Category: Graham’s Guides

Top o’ Selside Circular from High Nibthwaite

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

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

Helm Crag, Gibson Knott, Calf Crag Circular from Grasmere

A beautiful moderate ridge walk with views across to many of the Lake District larger mountains.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance8.2 miles
DifficultyModerate
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeLucia’s Cafe + Bakehouse
Mathilde’s at The Heaton Cooper Studio

The Area

Helm Crag, while not one of the highest peaks in the Lake District, is one of the better known ones. The rocky outcrop that sits at the end of the ridge has a shape that provokes several nicknames. The shape of the outcrop have provoked popular names the Lion and Lamb and The Old Woman Playing the Organ depending on where you are viewing it. I have no idea why it’s an Old Woman the shape isn’t that specific, the Lion and Lamb reference is from the Bible and makes sense from certain directions. While this rock formation is distinctive, it’s not the summit, that’s a bit further along.

This walk starts from the valley where it can be quite sheltered. Although the ridge is quite low, it can be very exposed even if the weather in the valley feels benign. I recommend that you take extra clothing in anticipation of this.

We are starting this walk from Red Bank car park in Grasmere. On this occasion I decided to pick some bagging up at Lucia’s on the way through the village – the choice, sweet-chilli sausage roll and a raspberry blondie, both were excellent.

(Bagging: is a Cumbrian term for a packed lunch.)

This walk takes in three Wainwrights (Helm Crag, Gibson Knott and Calf Crag) there is a forth available at Steel Fell if you fancy a variation. This extended route is also known as the Greenburn Horseshoe and is traditionally done the other way around, starting on Steel Fell. I’d recently been up Steel Fell on a different route so chose the beauty of Far Easdale.

The Walk

Leave Red Bank Car Park and head through Grasmere aiming for Easedale Road via Broadgate. Broadgate is directly opposite the entrance o the car park. Follow Easdale Road past the Glenthorne Quaker Centre, then past the entrance to The Lancrigg. The Lancrigg sometimes offers parking which can be a great alternative for this walk.

Further along the road you will come to a small gathering of houses. This is where the road ceases to be tarmac and where we need to depart from it. At the end of the tarmac, the lane continues straight-on, but there is also a lane off to the right, up an incline. A short way along this lane it will veer to the left and then there is a bridleway to the right. This should have a footpath post pointing you towards Helm Crag.

Follow this path to the top of the crag. This part of the path is well marked and stepped in places. It does zig-zag a bit, but the main route Is clear.

From this point on this is a ridge walk until we get beyond Calf Crag. There are a few path off to either side, but the main path is the one we are going to travel.

The rocky outcrops along the top of Helm Crag are dramatic, but I don’t recommend climbing them unless you have particular skills.

The summit of Gibson Knott isn’t very distinct if that kind of thing matters to you but it did make for a great place to stop and eat my bagging.

From Calf Crag head down hill following the same ridge route. Once you’ve descended a little you’ll notice a path off to the left heading down into the valley and following the route of Far Easedale Gill. This path will take you all the way down to the path that started your Helm Crag ascent. The path crosses the stream a couple of times as you descend. If you are close to the stream you won’t be far wrong.

You’ll find with this walk that the number of people will diminish the further away from Grasmere that you walk. A few people make it to the top of Helm Crag, very few make it up Gibson Knott. You are most likely to have Far Easdale to yourself until you get to the stepping stones and footbridge at Stythwaite Steps.

Beyond Stythwaite Steps the path soon becomes a bridleway.

The route back to your car simply retraces the route you’ve already travelled through Grasmere village.

Alternatives and Variations

As a ridge walk there aren’t too many variations to this walk.

You can add Steel Fell in and create the Greenburn Horseshoe. This is a good walk, but can get quite wet and muddy at the top after Calf Crag.

This walk can be done in either direction, my only caution to that is the descent from Helm Crag which includes quite a few steps. I prefer to walk up steps.

The walk can be shortened by descending from either side of the ridge between Helm Crag and Gibson Knott. There’s also the option to descend on the Greenburn side after Gibson Knott.

Heading out with Helm Crag on the right
The path to the top of Helm Crag
Looking back, with Grasmere behind
Continuing the ascent
Almost at the top of Helm Crag
The Lion and Lamb
The walk ahead to Calf Crag on the right, with the path down to the left
On the footbridge at Stythwaite Steps

Bolton Abbey Circular including The Strid | Graham’s Guides

Revisiting a long-term family favourite we discovered on our first holiday as family of three with a baby in a backpack.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance6.1 miles
DifficultyModerate
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeTea Cottage at Bolton Abbey

The Area

One evening, when we were young and had a very small baby, we were at the house of some friends when they asked us whether we’d got a holiday planned. We said that we hadn’t because money was a bit tight at present. They said that they would put their very nice caravan on any site within an hour’s drive, leave it there for a week and come and pick it up at the end. This generous offer meant that we spent a glorious week on a wonderful campsite near Grassington in September, it rained every night but was glorious every day. The colours were glorious and the waterfalls spectacular.

