Alcock Tarn and Grey Crag

‘A dreary sheet of water named Alcock Tarn.’

Apparently Alfred Wainwright was rather disparaging of Alcock Tarn, nestled below Butter Crag east of Grasmere. Personally I enjoyed my swim in this peaceful small tarn. The views from Grey Crag were a bonus!

Sign to Alcock Tarn

Alcock Tarn

We managed to find a lay-by with free parking alongside the A591, and took the path behind the Swan Hotel, following signs for Alcock Tarn. The walk, though steep in parts was very picturesque. We followed a babbling Greenhead Ghyll and had luscious views of Helm Crag and Grasmere as we quickly gained height. The whole walk was beautiful, possibly attributed to the blissful weather we were lucky to have. The whole walk was a positive experience for me.

Greenhead Gill

Selfie

It took about an hour to get to the shores of Alcock Tarn, previously called Butter Crag Tarn. In the 1800’s Mr Alcock of Grasmere had enlarged the tarn to stock with trout! There were lots of minnows in the shallows when we set up camp.

Our arrival was welcomed by two female mallards who quickly made a beeline for us. Both came onto land and one, searching for food pecked at my toes as I got undressed. The ducks were so cute, one even sat next to David whilst I took to the waters.

Alcock Tarn female mallards

Swimming at Alcock Tarn

The swim itself was divine. I entered the water when there was no other walkers about and had the tarn to myself, David and the two ducks. I thoroughly enjoyed the 8° waters and wish I could have stayed in longer. The wind was not as cutting as it was at Scales Tarn, Blencathra. Even though I swam through reeds they were manageable. Pipits called from the hills and peacefulness pervaded. I was in the water for about 15 minutes before I started to feel cold.

We picnicked on shore, sharing our lunch with the ducks while I warmed up. I could have stayed there all day.

David wanted to explore the area and so we ended up walking towards Grey Crag overlooking a resplendent Grasmere with Windermere glistening in the distance. I was drunk on the colour green! The whole countryside looked vibrant in the noontime sunshine.

Sadly it was time we retraced our steps back towards the car. The whole day was wonderful. It was the best swim/walk of the weekend. Perhaps this was due to having no expectations?

Have you visited Alcock Tarn? What are your favourite walks around Grasmere?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

 

The Weather Didn’t Deter Us!

A few weeks back David and I played hosts to my friend, Jennifer, who traveled from the USA. She stayed with us for two nights and voiced her wish to go hiking with David and myself. So, I planned a little tour of my favourite part of the Lake District, the northern fells.

Weeks before, the UK had been in the grip of a month or so long heatwave. However on the dawn of our little excursion to Cumbria, the day broke overcast with showers and winds of 50 mph forecast.

It was a 6am start. We breakfasted, packed the car and headed out of Liverpool by 7.30am. David drove two hours up the M6. As the day lengthened it became apparent that the predicted showers would be a predominant feature of the day, with heavy, prolonged incidents. Swathes of showers swept across the countryside, as we pulled the car into a free parking space alongside our first stop: Castlerigg Stone Circle.

Jennifer and Christine at Castlerigg

Castlerigg Stone Circle

Castlerigg Stone Circle was raised in the Neolithic period, about 3000 BC and overlooks the Thirlmere Valley south, towards Helvellyn and north to Skiddaw and Blencathra. You can read more about the circle here. Castlerigg is only 30 minutes walk from Keswick, but on a dreary July day we managed to find parking right outside, even at 10am!

From Castlerigg we drove the 30 minutes to Buttermere, where we would spend most of the day. On arrival, I was surprised at how quiet the village was. We even managed to get parking at the National Trust car park behind the Fish Inn, paying £8 for all day. From here we donned our waterproofs and rucksacks and headed for the planned hike to Wainwright, Rannerdale Knotts.

Rannerdale Knotts Walk

The walk to Rannerdale Knotts took us two hours through woodland and up hill. Once past Ghyll Wood the trail gained height quickly and from our viewpoint we could see the weather once again closing in. Low clouds, full of drizzly rain swept in and obscured any view of Buttermere and Crummock Water from the trig point.

Rannerdale Knotts

Selfie Time!

The top was a bit of a scramble which (as you know) I don’t like. We managed to scurry across Rannerdale Knotts and even descended without slipping on wet stones. The walk though hindered by the rain was not ruined. We arrived, unscathed at our next destination: Crummock Water.

Jennifer at Crummock Water

Crummock Water means the Crooked Lake and reflects the lakes shape. It’s 44m deep and nestled between Buttermere and Loweswater. The clear, cool waters make for a wonderful swim which I can vouch for as seen here.

