Stanley Force and Buckbarrow

Tuesday 26th April 2011 

After my exertions of the previous couple of days I was looking forward to an easier walk for this day, but even though I didn't climb very high I still had to walk a long way in boots that were giving me blisters. On leaving the Eskdale Youth Hostel I had a pleasant walk beside the lovely River Esk before climbing beside Stanley Ghyll. This was an enthralling part of the walk as I climbed through a narrow, tree-lined ravine to reach Stanley Force waterfall. The waterfall was nothing special but the path through the wooded ravine more than justified the diversion. This waterfall is a noted attraction of Eskdale, but I had never previously seen visited it. Wainwright described Stanley Force, which he called Dalegarth Force, as Lakeland’s loveliest waterfall and exquisitely charming. He was certainly right about the sylvan beauty of the surroundings, but the waterfall itself failed to move me.

After returning to the River Esk I crossed over and passed into the small village of Boot where I stopped for a rest in the tranquil surroundings beside the bridge over Whillan Beck before starting a traverse of the moorland between Eskdale and Wasdale. After an early section beside a wall, the path passes onto open moorland and lost its appeal for me. The dreary crossing was only enlivened by the presence of Burnmoor Tarn beside which I had lunch. When I came to the top of the pass I suddenly beheld the view of the great mountains that surround Wasdale Head, though unfortunately throughout my moorland crossing the sun had been obscured by cloud which gave a very grey appearance to the scene as I came down into Wasdale. After passing the National Trust camp site I started a long and monotonous walk along the road beside the entire length of Wastwater. 

I did this same walk at Easter last year and for some reason then I actually enjoyed the crossing from Boot over the moor to Wasdale Head. However, last time I was excited at the prospect of coming to the Lake District again, but now I’d already been to places that put Burnmoor Tarn in the shade, just as the weather was doing. Compared with Scafell Crag, Burnmoor Tarn hasn’t got a hope. Since this was not my first visit to these scenes I was also not as excited by the descent into Wasdale Head, though the dreary weather undoubtedly contributed to my lack of enthusiasm. I clearly remembered the tiring walk along the road beside Wastwater last year, but this time even though I was just as tired as before, now I turned right onto a road that took me away from Wastwater and under the tall crags of Buckbarrow. I had considered and rejected doing this Wainwright last year, but now I had set it as my goal for the day, so after struggling all that way along the road I struggled up the steep sides of the fell all the way to the top of the Wainwright which left me with just two more to do before I’d completed the whole list. 

On the map Buckbarrow, doesn't look like it deserved to be treated as a separate fell by Wainwright, but when I got up there I found a complex terrain of rocky outcrops that are very much unlike its bigger parent, the dreary, grass covered Seatallan. Unfortunately I wasn't in a mood to explore the fell so after visiting a cairn, high above the cliff top, and another higher cairn further back, the actual Wainwright summit, I started descending steep grassy slopes into Greendale. Back on the road I took a footpath through the thoroughly delightful, wildflower-filled Roan Wood that was sadly all too small. Crossing a field and walking along a forest track took me to the youth hostel. Overall this was another tiring walk not helped by the problems I’d been having with my feet, but there were a couple of highlights, both relating to stream-side woodlands.