This was in the time before the Internet so we found new places to visit by picking up leaflets. I don’t know, but I’m assuming that on one day one of us picked up a leaflet for this place called Bolton Abbey. We decided to visit, and it’s been a family favourite ever since.

Bolton Abbey has on display, a wonderful combination of natural features and English history. We’ll pass The Strid on this walk which is a unique limestone feature on the river Wharfe, the wood surrounding it has been open to the public since the nineteenth century. The ruins and remaining church of Bolton Priory have been a place of worship since the twelfth century having been donated to the Augustinian canons in 1154. The nearby hall is an extension of the former priory gatehouse, the stones from the ruined priory being reused in many of the buildings in the area. The church remains at the priory because during the dissolution they were able to argue that it was the local church and not a monastery.

The estate is a long standing seat of the Duke of Devonshire, the same people as Chatsworth, although both are now owned by a trust. How the English Dukes and the broader aristocracy got their lands is a fascinating part of English history, how they’ve retained, and lost, them is just as fascinating.

The Walk

I’m going to start this walk from the main visitors car park, shown on the web site as Bolton Abbey Car Park, it’s the easiest place to begin. There are toilets and a small shop in the car park. As you head into the village there’s the choice of a couple of cafes, there’s also a cafe on route (with a toilet) and regularly additional ice cream options. This walk is not short of refreshment options. There are also three parking options, I’ll cover those in the alternatives.

From the car park head into the village, across the road you should be able to see a hole in the large wall with a wooden gate. The other side of the gate the stepped path heads downward across open fields towards the river. Near the bottom, the path heads to the left across the back of the Priory and onto a footbridge.

We nearly always stop on the beach before the footbridge to skim some stones and to take in the swirling powerful waters. Swimming is not recommended here, too many currents.

It can be tempting to explore the Priory at this point, resist, we are coming back that way.

If the river isn’t too high, and they are all in place, there is the option of crossing the river on stepping stones. They run parallel to the footbridge a little upstream. The stepping stones are good fun, but don’t be a hero, if the sign says they are closed it will be for a good reason.

There are several paths that emanate from the far side of the footbridge, we tend to prefer the one that heads steadily upwards which is the righthand option. You will need to climb the riverbank at some point and doing it early gives fabulous views back across the Priory. The other options all rejoin the main path at some point.

There are several great places to take photographs in the section.

From this point on follow the path upstream for several miles. Along the way you will pass the Riverside Car Par on the opposite bank, the Cavendish Pavilion, where there is a footbridge and The Strid. The Strid isn’t particularly visible on this side, but the woods are glorious and the views on the way back are spectacular.

On this walk we will go all the way to the footbridge at the end of the woods beyond The Strid. This is the first footbridge after the Cavendish Pavilion. On the estate map, that they give you when you enter the car park, this footbridge is labelled “Aqueduct.”

Cross the footbridge and then follow the path along the river back towards The Strid which is signposted. The Strid is a fascinating geological feature, be careful though, it can be slippery and you don’t want to fall in it’s regarded as one of the most dangerous stretches of water in the country. According to Yorkshire folklore the foaming waters of The Strid are home to a kelpie.

From The Strid carry on along the river to the Cavendish Pavilion, then alongside the riverbank through the Riverside Car Park. Feel free to stop for refreshments at the Cavendish Pavilion, it’s nice, but it’s not our favourite.

At the end of the Riverside car park you will notice a path heading up towards the village, there’s a fountain at the top. You can’t miss this path, it’s the only one. The views of the Priory are wonderful along this short section.

From the top follow the path along the road, towards the village, until you get to the entrance to the lane down to the Priory. The Priory is well worth an explore. The ruins are fascinating, the remaining Nave is lovely and peaceful, the type of place where you can tell that people have been praying for nearly a thousand years.

The Priory lane rejoins the road just along from the hole in the wall where we started the walk.

If we hadn’t already been, this is where we would head off to the Tea Cottage which is just beyond the hole in the wall. If the weather is fine, we will be sitting outside on a table overlooking the Priory and the river Wharfe beyond. If the weather is less conducive to sitting out, we will be just as happy by a window in the cottage with a very similar view.

Alternatives and Variations

There are obvious ways to extend and to shorten this walk. To shorten it you can cross the footbridge at the Cavendish Pavilion and make your way back from there. To lengthen it you can go as far as the Barden Tower and make you way back from there. You can carry along the Wharfe for a very long way, but only on one side. You can also extend the walk at the beginning by heading south from village. After a short while you will reach Bolton bridge where you can cross over and make your way back up the river to rejoin the path beyond the ruins of the Priory.

There are three primary car parks for this walk. I’ve started from the Bolton Abbey one, we progress through the Riverside one so that’s reasonably obvious. There’s also a car park at The Strid, this is just a short walk from the path, there is another cafe and some toilets here. There’s also a smaller car park at Barden Tower.

We tend to walk the route in one particular direction, as described, but there isn’t any reason why you couldn’t do the walk in reverse, it’s just as picturesque.

