to the cafe seating at the front of the building. Here you will find an ambiance that owes much to William Morris and his bold, colourful, intricate wallpapers which adorn several of the walls. The unmatched furniture looks like it has seen all of life several times over. It feels like you are sitting in a lounge than a coffee shop, only it’s a lounge from over 50 years ago. If you are fortunate the fire will be lit and the picture will be complete.

This is only a small cafe but its situation means that there’s normally somewhere to sit, especially if you are willing to share with another customer.

Can I suggest, this isn’t somewhere to take your laptop and definitely not somewhere to join a video conference. Those activities would, for me, feel disrespectful to what this place is. This is more of a book and newspaper place.

The house expresso coffee is good, but I recommend that you take a little time and choose a cafetière with a bit of something locally roasted in it. You could even choose something even more adventurous from the micro-lot board. I can highly recommend the toasted fruit teacake and personally, the cheddar, chive and Marmite scones are lovely but I know that one will split the crowd.

I don’t normally comment on tea, but this is an excellent place to choose a darjeeling, Ceylon, gunpowder or breakfast blend.

You know that this is a place that’s about the drinks when you look at the menu, five pages are dedicated to drinks, a single page covers cakes and toasts.

As for people watching. This is a small room in a friendly Yorkshire market town. It’s often less about people watching than about having a chat with the people in the room. Last time we were there was a bit of an exception to this rule, the other couple who were in had already ordered before we arrived. The woman sat and drank her coffee while looking at her phone, the man arranged to have his four car tyres replaced while on the phone. Even in Yorkshire people don’t always want to engage in a chat.

Can I apologise for the lack of pictures in this post. I’ve realised that I need to get more purposeful about getting pictures I can put in a post. I have pictures, just not ones that I want to put here, fortunately there are some really good pictures via Google Image search. I hope my words are enough to intrigue you into going.

Skipton Coffee House, Roastery and Shop
10 Gargrave Road
Skipton
BD23 1PJ

Levens Deer Park Circular from Levens Hall, Carnforth | Graham’s Guides

A glorious parkland walk with interest all year round. Closer to home than the Lake District with a wonderful Graham’s cafe at the start/end.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance3.2 miles
DifficultyModerate
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeLevens Kitchen

The Area

Levens Deer Park is part of the grounds of Levens Hall, it is free to enter. Parking for free at Levens Hall as is use of the toilets. Then on top of that, you can go to Levens Kitchen at either the beginning or the end of the walk, or both if that’s how the mood takes you.

What’s not to like, parking, toilets, walk and cafe all for the cost of a coffee. You could even pick up some fresh bread and cakes at the bakery.

While we love the Lake District there are days when we would rather be a little closer to home and away from the visiting hoards; this walk is one of our favourites on such occasions. That’s not to say that this is a second-best walk, it’s a wonderful little ramble. It’s not overly long and not too arduous, but is long enough to get the lungs going with enough elevation to stretch the legs. There’s plenty of interest too; waterfalls, goats, deer and if you are fortunate jumping salmon.

This walk is good all year round. In the spring there are blankets of crocus alongside the river near to the car park and blankets of snowdrops in other places. The summer brings cooling dappled light along deciduous tree lined avenues. In the autumn the trees transform into an explosion of colour giving great views along the river, this is when the salmon do their leaping. Cold crisp days in the winter bring a different light and the joy of crunching through parkland.

While the parkland may look naturalistic, it was actually landscaped over 300 years ago at the same time as the gardens at the hall. Imagine the physical manpower involved in landscaping such a vast area 300 years ago!

The Walk

There are a few places on this route where a decision needs to be made, most of the time the route is defined by the parkland. At the farthest end of the walk you leave the park to cross the river and then reenter it to return.

We start this walk from the car park of Levens Hall. It’s free to park and I’ve never known parking to be a problem. If the car park is closed for any reason there is also parking on the road leading down from the A590. Not really sure how to describe this parking option, so here’s a pin for it.

Head out of the hall the way you came in, along the avenue through the stone archway. You will need your wits about you as you cross the road; the cars can come fast and there isn’t an obvious place to safely cross.

Once on the other side of the road we are going to do this walk clockwise which means walking along the road for a short distance, across the river and into the park through the small steel gates in the wall and then down some steps onto the path.

You should now be able to see in front of you the river Kent to your right as it sweeps to the left. The path follows this same sweep up a gradual incline. There’s also a signpost showing the walk. This sign also, currently, advises you not to swim in the river because of pollution, it always looks clear, but the danger is often what you can’t see.

If you are fortunate you may see some black fallow deer or some Bagot goats. The deer are regularly on this side of the river, but the goats are more regularly on the other side near to the end of the walk. The black fallow deer are a dark variant of the common European fallow deer. The Bagot goats have striking horns and very cute kids in the spring.

We follow this path across the park and upstream. The path is well defined and eventually takes a lefthand turn reaching a stile and gate over a wall. On the far side of the wall turn right and follow the wall along the edge of the field. This is one area where it can get muddy in wet periods.

