Lancashire – Graham Chastney

Dunsop Fell Circular from Dunsop Bridge | Graham’s Guides

A walk in the centre of Great Britain (well almost). Some glorious countryside, some great views as well as rain, bog and hard going.

Graham’s Walks Vitals

Distance: 10.2 miles/16.4 km
Elevation: 1357 ft/413 m
Difficulty: Difficult
Start: Dunsop Bridge Car Park
Graham’s Cafe: Not really, you could decide to drop into Lancaster or Scorton at the end of the walk. There is Puddleducks Tearoom in the village which isn’t on Graham’s Guides because I’ve never been.
Classification: None

The Maps

OS Maps Route: 🗺
GPX Download: 📁

The Area

This walk starts from the main car park in Dunsop Bridge a village whose main claim to fame is that it’s close to the Gravitational Centre of Great Britain, according to the Ordnance Survey. The measured centre is 7km further north near to a place known as the Whitendale Hanging Stones.

Dunsop Bridge sits on the River Dunsop, hence the name. The latter stages of this route follow the river from fells to the village. Just beyond the village, not on our walk, is the confluence of the Dunsop and the Hodder. The village and much of the area of this walk sit within the Duchy of Lancaster Whitewell Estate. The major exception to this is the land within the valley which is owned and managed by United Utilities as a water catchment area. You’ll pass several signposts talking about how United Utilities reduced the amount of water they are taking and seeking to make it better for nature.

Part way around this route is a memorial to four plane crashes that took place between 1940 and 1945, some quite near to our route, there are apparently 14 crash sites around the Bowland Fells.

One of the crashes that is commemorated is from January 1943 when a squadron of 45 Lockheed Lightning P38 were travelling from Hull to Northern Ireland for a refit. In cloudy conditions two of the Lightnings collided killing both pilots. The planes came down a mile apart, one on Dunsop Fell near to our route and the second on Baxton Fell a little further north of our route.

Another commemoration is to Sgt. T.T. Nawrocki from Poland who was the pilot of a Spitfire that crashed in 1942. The plane was on a test flight following an extensive overhaul at Woodvale in Merseyside near Southport. Radio communications suggested that all was well with the aircraft. Further radio communications said that the aircraft was in cloud near Preston and would be descending through that cloud back to Woodvale. When the aircraft didn’t return a search commenced which carried on for two days before a farmer found the wreckage and a day later members of the local home guard found the pilot’s body.

Notice that poor visibility is a common theme in these parts including on the day I decided to go.

While we are on the subject of clouds and rainfall. Dunsop is made up of two words Dun meaning hill and sop meaning marsh, bog, wet soggy place. They knew what they were doing with their names back then.

The Walk

Significant sections of this walk are on open moorland where you will need to be able to navigate without clearly defined paths and in poor visibility, hence I’ve marked this route as Difficult. While the latter stages of this walk are on accessible paths, there are several places where you will need to use a stile, climb some fencing and negotiate a bog or two.

I set off on a dull day with little promise of it getting any better and it didn’t until right at the end.

Dunsop Bridge to Beatrix

We start this walk in the Dunsop Bridge car park where you will find public toilets for your convenience. When I was last there the machine at the car park wouldn’t take cards, I didn’t have enough cash and there wasn’t enough mobile signal to pay via MiPermit. The solution was to take down the MiPermit number and to pay when I could get a signal which, from memory, was somewhere near to the village park.

From the car park head, on the road, towards the bridge and Puddleducks Tearoom. Just before the bridge take a right down the side of the tearooms. You’ll follow this path down the side of the river and the village park, along a straight bit of lane and then around the back of a couple of cottages.

Not far beyond the cottage there is a kissing-gate off to the right with a short footpath sign nearby. Beyond the gate you will walk through some woods up a hill and over a drystone wall.

This is where my route follows the signposts that are in the field rather than the paths shown on the OS maps. The OS maps show a path cutting an angle across the field. The signs in the field direct you alongside the fence and onto a lane where you turn left to Beatrix.

Beatrix to Laythams

This section is a long one, it’s not that the navigation is complicated, it’s just fiddly field-to-field stuff. The reality is it’s mostly straight from one field to the next but every now and then the path traverses a field diagonally.

In Beatrix the OS maps show a path going up to the top of Burns Fell on the left. At the start of this path is a big PRIVATE sign, so I decided to take a different route.

Not far beyond the PRIVATE sign is another path off to the left of the lane as it turns right.

You follow this path alongside fences and walls until you reach Oxenhurst Clough. Here the path descends quite steeply to a stream and ascends out the other side through some pine woods. The clough is a delightful little place.

Beyond the pine wood of the clough the path again traverses the hillside alongside fences and walls past The Hey and Burn House. Some of this is footpath, other parts are lane.

At Burn House you will first reach Hartley’s Huts, then go down the back of the farm and through an electric gate. The farm is the location of the crash memorial on the lefthand side of the lane just before the gate.

After the electric gate the lane takes a sharp righthand turn with a bank on the left.

From the turn head up the banking and look across the field where in most conditions you should be able to see a large multi-step stile on the far side of the field which heads into a wood. Aim straight for the stile picking up whichever bits of path you can find as you go.