The Tea Cottage
The View from the Tea Cottage
Time for some Skimming
Catching Glimpses
The path back to the village from the Riverside Car Park
The Priory from the Fountain
Inside the Nave of the Priory

Easedale Tarn Circular from Grasmere | Graham’s Guides

Join the romantics taking in the beautiful autumn colours of Easedale via the ingloriously named Sourmilk Gill.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance5.1 miles
DifficultyModerate
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeLucia’s Cafe + Bakehouse
Mathilde’s at The Heaton Cooper Studio

The Area

Areas of the Lake District are famous for different things. The names of the romantic poets, William Wordsworth, Dorothy Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge are synonymous with Grasmere and Rydal. Sister and brother, Dorothy and William lived in several houses in the area including Allan Bank and Dove Cottage (both houses open to the public) and were regularly visited by other poets. William is famous for several poems including: I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, To the skylark, and The sun has long been set. Dorothy is primarily remembered for her journals which give a fascinating insight into their life and are themselves poetic.

Dorothy, William, and his wife Mary are all buried at St Oswold’s church in the centre of the village. This medieval building occupies land that has housed places of worship since the seventh century.

Next to the entrance to St. Oswold’s you will find the much loved home of Grasmere Gingerbread. The gingerbread is a glorious unique confection, it’s not really a bread having a consistency which is a bit like a cross between a cake and a biscuit, it is delicious. There is regularly a queue stretching down the street, don’t let that put you off, the shop is very small inside.

This walk takes you past the Heaton Cooper Studios where you can view, and purchase, artwork from the famous Heaton Cooper family. The gallery was established by William Heaton Cooper to sell his distinctive landscapes, the cafe Mathilde’s is named after his mother. The distinctive Heaton Cooper style and colouring is most evident in the landscape in the autumn.

The name Grasmere probably means what is says “gras” coming from “gras” the Norse word for “grass” and “mere”; a “mere” being a type of lake. There is some speculation that “gras” could also refer to “grys” which is a young pig, but that feels like overcomplicating something with a more obvious answer.

The Walk

We are starting this walk from the Red Bank Car Park in Grasmere. It’s a smallish car park, but nicely hidden away making it less busy than the main car parks.

There is some uphill to this climb, but there isn’t any climbing, the most complicated part is negotiating the stepping stones around the bog on the way down.

From the car park head down Langdale Road, which is almost opposite the entrance. This will take you past Tweedie and onto Broadgate. Continue past the Heaton Cooper Studio and the left onto Easedale Road.

Just before Easedale Road you will see two of Graham’s Cafes; as part of the Heaton Cooper Studio is Mathilde’s Cafe, on the other side of the road is Lucia’s Coffee and Bakehouse. Both are great places to start and finish a walk, Lucia’s is particularly good for a packed lunch, Mathilde’s is more of a cozy wet winter lunch kind of place. I should note here though that the route that we are going to follow doesn’t come back into the village centre, but it’s only a short diversion to find your way back here.

Returning to our walk, follow Easedale Road until you reach Glenthorne Quaker Center and Guest House where you’ll notice a gate on the right which will take you off the road onto a path running parallel to it up to Goody Bridge.

A short way beyond Goody Bridge the road takes a right-hand turn and there’s a path going straight on over a footbridge.

The footbridge will take you onto a cobbled bridleway which will be your guide all the way to the tarn passing the waterfall of Sourmilk Gill as you go. If you are wondering why it is called Sourmilk Gill it’s likely down to the white frothy appearance of the water as it tumbles over the falls. At the main falls there’s a short path off to the right which takes you to the clear pool at the base and for much of the year you can use the large rocks in the beck as stepping stones. The waterfall pool can be a popular place for a dip in the summer, but the real wild swimmers tend to go in at the tarn. If you are planning a swim it’s worth noting that the tarn is at altitude and quite sheltered making it significantly colder than many other swimming spots nearby.

Continue up beyond the waterfalls to the tarn which has been a popular tourist destination for a very long time. As early as the 1870’s there was a hut alongside the tarn at about the point where you get the first views of the tarn from the path which served “a humble style of refreshments”. The hut continued its service into the 1930’s, but later fell into disrepair. Wainwright sketched its presence and noted “with every passing year the hut loses a few more stones and slates (and gains more autographs)”; its location is barely noticeable as you travel along our route today.

This is a walk of two halves, on the way up you are likely to be alongside quite a few other walker as they too travel this popular path, there will also be plenty of people using the same route to retrace their steps back to Grasmere. We will venture off this main path for our route down and it will feel like a completely different walk with very few fellow travellers and glorious secluded valley views.

We are only going as far as the tarn for this walk, you can use this same route to venture into the surrounding mountains, but I’ll cover those in other walks.

Our route down starts where the beck flows out of the tarn. There are several large stones allowing you to cross the stream onto a path running alongside the other bank. This path follows the stream for a little while and then skirts around a more boggy area. There’s no need to walk in the bog though as the path comprises a set of large flat-topped boulders. The boulders are quite well spaced, but you do have to watch your step.

