Recently I saw a post on the I Love the Lake District Facebook page, asking members to name ‘what was their first Wainwright’. Any walker visiting Cumbria will have heard of these Wainwrights, hills or mountains outlined by British Fell Walker Alfred Wainwright. On my many swim walks of 2016, David and I had not intentionally walked any of the routes, so notice my surprise when I checked the list of 214 fells, and read that David and I had bagged three! With Cat Bells a sorry attempt at a fourth!
Loughrigg Fell
- 335m
- Classification, Marilyn (hill)/Wainwright
- Central Fell
Unknown to us as we walked towards Loughrigg Fell after a magical swim at Rydal Water, Loughrigg would be our first Wainwright! It was a hard slog up steep steps cut into the hill, but after a few blind summits, we finally managed to get to the top!
Derwentwater from Walla Crag
- 379m
- Wainwright
- Central Fell
Our second and third Wainwrights were Walla Crag and Gowbarrow Fell respectively. We did both these walks back to back on a break to the Kewsick area. No wonder we were both knackered after just Walla Crag! To then walk 100m higher the next day, is testament to our grit and determination!
- 481m
- Wainwright
- Eastern Fell
Gowbarrow Fell
Way back in May 2016, we attempted Cat Bells, which would have been our first Wainwright, but with a scramble to the summit, sadly it eluded us! This was the highest we got!
Below Cat Bells
- 451m
- Wainwright
- North Western Fell
So, even though we are not actively seeking Wainwright routes to bag, you will probably read about a few more in 2017 as I embark on my wild swim walks once again!
Have you attempted to walk the Wainwrights? How many have you done, and what was your favourite?
Thanks for reading,
Christine x
Christine Lucas 
I must own to reading this with a small lump in my throats as I haven’t wainwrighted for a while (that is a verb, right?) and the last was High Street and Kidsty Pike which has to be my favourite peak. I admire you swimming though. Not for me. Maybe if you get the chance to dip into Haweswater and then up Kidsty you’ll have a great day. Thank you for the reminder of what I must do this June!
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Good luck with your Wainwrights 🙂
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Thats amazing that you have bagged nearly 4 without realising! I don’t think I have done any…..and Wil wants us to do at least one this year! I think my ideal walk would be nice and flat by a canal. 😉 However , when I haveactually got up a hill I am always so happy to have done it and I love the views. Good luck in bagging a few more his year.x
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Four without even trying! Perhaps you should aim for them all, I’m sure it’d be quite do-able as you’re pretty close to the Lake District and you could combine lots of them with wild swims I bet! I’ve never even walked in the Lake District, let alone bagged a wainwright – I’d love to though!
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Those views look amazing. I’ve never done any serious walking in the lake District. Hopefully one day.
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Welcome to the trail! For a variety of reasons, among them an arthritic knee, I doubt I’ll be doing many more Wainwrights, but twenty years ago I completed a full round, and it’s one of the things I’m most proud of. Even if you only stay with the little ones, there’s gorgeous views ahead of you: may I recommend Latrigg, above Keswick, going round the side of the hill from the roadhead for a nicer walk, even if it gives away the view too soon? You never know, you might get the bug…
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