The path follows the wall across a field, over another stile, and across the middle of another field.

On the far side of the second field a gate opens out on to a lane by a cottage. Turn right and follow the lane until you come to a path underneath the A590 as it travels over the River Kent. The lane continues on the other side.

A short way along the lane you will come to some cottages. Just before these cottages there’s a small carpark. To the rear of the carpark there’s a waterfall where, in the right season and if you wait long enough, you can see salmon leaping.

Continuing along the lane you will get views of several other waterfalls. This area is abundant with snowdrops in the spring.

The lane comes out at a road-bridge over the river to the right. Walk across the bridge and take the road to the right on the other side. It’s mostly righthand turns on this walk – it’s a clockwise walk. The views aren’t great for this small section as the river is masked by a large stone wall.

Follow the road over the A590 dual carriageway beyond which you will see a gate to the right. There’s a stile with a small gate at the top over which you will turn left. You are now back in the deer park on an avenue of mature deciduous trees. You follow this avenue most of the way back to the hall.

I imagine that the owners of the hall would promenade along this avenue with all the trappings of the important, or hunt the deer on horseback.

Near to the end of the avenue the path veers off to the right following the route of the river back to the road. This is the area where the Bagot goats tend to frequent.

Cross the road back to the hall and your vehicle.

Alternatives and Variations

There’s an extension to the route at the far end that takes in the now disused upper-reaches of the Lancaster Canal and also takes in Sedgwick House and the Hincaster Tunnel. This extension is fully described as Walk 3 on the Lancaster Canal Towpath Trail.

At the top of the walk, before crossing over the River Kent there’s a short extension to a footbridge a bit further upstream beyond the wonderfully named Nannypie Lane. I’ve seen photographs of salmon leaping in this area, but never seen any myself.

Glorious Autumn colours
Snowdrops by the River Kent
Crocus in full bloom
Black Fallow Deer
Watching for Salmon

Mathilde’s, Grasmere | Graham’s Guide

A great place to sit and enjoy the ambiance with an excellent coffee and an exquisite cake.

Graham’s Guidelines* Rating (1 to 5)
Coffee4*
Food5*
Conversation3*
People Watching5*

Grasmere has several excellent cafes and is, thankfully, devoid of corporate establishments.

Mathilde’s is on the same site, and shares the building with the Heaton Cooper Studio which is itself a Lake District icon. It also has the advantage of being on the route for several great walks from Grasmere. It’s right next to Easedale Road which is on the route of both the Helm Crag and the Sourmilk Gill/Easedale Tarn routes.

The decor of the cafe is heavily influenced by the Heaton Cooper artwork with prints on the wall, in the colour pallet of the furniture and even in the print on the light shades.

There’s a good seating area outside, but my favourite seat is right next to a large window with a view across the fells towards Stone Arthur and Rydal Fell.

Mathilde’s is named after the Norwegian wife of Alfred Heaton Cooper the patriarch of the artistic Heaton Cooper dynasty. Mathilde’s Scandinavian roots are also reflected in the menu at the cafe – here can’t be many places in the Lake District that offer smoked trout with the brunch menu. They do also serve Cumberland sausages and bacon.

The cakes at Mathilde’s are exquisite and just right for an end of walk celebration. This isn’t the place for giant slabs of cake, but is the place to possibly experience something a little different.

The coffee is good, serving Carvetii which is roasted in Threlkeld outside Keswick to the north.

Mathilde’s is an excellent place for people watching, particularly if you convince the people you are with to let you have a seat overlooking Moss Parrock, the small square opposite the cafe. Grasmere is a wonderfully eclectic mix of people on most days.

There are the walks, like myself, who are only passing through the village or stopping for a short refreshment break. Many of the walkers are families with plenty of children being chivied along by parents, promising a cafe stop on their return from whichever route that has been chosen.

The village is also a regular on the coach tours frequented by an older clientele. Last time I was sat at Mathilde’s there was a moment when everyone outside appeared to be walking slowly. It was only on closer inspection I realised that it was a squadron of zimmer frames making their way to somewhere in formation.

Grasmere, mainly because of its Wordsworth connections, is also a favourite of groups from more eastern countries. When I see the volume of photographs being taken I do feel sorry for the friends who will have to look through them on their return.

There are many cycling routes that pass through Grasmere making it a favourite of the lycra-clad-two-wheel-gangs.

The area also has a reputation as a great place for a romantic get-away, last time I was in Mathilde’s there was a couple for whom that was the case, although, from the conversation all was not going quite to plan.

Mathilde’s is definitely worth sitting a while.

I’ve marked this one a 3* for conversation, but that’s only because I was in there on my own. Although, having said that, I do quite like talking to myself.

Mathilde’s Cafe,
Heaton Cooper Studio,
Grasmere,
Ambleside LA22 9SX

Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/KNd1VXrheTgpt8oY9

Enjoying the Scandinavian vibe with some Carvetii coffee