The only slightly complicated navigation of this walk is just beyond the stepping stones section. It will feel like the natural way down should be to track to the right down the valley along the wall facing you. Thankfully someone has helpfully put a large “GRASMERE” with an arrow underneath it showing the correct direction, which is to the left away from Grasmere for a short while. As you head down you will come to footbridge across the beck, alongside Stythwaite Steps (“thwaite” is another Lake District word of Norse origin meaning clearing.)

The path from here meanders alongside the beck all the way back to Easedale Road. You’ll recognise where you are once to get to the footbridge where you left for Sourmilk Gill.

Rejoin the path alongside Easedale Road just beyond Goody Bridge, but instead of rejoining the road a little further along, continue on this path around the back of Glenthorne and into the grounds of Allan Bank. Follow the lane from Allan Bank until it meets the junction of Broadgate and Langdale Road. Head down Langdale Road to the car park.

Alternatives and Variations

Most of the alternatives and variations to this walk lead on to other walks. The first part of this walk is the same as a popular route up Helm Crag which I’ll cover as part of another guide, likewise for Tarn Crag. If you carry on beyond the tarn you are soon on your way up High Raise.

You can do a circular route around the back of the tarn as a bit of an extension, I’ve only done it once, it was wet and boggy but did give some wonderful views.

Any car park in Grasmere could be the start of this walk, you’ll just have to find your way to Easedale Road, and then back again.

Easedale Tarn (spot the swimmer)
Easedale Tarn in the Winter
The Path through Easedale
Sourmilk Gill
Sourmilk Gill
From the base of Sourmilk Gill
Through Easdale, with Sourmilk Gill in the distance
The start of Easdale Road (opposite) taken from Lucia’s

Cathedral Caves Circular from Little Langdale (the short route) | Graham’s Guides

Time to marvel at the industrial heritage of the Lake District. A short, but fun walk.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance1.51 miles
DifficultyModerate
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeNot on this one. Nearest: Chesters by the River.

The Area

The Lake District is a wonderful place of natural features, but is also a place shaped by farming and mining. Many of the communities only exist because there was once employment available in the local quarry or mine. For thousands of years people have dug their way through the mountainsides in search of valuable rocks and minerals. This heritage is evident in many of the names; this walk, as an example, takes you over Slater Bridge which I’m assuming was the daily commute for the people who lived at the nearby Slaters Cottage as the retrieved slate from the nearby quarry. The mining around Little Langdale was primarily for copper and the green slate itself, which was used in building.

Bill Birkett, author of The Complete Lakeland Fells, is a Little Langdale local and gives a great overview of part of this route and further insights to the area in this countrystride podcast episode.

The village sits on the route of a Roman Road that linked Ambleside to Ravenglass on the coast, taking you over the twin passes of Wrynose and Hardknott which are still a challenge to drive today. As you’d expect from the Romans this is quite a direct route for such a mountainous area. On the side of Hardknott pass you can visit the remains of a Roman Fort, there’s also a Roman fort in Ambleside and a Roman bathhouse in Ravenglass. These are all linked to the time of Hadrian of wall fame. I do wonder sometimes what the Roman soldiers from Croatia felt about being stationed half way up a windswept fell in the Lake District with storms rolling in straight off the Irish Sea.

The Walk

This walk is a great starter walk with interest around every corner, there are also a wide variety of additions and diversions which are just as interesting.

Little Langdale is possibly the most acute for parking challenges in the whole of the Lake District. There are only a few road side parking spaces in the village and once they are gone, they are gone. This is where the alternatives come in with several of them providing additional parking options, do not attempt to park at the Three Shires Inn.

Once you’ve parked in the village make your way along the road, past the Three Shires Inn (there’s a story behind that name) and take the turn onto Fitz Steps. Down the hill a little you’ll see a path off to the right, up some steps and a small gate. This path will take you through a couple of fields and then down a small valley to Slater Bridge (which is sometimes spelled with an apostrophe but also without, also with an ‘s’ and without, depending on which map you read. I’m sticking with what it says on the OS Map and ignoring what those people on Google Maps think it is.) Slater Bridge has to be one of the most photographed places in the Lake District and rightly so. The Brathay that passes under the bridge is one of the main tributary rivers to Windermere. If you take a short detour to the right just before crossing the bridge, doubling back on yourself a little, you can get a great view up the valley across Little Langdale Tarn.

Having crossed the bridge head up a short hill and onto a track. Head left on the track with the river on your left. A short way along you’ll come to a gate and then not long after the gate you’ll see another gate to the right with directions into Cathedral Quarry. This is where you get to freestyle, depending on how adventurous you are. At the top of the short path you’ll find a tunnel through which you will find the famous Cathedral Cave, but that’s not the only option for getting into the cave and it’s certainly not the most adventurous. You can also head around the outside of the quarry gathering views into the caves as you go by taking the path off to the right as you look at the tunnel. The challenge with this path is in descent into the quarry which is steep and can be slippery.

These caves were all built by people digging out the rock, mostly by hand. The amount of graft alone is a marvel.

