Grizedale Forest and Hawkshead

Friday 22nd December 2023

My final day in the Lake District was again affected by bad weather with nonstop rain forecast and the same strong winds that had plagued me all week still present, however, by the time I left the youth hostel in Coniston the rain had stopped. After getting something for my lunch from the village I headed beside the road around the northern tip of Coniston Water and up the hill into Grisedale Forest, which I assumed would provide me with a good alternative to the fells that were out of my reach again because of the strong winds and rain. An excellent track brought me up the side of the hill with views to my right across the lake, towards the village of Coniston and the impressive fells beyond until eventually I plunged into the conifer plantation where a selection of walking trails are marked by colour-coded rings on wooden posts. Green ringed posts marked the Silurian Way, which at ten miles is the longest walking trail and seemed the best for me, so I immediately started to follow these posts that at this point also had red rings marking the Carron Crag Trail. Ignoring the turning up to Carron Crag which I had visited a year ago, I followed a gloriously rocky path as it slowly descended into the valley of Grizedale, however, at one point a small tree that had fallen over blocked my way, but was easily circumvented. When I reached the bottom I thought I’d have a look around the visitor centre as I’d never been there before, but at the information point I was advised me not to do any of the trails because of the danger of falling trees.

This was very frustrating as it meant there was nothing for me to do anywhere. Obstinately I ignored their instruction and continued along the trail but soon after entering Priest Wood I came across another fallen tree and this one was so large I was unable to go around it. Rather than be thwarted I climbed the hillside above through the undergrowth and after a lot of effort I somehow managed to reach the trail again, but all too soon I found my way blocked by another fallen tree. By this point I was beginning to think that maybe it wasn’t possible to walk along the trails in Grizedale Forest, so while making my way up a delightful little valley through Braithwaite Plantation I started to plan my exit. When I reached a junction of forestry tracks, marked on Ordnance Survey maps with a spot height of 203 metres, I took a bridleway that headed north initially with extensive, but misty views and soon it started to rain heavily. I was now finding the landscape so monotonous, while passing a never-ending line of conifers, that I may not have done the whole of the Silurian Way even without the danger of falling trees, so that I was glad to be coming out of Grizedale Forest and eventually as the rain eased I came into the village of Hawkshead. Despite being very popular with tourists, Hawkshead has felt to me as being off the beaten track as there are no fells near it, so this was my first time in the village.

I found a warren of narrow lanes in Hawkshead that was interesting to wander around but all too soon I was at the large car park on the edge of the village where I had my lunch. It had always been my intention to end my walk in Hawkshead, but I was now several hours ahead of schedule so instead of catching a bus to the railway station I walked along a cyclepath that took me from Hawkshead, past the little-known Blelham Tarn and all the way into Ambleside. This was very well signposted and a pleasure as the weather improved on good surfaces that enabled me to maintain a brisk pace through farmland and later beside a road. The highlight was when Blelham Tarn came into view with Wansfell as a backdrop and the bulk of Red Screes in the distance with the flat top of Caudale Moor between the two, which brought to mind my last day in the Lake District last summer. Unfortunately very little of the walking on this day could be described as mountain or fell walking, with the rocky path coming down the eastern slopes of Carron Crag as the only exception. Despite the strong winds all week, I enjoyed my time in the Lake District which provided me with exactly what I had been looking forward to all autumn.