Category: Lake District
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Scafell from Eskdale Moor
One family name that keeps cropping up time and time again is the Percys, earls of Northumberland. Think Alnwick Castle. One branch of the family owned much of Kildale in the North York Moors and were involved in the re-establishment of Whitby Abbey, and I now find their fingerprints in Eskdale, on the westernmost side…
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It’s going to be a scorcher
Eskdale has always been a charming valley, less frequented than the eastern dales. Times are a changing though, particularly since the demand for ‘staycations’. The National Trust have taken over one of the campsites and their marketing is being well employed. A ‘pop-up’ campsite appeared lower down the valley which caused some concern. The dale…
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Gummer’s How
A few days in Eskdale in the Western Lake District. Very limited wifi so postings will be spasmodic. I bagged a new Wainwright yesterday, Gummer’s How, east of Windermere. At least I don’t recall climbing it before. It’s one of Wainwright’s “Outlying Fells” and certainly one of the easiest, a mere ½ mile from the…
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Dovedale
In the south of the Moors. It’s been over eighteen months since I was last here. The rich grassland of Dovedale is part of the National Trust’s Bridestones property. Prior to 2015, the dale was heavily infested with bracken, but since then the Trust has carried out annual cutting, by hand usually in two sessions.…
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Scandale Pass
In the Lakes. A one-way trip from Hartsop to Rydal. One-way trips are always more interesting. I haven’t used the High Pike ridge of Dove Crag much. A couple of times descending in the Fairfield Horseshoe. This view is from High Pike summit looking towards Scandale Pass, the col between Red Screes and Dove Crag.…
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Coledale Hause
A grand morning with the tops free of cloud so the high fells beckoned. From Lanthwaite near Crummock Water, straight onto the south-west ridge of Whiteside, then a ridge run to Hopegill Head and back via Coledale Hause and Gasgale Gill. Back in time for breakfast. The culmination of a good few days in the…
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Loweswater
An opportunity to explore the Fellbarrow range of hills west of Lorton Vale. Neat and rolling fells with steep craggy eastern and southern sides. And another two Wainwrights bagged, Fellbarrow itself (416m high) and Low Fell (423m), although I must admit I ran over Low Fell not realising it was the high point. I really…
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Shoulthwaite Gill
Thinking about somewhere to aim for, it suddenly occurred to me that I have never been up Raven Crag overlooking Thirlmere. It’s not a particularly prominent fell, its 461m summit is almost covered by aged coniferous trees planted by Manchester Corporation when they built the Thirlmere reservoir. More interesting was the little subsidiary summit of…
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Bowscale Tarn
With a 240m climb from the hamlet of the same name, Bowscale Tarn was on the itinerary of most Victorian tourists. Ponies would have carried the visitors up to experience its wild and moody atmosphere. The travel books of Harriet Martineu, Rosa Raine, John Pagen White, Eliza Lynn Linton, and Adam and Charles Black all…
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Red Tarn
It’s good to be back in the Lakes even if only for a day trip. I could have packed my tent, camped high and not really increased the risk of spreading Covid-19. But the rule is no overnight stays and rules are rules. Filling the cirque below Helvellyn, Red Tarn is perhaps one of the…