Beyond Cathedral Cave is the entrance to the main quarry which is vast. You can view the quarry by heading through the tunnel at the back of the cave and out into the open.

To get a full experience, however, you will need to do a little climbing. Before you climb too high though, please note that one of the routes out is the way you came in. Another route out is to scramble up the back of the quarry to the right on the slippery path. The final route out is via a cave for which you’ll need a light source, although it doesn’t have to be a very good light source, a smartphone torch will do. The cave is high enough to walk through and you can’t get lost because the only route off the cave is blocked off with fencing.

From the quarry floor you can view other excavations and tunnels. Last time we were in the quarry the army were practicing abseiling down the vast cliffs.

The easiest route out of the quarry is back down to the lane alongside the Brathay taking a right towards a wooden footbridge adjacent to a ford and connecting you back up to the end of Fitz Steps and onward back to your car. This simple route is less than 2 miles long including any roaming you’ve done inside the quarry.

Alternatives and variations

If you would like to use the cave route out of the quarry, go to the back of the quarry where you’ll notice a metal rope. Go to the end of the rope to your left and use it as a handrail in your right hand with the quarry wall on your left. This will help you across some boulders and into the cave which goes fairly straight through to the other side of the fell and out into a wood. If you take the path off to the left you will navigate down to a lane. If you turn left onto the lane it will take you back to the Brathay and the wooden footbridge at the end of Fitz Steps.

You can also extend the end of the walk a bit by heading back along the alternate lane from the wooden footbridge to Stang End. If you take the lane off to the left in Stang End, marked by a footpath sign for Little Langdale, it will take you to another footbridge across the Brathay and over a field back to the village.

There are several alternate starting points. Each is adding additional distance, interest and alternate parking:

Elterwater: The village has a good car park near to the beck. If you head out of the car park, along the road across the beck after a short while there is a lane to the right. This is the start of a bridleway route over into Little Langdale via Dale End Farm. There’s also a path the drops down into the back of the Three Shires Inn which makes for a good alternate route back.

Dale End Farm: There is a small car park at Dale End Farm, LA22 9NZ which is cash only and last time I checked was £5. From the end of the lane you can take the path almost straight across down to Slater Bridge.

Side Gates Car Park: There’s a small car park just as you head along the road into Little Langdale known as Side Gates. This is another cash-only car park and last time I looked it was also £5. From this car park head back to and across the road bridge over the river where you will find a stile into the woods. This path meanders alongside the river and past Colwith Force to Stang End. It’s up to you, from here, how much of the original route you include. You can take a right along the lane up into the village, carry straight on to the caves, cross the river at the wooden footbridge, or if you want an adventure, try to find your way into the caves via the tunnel cave.

There are also routes into Cathedral Quarry from Hodge Close and Tilberthwaite, but I think I’ll cover those routes as different guides.

Little Langdale Tarn
Little Langdale Tarn
The path up to Cathedral Quarry
The path up to Cathedral Quarry
Cathedral Cave
Cathedral Cave
Fitz Steps Footbridge and Ford
Fitz Steps Footbridge and Ford

Force Cafe and Terrace, Ambleside | Graham’s Guides

Food with a fabulous view across the Lake District.

Graham’s Guidelines* Rating (1 to 5)
CoffeeN/A
Food5*
Conversation5*
People Watching4*

On a recent bank holiday Sue and I decided to revisit one of our favourite walks, incorporate a swim and do it all before lunch. Sue even managed a trip to the gym before we set off.

One of the advantages of being close to the Lake District is that you can get into some of the more popular spots before everyone arrives and out again before they decide to leave. Despite our early start we only just managed to stick to our plans, squeezing into the last parking space in Pelter Bridge Car Park at the southern end of Rydal.

There was an interesting encounter in the car park, but I’ll write about that in a different post.

Having completed our 4.3 mile moderate walk and swum between the islands we were ready for food.

There are several good cafe options in this area but on a bank holiday you want somewhere a little away from the tourist honeypots. It was with this in mind that we chose to make a return visit to Force Cafe and Terrace.

We’d been before, only for coffee and cake, it was alright, but not great. That was not long after the launch and sometimes it takes a place time to find the right staff and bed in.

Last time we visited was on our way down from Wansfell Pike having parked in Ambleside. This time, having already done our exercise, we drove up. The road is quite steep running alongside Stock Ghyll which contains a set of waterfalls, worth a visit most of the time, especially when it’s been raining, which it hasn’t done for weeks.

There is plenty of parking at Force, but it’s time limited, don’t expect to leave your vehicle there all day.

While the inside of the cafe at Force is lovely, the real showstopper is the terrace. I’m not saying that visiting on a good-weather day is mandatory, but if you do, you are in for a treat. On this occasion we struck the jackpot, clear skies with glorious views across the Lake District fells to the west with Coniston Old Man standing majestically in the distance.

There was plenty of people watching to do on the terrace. Several foreign languages and accents, definitely French, others Eastern European and some Asian. There were young people who were barely starting their day, others like us, a little older who had been awake a while. Many dressed for the hills, a few who were more country casual. From the body language everyone commenting on the scenery.