Inside the woods on the other side of the stile you will find a path heading into the woods off to the right. This path will reach a ditch beyond which the area is marked PRIVATE and the path is directed along the ditch. At the end of the ditch you will find a stile.

On the other side of the stile the path heads diagonally across a field to the left. At the other end of the field you should be able to see a gate between two woods, aim for this.

Beyond the gate the path heads alongside a fence up a small incline which will bring you to a wall with another stile.

The field beyond the stile is the last fields in this section and again the OS map shows a path straight across it from one corner to the opposite corner. When I walked it recently the grass and wildflowers were quite tall and it wasn’t possible to see whether there was a defined path so I just headed across picking up whatever routes I could find.

At the far end of the field is a small gate out onto the road at Laythams.

Laythams to Burn End

The navigation on this section is a little easier.

Through the gate turn left along the road until you come to the entrance to Burnside Cottage which has a footpath fingerboard at the end.

Walk up the driveway towards the cottage until you reach a gate which will direct you to a footpath off to the right through a gate, then left alongside a hedge.

Follow the hedge until you come to another gate which will take you back onto the last remnants of the lane before it becomes a boggy path.

The boggy path will take you up an incline roughly following the route of a stream and a wall until you reach another wall where you will find a gate.

On the other side of the gate head to the right on a path that climbs while traversing the hill.

You will reach a switchback in the path to the left at what is roughly Burn End.

Burn End to Dunsop Head

From the switch back it’s time to enter more open moorland ascending the ridge of Wisket Hill which I think is a fabulous name.

At this point my dull weather day turned into rainy low cloud and any expectation of views slipped away. I suspect you can see for miles from up here, but I’ve never had that privilege.

Heading upwards you will eventually come to a fence which you will track alongside, up and along until you reach Dunsop Head close to the summit of Dunsop Fell.

At Dunsop Head there’s a stile over the fence. On the other side of the fence the landscape changes from grassy moorland grazed by sheep to grouse moor with heather. The grassy moorland is quite boggy, the grouse moor is especially boggy near to the summit.

Dunsop Head to Whitendale

Near to Dunsop Head there is a vague path heading off across the moor towards Whitendale directly opposite the stile.

Further along there is the occasional post marking the path as it works its way along a set of culverts interspersed by peat hags.

In time the path will become more discernible as a path.

The path will eventually start to descend towards Whitendale which it does via a couple of switchbacks to the left and then to the right.

Whitendale to Foot Holme

Just before the farm buildings and before the bridge over the Whitendale river turn to the left in the direction of the river alongside a wall.

The first part of this path isn’t well defined, but it will become a nice even path along the side of the valley.

The path passes through several gates and over a couple of footbridges where there are some nice waterfalls.

Beyond the waterfalls the path descends to Foot Holme where there is a footbridge across the Whitendale just before it joins with the Brennand to become the Dunsop. Cross the footbridge and turn left.

Foot Holme to Dunsop Bridge

On the other side of the footbridge at Foot Holme the path becomes more of a lane and most of it tarmac.

This lane goes all the way back to Dunsop Bridge. It’s pretty countryside, but the lane isn’t close enough to the Dunsop to give great views of river itself. There is, however, the occasional path that takes you alongside the river for a little while.

The route that we will take doesn’t use the lane all the way into Dunsop Bridge, we’ll take the footbridge back over the Dunsop near to the path we took to Beatrix and alongside the village park. The footbridge is accessed straight off the lane.

Beyond the village park you will come out onto the road next to Puddleducks Tearoom. Turn left onto the road and back to the car park on your left.

Alternative and Extensions

From Whitendale you can cross the river here and follow the road back to Foot Holme. The road climbs further than the path on the other side and takes a slightly longer route.

There is an alternative lower path from Beatrix to Laythams, I’ve never walked this route so couldn’t comment on how good it is.

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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 Goldsworthy.

Graham’s Walks Vitals

Distance: 5.7 miles/9.2 km
Elevation: 1283 ft/391 m
Difficulty: Moderate
Starting Point: Rigg Lane Car Park, Quernmore
Graham’s Cafe: Not on this one
Classification: None

The Map

OS Maps Route: 🗺️
GPX Download: 📁

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 it it 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 trees. 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 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

The Start to the Clougha Pike Summit

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 duckboard 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 on 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 a trig-point and a dry-stone wind shelter which is a great place to stop and take in the view.

The Summit to the Three Chambers

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 Goldsworthy.

Heading Down to the Ottergear bridge

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.

Heading Back to the Car Park

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 to 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

Look out for the duckboard across the bog

Follow the path through the woods alongside the stream

Looking out across Morecambe Bay from the wind shelter at the top

Follow the gravel track to the outcrop of stone in the middle of this picture. Take a right on the path before it.

Heading off the gravel track towards Ottergear Bridge

Ottergear Bridge with the aqueduct below

You’ll see this on a hillside, feel free to go and explore.

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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	📌
Distance	5.3 miles
Difficulty	Moderate
Map	🗺️
GPX	📁
Graham’s Cafe	Sandpipers (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.