| Graham’s Walks | 📌 |
|---|---|
| Distance | 4.3 miles |
| Difficulty | Moderate |
| Map | 🗺️ |
| GPX | 📁 |
| Graham’s Cafe? | No |
| Swim? | Yes |
We start this walk from the Pelter Bridge Car Park at the southern/easterly end of Rydal Water near to the village. Pelter Bridge is one of the Lake Districts smaller places to leave your vehicle and can often be full. As an alternative I’ve included instructions when starting from either White Moss Carp Park or Rydal Water Car Park. These car parks are bigger but can also get full.
My walking guides tend not to take you step-by-step through your journey, I prefer to give you an outline of where to go, then make the mapping information available. If you just have the words below I can’t guarantee that I haven’t missed something important.
The first part of this walk takes us along the former quarry tracks up to Rydal Cave. Simply head up the road that you’ve just driven on to get to the car park and carry on once you get to the gate at the end. Just after the gate you’ll get your first view across Rydal Water (the header image). You may, at this point, start to feel something poetic building inside you, if you do you wouldn’t be the first. The village of Rydal was the favourite home of the acclaimed poet William Wordsworth, his family, and his sister Dorothy, who deserves far more acclaim than she receives.
Dorothy Wordsworth’s Journals, many written in Rydal and Grasmere, are wonderfully poetic:
After tea we rowed down to Loughrigg Fell, visited the white foxglove, gathered wild strawberries, and walked up to view Rydale. We lay a long time looking at the lake; the shores all dim with the scorching sun. The ferns were turning yellow, that is, here and there one was quite turned. We walked round by Benson’s wood home. The lake was now most still, and reflected the beautiful yellow and blue and purple and grey colours of the sky.
Dorothy Wordsworth
(I don’t know when Rydale became Rydal, other than to note it was at some point after the early 1800s which is when Dorothy was writing.)
You’ll see from this vantage point that there is a path running alongside the lake, we are coming back that way, for now we are going to head up to Rydal Caves keeping left on the higher path.
There is one very famous cave directly on this route which you can go into with ease, but before that there are a few smaller caves which are more challenging to get into. One of the smaller caves used to have a drum kit inside it which sounded amazing. It’s been a while since I’ve been in that cave, as it now requires a rope to get in, so can’t confirm whether the drum kit is still there.
These caves are the result of slate mining and as you work your way along this lane and into the vast cathedral space it is worth remembering that this was a place of noisy, dusty, dangerous toil.
The Lake District is littered with various mines and quarries, the area wouldn’t be the same without them. This is a land shaped by people.
Having stepped inside the large cave and taken in the view and the acoustics, it’s time to carry on along the side of Rydal Water towards Grasmere. I love the views of Nab Scar towering over the diminutive Rydal Water from this elevated position.
As you near the end of Rydal Water there is a fork in the path where you should continue to take the higher option. This path will take you around the corner onto Loughrigg Terrace with elevated views across Grasmere including Helm Crag (also known as the Lion and the Lamb) and Dunmail Riase (remembering the last king of Cumbria who is reportedly buried below the cairn near to the top).
Carry on along Loughrigg Terrace to the end and into the woods. You need to go through one gate at the end of the path and then a slight right through another gate into Red Bank Wood. This is a gentle walk through established trees marking the seasons by their attire.
Eventually you’ll reach a cottage next to the road between Grasmere and Loughrigg Tarn. At the entrance to the driveway for the cottage there is a path to the right which cuts back through the woods heading downhill and on to the lakeside path below Loughrigg Terrace. The beach here is a great place for a swim but can get a bit crowded.
On leaving the beach you’ll come to a wooden footbridge across the stream. You have a choice here, the route I’ve provided takes you along the southern edge of the stream this path can be flooded when the river is high, but rarely. It can also be a bit uneven. If you prefer something a bit more even, you can cross the bridge take a right hand turn on the other side and follow the path along the other side of the river. Both paths meet at a metal bridge.
The metal bridge is where you’d join the route if you’ve parked at either White Moss or Rydal Water car parks.
From the metal bridge head through the woods up the hill until you reach a gate. Through the gate turn left and along the path by the wall. You should be able to see Rydal Water ahead of you. Walk along this path all the way to the other end of the lake. There are several places to swim along this part of the route, it’s also a great place to practice your skimming, there are plenty of flat stones available.
As you near the end of the lake you’ll notice the gate that you came through on your way to the cave higher up on your right. We are going to go through the lower gate. This route takes you through some more woods and along the river where you’ll get views of the boathouse which is a classic Lake District photo opportunity. Soon you’ll come to a footbridge, don’t go over the bridge but head right and up the hill through some woods and onto the car park road. You’ll reach the car park road via a small gate; the car park is down the hill to your left.
There are several variations to this walk:
As hinted a couple of times you can start this route from White Moss Carp Park or Rydal Water Car Park. There are a few reasons why you may choose to do this, the first being parking. The second is access to a toilet which can be found in the woods between White Moss and Rydal Water car parks. The third reason being access to refreshments; there is normally a pop-up coffee van by the side of the stream near to the toilets.
You can extend the walk a bit near the end. Instead of turning right up onto the car park road you can turn left across the footbridge, from there you can cross the road into the village. In the village there are several places of interest.
Almost directly opposite the exit from the footbridge is Dora’s Field which is full of daffodils in the spring. The daffodils were planted as a memorial to one of the Wordsworth’s daughters who died aged 43 of tuberculosis. Dora’s Field has a gate into the church grounds, both the grounds and the church are lovely with even more Wordsworth associations. Up the hill from the church is Rydal Mount where the Wordsworth family lived for a while.
As you go up the hill, before Rydal Mount there is an entrance to the ground of Rydal Hall. The hall is a Christian retreat, but the grounds are open to the public where there are several walks and gardens to explore. Within the ground is one of the Lake District’s most photographed waterfalls with The Grot alongside it. The Grot is a great place to spend some time in quiet. Swimming is not permitted in the waterfall.
Within the grounds of Rydal Hall is the Old School Room Tea Shop which we’ve visited several times and always had great food, but haven’t visited for a while and hence it’s not currently included in Graham’s Cafes.
There are a couple of Graham’s Cafe’s nearby, last time we did this walk we ventured to Lucia’s Coffee + Bakehouse in Grasmere.
Another option on this walk is to follow the Coffin Trail along the other shore back to your car, I’m going to cover that route as a whole new guide.
Graham Chastney 