Lunch comprised Apple and Celeriac Soup and Eggs Benedict Rosti with extra bacon. Both were excellent, and so were the soft drinks that we chose for accompaniment. Lots of people were tricking into the breakfast, brunch, options.

The menu at Force is quite limited which you might regard as a challenge; for me a limited menu tends to indicate somewhere that cares about its food.

The service was good, despite the business of the day. We even got into a conversation with one of the ladies serving regarding the various places available for a swim. Neither of us had anywhere new to share in the Lake District, but it was good to find a kindred spirit.

We will be back.

Force Cafe and Terrace
Kelsick Grammar,
Stockghyll Ln,
Ambleside
LA22 0QY

From the terrace on a previous visit
Force Terrace

Silverdale Circular via Scout Wood and The Cove | Graham’s Guides

A favourite revisited, with an added glorious surprise.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance2.6 miles
DifficultyModerate
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeThe Wolf Cafe

The Area

While we love the Lake District, we are privileged to be surrounded by many beautiful places a bit closer to home. Silverdale is somewhere we have visited regularly even spending holiday weeks. A frequent route for us is a circular walk from Wolfhouse through Scout Wood, across the village to The Cove and back to the car and a cafe stop.

On a recent visit our walk was tinged with sadness; one of our favourite cafes, the one at Wolfhouse itself, had closed a few months before. We have many fond memories of sitting in the tiny cafe, or the outside courtyard having rented the house next to the gallery a coupe of times..

Silverdale sits on limestone which makes this countryside what it is, showing up in outcrops, forming the cliffs and in the miles of drystone walls. While we are reflecting on Silverdale, it’s worth noting that it’s probably not called Silverdale because of the colour or even the metal, it’s far more likely to be a morphing of a Norse word. There are quite a lot of things around the Irish Sea that were named by the Vikings.

The Walk

On the map this walk starts from Wolfhouse itself, but on our latest visit we set off from the entrance to Scout Wood which is a little way up the hill from Wolfhouse. There’s room for a few cars there; it’s also a great place to start one of the alternatives to this walk which adds in Jenny Brown’s Point. The entrance to Scout Wood is through a gap in the limestone wall immediately followed by a fork of the path, we take the one to the right, the higher road.

This portion of the walk takes us along the top of a limestone cliff covered in ancient woodland on one side, with pastureland, over the drystone wall, on the other. The cliff is known as Woodwell Cliff reflecting the presence of the Woodwell at the bottom. There is another route around Silverdale that takes in the various ancient wells in the area but that’s not what we have planned for today.

This is sheep country, they are likely to be in the fields on at least part of this walk; this also means that it’s a great walk in the spring when the lambs have been born.

We follow the path along the top of the cliff and through the woods. At the end of the woods is a kissing-gate where the woods opens out. The path takes a bit of a wiggle here to the right and then to the left where there’s another gate following which the route is again defined by the cliff, a wall and some more pastureland.

At the end of the wall there’s a gap to the right onto a path alongside a field and onto a lane known as The Chase.

We are at the outskirts of the village here and about to meet Stankelt Road. At the end of The Chase turn right and then the next left down a lane. At the end of the is a farmhouse and to the left of it is a gate into a field. The path here runs along the back of some houses to the left and opens out to a wonderful view across the open countryside to the right. If you know what you are looking for you can see the outline of the huge Middlebarrow Quarry now disused but providing another variation to this walk.

At the end of the field there’s a small gate onto a lane that takes you down the back of St John’s Church and onto Emersgate Lane. Turn right onto Emersgate Lane and a short way along you will see a narrow lane on the left between two houses. Some would call it a ginnel or even a snicket; the name you use for a narrow lane can define you in the eyes of certain people.

At the end of the footpath you will come out onto Cove Road near to the children’s playground, plenty of fun here for the younger ones, the zip-wire is particularly good.

As its name would suggest Cove Road is what will take us to The Cove. Unfortunately, there isn’t a defined path along the full length of Cove Road so you do have to be watchful for vehicles. It’s generally not too busy and the tightness of the space means that, hopefully, none of the vehicles are travelling too quickly.

Having travelled along Cove Road for a little way the road will take a sharp righthand turn towards Arnside at Cove Orchard and Cove House. We, however, are taking the road off to the left called Cove Lane. Anyone like to guess what the defining feature of the landscape is in this area?

Cove Lane takes you down to the long-anticipated cove. We are quite relaxed about how we name things in the UK despite our love of definitions. A lane and a road have distinct meanings but are used interchangeably in many situations. This is one of those situations; a cove would normally define an inlet of water and here that’s not really the case. It’s a very lovely cutting in the limestone down to the shore, but I’m not sure it’s really a cove. Also, I’m not sure whether to call it a beach.

As you enter The Cove note that there’s a path off to the left, that’s where we are going after we’ve done a bit of exploring.

To the right is a cliff that curves around and in which there is a cave. The cave doesn’t go very deep, but it’s big enough to get into. The clamber up has become smoothed by the many feet that have made their way up and care is required. The house on the land above the cave has a tenuous connection with the Bronte sisters via its original owner Rev Carus Wilson.