After a quick lunch, we ventured to Buttermere and traversed the path towards the lake’s southern point. We passed the Lone Tree and even managed to walk through the tunnel, which I had never done before. Jennifer and I were hopeful of going for a swim, but the wind chopped waters and cold wind made me abandon this plan. Instead we enjoyed views of Haystacks and High Crag from the shore.

The Lone Tree

Tunnel

From Buttermere we drove the 30 minutes back towards Keswick, to visit my favourite lake of all, Derwentwater. We parked at the Theatre by the Lake and then walked the path towards Friar’s Crag.

Jennifer and Christine at Derwentwater

At Friar’s Crag we enjoyed views towards Castle Crag, Catbells and Walla Crag. It was nice to share my love of Derwentwater with someone new.

We then headed into Keswick and sought shelter from the rain and wind in the restaurant of The Old Keswickian. We enjoyed a restoring meal of fish and chips before heading home. It was a fun filled day. One that I have enjoyed reliving for this blog.

Have you shared your love of a special place with a friend?

Thanks for joining in my reminiscence,

Christine x

Wainwrights #2

A while back I blogged about the Wainwrights David and I had inadvertently bagged while on our many swim/walks in the Lake District. You can read that post here. I thought I would follow up with a second blog which covers Wainwrights walked since 2017 up to the present. Many of the walks this time have been planned, except Beda Fell, which we discovered whilst lost en route to Angle Tarn. You can read about that exhausting adventure, here.

Raven Crag:

• 461m
• Classification, Wainwright
• Central Fells

Thirmere from Raven Crag

We took a walk to the viewpoint at Raven Crag during a short break to the Lakes in March 2017. Though the path was steep, Raven Crag was broached with no incident, and offered fantastic views of Thirmere. In spring the area is host to nesting Peregrine Falcons. We had the pleasure of seeing one fly over the tree tops.

Dodd:

• 502m
• Classification, Wainwright
• Northern Fells

David and I at Dodd

We walked to Dodd on a cloudy, windy day in April 2017. After visiting the Osprey viewpoint and seeing no Ospreys, we walked through forestry towards the viewpoint at Dodd overlooking Derwentwater and Keswick.

Beda fell:

• 509m
• Classification, Wainwright
• Far Eastern Fells

Sadly I have no pictures of Beda Fell. After losing our way towards Angle Tarn and walking a good hour or so around the desolate fells, when we did come to a trig and viewpoint across a valley, I wasn’t in the best frame of mind to snap a photo. Though in hindsight I wish I had because the view was beautiful!

Castle Crag:

• 290m
• Classification, Wainwright
• North Western Fells

Derwentwater from Castle Crag

Though the smallest of the Wainwrights, David and I had difficulty in following the path towards Castle Crag. We ended up taking the direct route! We did enjoy wondrous views across Derwentwater once we got to the summit!

Latrigg:

• 368m
• Classification, Wanwright
• Northern Fells

Derwentwater from Latrigg

Our most recent visit to the newly awarded World Heritage Site, The Lake District, saw us visit Latrigg. Over the past two years we had tried to visit this popular fell but time and weather had prevented us. However we visited on a summer-like day in April 2018, where the sun shone fiercely and the views were breathtaking!

Though we are not actively seeking Wainwrights, we have accumulated eight of the 214 fells. I can’t see (especially) me walking the likes of Helvellyn or Scafell Pike but I am enjoying the views from the lower fells.

If you’ve bagged all the Wainwrights, which ones do you think I could tackle in the future?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

Castle Crag

Alfred Wainwright would be shaking his head with displeasure if he knew that David and I sort of got lost as we ventured on an easy walk to Castle Crag.

Castle Crag from Derwentwater

Castle Crag is more of a hill than a mountain. Classified as a Wainwright even though he, himself states in his Pictorial Guides (book six), that the crag of 290m, ‘should be regarded, not as a separate fell but as a protuberance…of Low Scawdel.’ However he then goes on to praise Castle Crag’s merits. ‘Castle Crag is so magnificently independent, so ruggedly individual, so…unashamed of its lack of inches, that less than justice would be done by relegating it to a paragraph in the High Spy chapter.’ I have to agree, Castle Crag looks magnificent in the Jaws of Borrowdale, even if it is overshadowed by higher peaks.

David and I decided Castle Crag would be the destination of our most recent day out. We arrived at the the quiet village of Rosthwaite just before 10am. We managed to get a parking space at the small NT car park (where toilets are free but ask for a donation). We paid £6 for four hours parking.