What lies beyond the cove is the flatland of Morecambe Bay which often has an other-worldly look about it. If you are there in the afternoon or evening the bay looks particularly spectacular with the sun on it; the sunsets can be amazing. This isn’t, however, a place you go to for the traditional seaside experiences. You’re unlikely to see any sea, or waves, and I wouldn’t recommend going in if you did; the combination of tidal forces, mud, quicksand and swirling winds can be deadly. If an exploration out into the bay sounds like an appealing idea, the best way of doing it is to join the Kings Guide to the Sands on one of their walks.

From the cove we wander up the path along the top of the cliffs, through a kissing gate and across a couple of fields with further views across the bay. In the far corner of the second field there’s a gate out onto Stankelt Road. Stankelt Road becomes Shore Road as it heads down to Silverdale Beach past the Silverdale Hotel. We are heading along Lindeth Road which is the other option you should see in front of you at this point.

Lindeth Road leads all the way back to Wolfhouse. There isn’t a path all of the way and there are portions of this section where you have to walk on the road. It’s a steady uphill climb back to the car.

As we rounded the corner we were delighted to notice that the cafe at Wolfhouse appeared to be occupied, a board outside confirmed that to be the case, and boasting a new name The Wolf Cafe. We’ve known a few iterations of the cafe at Wolfhouse, and it’s always been an excellent place for a refreshment stop. As we weren’t planning on visiting the cafe our sojourn only involved a drink and a cake so I’m not in a position to comment on the broader menu. The coffee was glorious, the cake was excellent and we’ll certainly be back, perhaps next time we’ll do food. Interestingly the new owners operate the Lone Wolf Bakery in Lancaster.

Alternative and variations

Silverdale has a huge variety of options for a morning, or afternoon, tramp; so many that I’m not sure I know where to start.

Perhaps the best place to start is at the beginning?

As you walk up the hill from Wolfhouse rather than turning left into Scout Wood you can turn right and take the path to Jenny Brown’s Point via Heald Brow and the Copper Smelt Kiln Tower. This will turn the walk into a figure of eight walk bringing you back up to Wolfhouse. You could do the walk the other way around and head down to Jenny Brown’s Point via Gibraltar Farm and the Lindeth Tower coming back over Heald Brow to join the path into Scout Wood. Whichever way you go it’s worth noting that the path near to the Kiln Tower is on the shoreline and changes regularly as erosion and accretion play their part. There’s also the option to explore Jack Scout and the Giant Seat on this route. At the right time of the year Jack Scout has excellent brambling.

Another adaptation would be to take a detour across to Middlebarrow Quarry by taking the path to the right just before you arrive at St John’s Church. This will bring you out onto Bottom Lane. At the end of Bottom Lane, you can head up into Eaves Wood heading right around to the Quarry entrance. You can’t currently get into the quarry, but there are several places where you can get a good view inside. If you head anticlockwise around the back of the quarry you will eventually come out at Arnside Tower via Middlebarrow Wood. From here you could head up Arnside Knott, but that would be another walk altogether. From Arnside Tower you can take the path into the back of Holgates Holiday Park and down the road to The Cove.

If you are feeling like you want to gain a bit of height to get a better view, a short extension to the walk is to head up to The Pepperpot in Eaves Wood on your route to The Cove. The monument marks the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887, but the real star is the view from this elevated position.

From The Cove, given the right tidal conditions, you can follow the shoreline to Silverdale Beach from which you can rejoin the route. If, however, you are enjoying the shoreline walking you can carry on all the way to Jenny Brown’s Point with a couple of options to head back inland along the way, including the option to head into Jack Scout. I can’t guarantee that any of this is going to be possible on any given day such is the fluidity of the coastline around Morecambe Bay.

There are other options for a cafe in Silverdale Village itself where there are also public toilets and a convenience store not far off the route as shown.

Heading into Scout Wood
Through the woods
Time to be nosey – peaking into back gardens
In the cove
Across the fields
Gibraltar Farm
The glorious surprise

Beacon Fell Circular – Up Hill and Down Dale | Graham’s Guides

A lovely little walk that takes you up a small hill with a fabulous view, then down dale for even more views. Made for the summer, boggy the rest of the year.

Graham’s Walks📌
Distance3.2 miles
DifficultyModerate
Map🗺️
GPX📁
Graham’s CafeNot on this one, but there is a cafe. If you are travelling from Preston The Lookout is on the route through Longridge.

The Area

A conversation from my Polytechnic days has stuck in my mind for over 30 years now. One of the other students who was from somewhere in the south said “We went out to the Forest of Bowland over the weekend, but there aren’t any trees there.”

The area of hillside to the north west of Preston from roughly Whitechapel in the south-west up to Hornby in the north-west, across to Clapham in the north-east and Bolton-by-Bowland in the south-east is known as The Forest of Bowland and designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

As my student friend suggests, if you associate forests with trees you’ll be disappointed, there haven’t been that many trees since the 17th century when the land was increasingly used for livestock. We don’t like changing the name of things in the UK.