However on the day, with poor intelligence and bad maps, David and I took a detour towards caves where ‘Professor of Adventure,’ Millican Dalton took summer residence before his death in 1947, aged 79. We saw melting icicles before we retraced our tracks and finally found a path that climbed steeply towards the views and quarry of Castle Crag.

Icicles on a cave

Towards the Scafells

Christine and Borrowdale

Summit Quarry Spoil Heap

We navigated through a slippery spoil heap to get to the summit, where there’s a WW1 memorial and beautiful views of Derwentwater. Buffeted by a chilling easterly wind, David and I managed to share a picnic with red kites chasing each other, while surveying the awesome scenery.

Derwentwater from Castle Crag

David and Christine at Castle Crag

I simply love this area of the Lake District and keep coming back to explore more and more of its facets. Eagle Crag looked enticing (Wainwright’s Route A looked doable), and we have yet to venture towards Latrigg. Which fell do you think David and I should explore next?

Thanks so much for reading,

Christine x

Angle Tarn and Beda Fell.

Angle Tarn

With a planned walk to Angle Tarn on the itinerary, David and I headed towards Patterdale. We parked the car opposite the Patterdale Hotel and paid the very reasonable £4 for all day. At 9.30am I was surprised at how busy the village was with walkers. With a grey leaden sky and a chilling breeze we headed down the lane and took a left turn onto Goldrill Bridge. We followed signs to the tarn and Boredale Hause.

Sign

Ullswater

I found information on getting to Angle Tarn rather sparse online, perhaps that was why we took so many wrong turns. What should have been a two to three hour walk ended up being a five and a half hour epic! Things started to go wrong when we reached the first of many forks in the path. We interpreted the walk featured on The How Cottage website wrongly and took a left turn instead of a right. After walking for half an hour, we found that we were heading out onto Place Fell overlooking Ullswater. I knew this was the wrong direction so we turned tail and retraced our route back to the fork, where we took the right-hand path.

After reaching a second fork we took the top pathway. In hindsight it would have been far easier if we had taken the lower path as this would have seen us directly to the mountain pass of Boredale Hause. Instead it was the beginning of our woes as the top path branched off before Boredale Hause and we ended up traipsing across mossy blanket bogs, soaking our tired feet in mud and water. I soon grew fearful as we seemed to be heading in the wrong direction to Angle Tarn. The sky darkened broodily causing my sense of isolation to increase. With map skills at a minimum, GPS not functioning properly, and David doggedly wanting to see what was at the end of a steep path, we walked for further than needed. Instead of heading south we headed east and ended at a cairn overlooking two valleys. However we had inadvertently bagged another Wainwright, this time Beda Fell. With my mood as morose as the weather I didn’t take a picture. Thinking back the scenery was impressive, I just wish that it didn’t look so desolate. I was not enjoying myself out on the fells!

Almost close to tears and wanting to give up, we retraced our footsteps back down the path. Some of the pathways were not clearly defined, but (luckily) we finally ended up at Boredale Hause and its cairn. There were numerous paths leading from the cairn and one that was sign posted with red flags (the coast to coast walk). We followed this path which seemed popular with other walkers. It was also aiming in the right direction for Angle Tarn. I had not given up totally of seeing it. The well defined path was gravelly underfoot with sheer drops in places. I didn’t look down! There were however stunning views of Brothers Water nestled among the Hartsop Dodd fells.

Brothers Water

Angle Tarn

We had been walking for three hours, our feet had started to blister when I saw David ahead of me jump for joy! Over a hill we spotted the dull tinge of cloud reflecting water. Angle Tarn spread out before us enticingly with its two islands and spit. We stiffly walked to the promontory and found a little cove where we set up camp and had lunch. I was too tired to be happy. I had found the whole experience underwhelming.

Even though I felt cold I decided to continue with the planned itinerary and go for a swim. It ended up more of a dip as I felt so exhausted! Terence said that the water temperature was 15°C. From our cove the main island was only a few metres away. Once in the water I decided to swim over and explore. I had always wanted to swim to an island and Angle Tarn’s island was not too far away.

Angle Tarn

‘I’m on an island!’

After my swim, we returned to Boredale Hause and thankfully our journey back to the car park was uneventful. Our descent took two hours. On the way down, David spied a huge golden ringed dragonfly at the side of the path. Out came the lenses and he managed to snap a great photo of it!

Golden Ringed Dragonfly

In calculation, we had walked for over five hours, ten miles in total and my Samsung Health clocked a whopping 26,000 steps! It was an eventful day, one I won’t forget in a hurry.

Have you walked around the fells of Patterdale? What were your impressions of the area?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

Wainwrights #1

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

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

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!

Gowbarrow Fell:

• 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

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