Just beyond Inglewhite and Whitechapel, and just within the Forest of Bowland, lies a small hill know as Beacon Fell.

It’s currently owned by the local council and operated as country park. As the name suggests Beacon Fell was once a vital part of the national chain of beacons communicating major events a role it’s had for over 1,000 years.

The fell is not very big, but it does sit on the edge of the west Lancashire lowlands giving it spectacular views across to the mountains of both Wales and the Lake District. On a day with good visibility you can see the Isle of Man, most days you can see the Manx ferry making its way in-to, or out-of Heysham. In the opposite direction you get great views of the more substantial Forest of Bowland fells including Parlick and Fair Snape.

As a country park Beacon Fell has good facilities with several car parks, lots of good paths and even a visitors centre with a cafe and toilets.

The Walk

This walk starts from the Sheepfold Car Park. There are a couple of reasons for this, the first is that this car park is free, unlike the one at the visitors centre although the one at the visitor centre only charges £1 for the day. The second reason is that there’s a back route to get here without travelling half of the circular one-way road around the fell.

I’ve called it ‘up hill and down dale’ because that’s the order I did the walk. I tend to prefer walks that go up and then come down, even if that means going down first to go up. This walk goes the other way around, you finish by going up, there’s really no way of avoiding that as the car park really isn’t very far from the top. You could minimise the amount of up at the end by doing the walk the other way around, that way around the walk back up to the car park wouldn’t be as steep.

This walk starts on the wide, well marked, paths of the Beacon Fell Country Park travelling around the park first before veering off into the surrounding farmland.

From the car park we are heading towards The Tarn along Larch Avenue which was previously the road up to a farm which stood where the visitors centre is now. It’s worth spending a little bit of time at The Tarn where the Dragonflies and Damselflies can be glorious.

There a little bit of tricky navigating here if you want to follow the same route as me, there are several paths that all converge here. You are aiming for the circular route that takes you between Quarry Wood and Quarry Car Parks. Don’t worry if you miss this and find yourself on a different route to the summit, that’s where you are heading eventually.

Part way along the circular route there’s a short cut-back connecting path that puts you on a path to the top. It’s worth taking what feels like a detour to experience the views on any day, but especially when the visibility is good.

Having reached the trig-point at the top it’s time to head back down to the circular path, but only for a short while. You are aiming for a point on this path where there is a sculpture known as The Lizard Love Seat on your left and a gate with a path heading down hill on your right which will take us down-dale.

Up to this point you could travel this walk almost any day of the year, beyond here we start to move into farmland and some of it is particularly boggy, so I don’t recommend it as a winter walk. This year has been dry for weeks and it was still wet in places. There’s no need to do this piece of the walk, if you want to get back to you car you can simply stay on he circular route. This part of the route is there to add interest and some different views.

At this point you should be heading down to the circular road then across the road down toward Sagar’s Farm (no idea who Sagar was), the path is marked by some nicely placed yellow topped posts. Before you get to Sagar’s farm, though, you’ll reach a not very well defined hedgerow cutting across your path, at this point you want to turn left along the line of the hedgerow.

The views of the Forest of Bowland Fells from here are spectacular. If you are fortunate you may even see a glider heading off from the nearby club, paraglider are also quite common floating off the top of the larger fells.

You are heading toward North Nook across a series of boggy fields via a set of stiles, each one marked by a yellow pole. All you have to do is find the stiles which isn’t always easy.

Just before North Nook you cross a road and along a path that feels a bit like you are walking through someone’s garden. Across the garden are two stiles close together. Once you come out the other side you are looking for a tall stile which isn’t quite where it’s marked on the OS map.

You’ll now make your way through some young woodland and then out into some more open scrub. You are looking for a path heading left on a steep incline. You are heading up into an area known as the Rosemary Bullivant Memorial Forest where each of the trees is dedicated to someone.

From the Memorial Forest you work your way to the right either via the visitors centre and toilets, or a less travelled route via the Jubilee Memorial.

There’s a path from the end of the visitor centre car park, across from the Orme sculpture, that takes you back up onto Larch Avenue and back to the Sheepfold car park.

Alternatives and Variations

There are so many variations to this walk I nearly didn’t write any. The country park is criss-crossed with paths that you can use to shorten or elongate this walk. I’ve already mentioned the option of missing out the down-dale part but then it would only be half the walk.

You can start the walk in one of the other car parks the walk passes nearby to most of them.

There are several sculptures around the park; this route only passes a couple of them, you can add in more of them if you head straight to the top from Sheepfold, passing the Heron, the Walking Snake and the Bat as you go. From there you can partially double back down to the tarn, or head down to the circular route and the Lizard Kissing Chair.

On the map there are various options from extending the down-dale part of the walk also, but I’ve not walked any of them so can’t comment on their suitability.

Larch Avenue
The Tarn
From the top
Some more of the view from the top
Across the boggy bit – look out for the yellow topped posts
The view across to Parlick and Fair Snape from the down-dale bit
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