The Lakes, day 1 – Loughrigg

Monday 15th July 2002

At Easter I will be returning to the Lake District again to spend a week walking around what is possibly the best area for walking in the country (maybe even the world). But before then I thought I’d look back at the very first time I went to the Lake District, before I discovered the appeal of this most delectable of places. It is astonishing to realise that it is almost ten years since I first visited the Lake District, and even in that short time there are places there that have changed a lot, and not for the better. If anything the Lake District is now more popular than ever and that is leaving a big scar on the landscape, which is not being helped by the efforts of the National Park and other organisations to ‘Fix the Fells’. The Lake District does need to be preserved for future generations, but not with paths such as you find in city parks. Some of the worst offenders are the path up Place Fell from Boredale Hause and the recently built abomination either side of Sail Pass. Thankfully there are still many places where the beauty of the Lake District is untarnished by the hand of man.

Below is the introduction that I wrote in 2002 to my report of the whole holiday:
“This was a strange holiday where some things went spectacularly badly. For example, on the first day I left my bank card at home, and then lost my glasses on Loughrigg, which rather put a dampener on things. And the persistent rain and hill fog didn't help. Even if it is possible to walk up the fells in any weather it's not much fun if you don't know where you're going. But of course it also helps if your cagoule is waterproof. The good things were some very enjoyable walks, mainly in the first week when the weather was better with the highlight most definitely being on the middle Sunday. I had perfect walking weather and managed to cover a lot of hills, thoroughly enjoying the whole day. I would love to go back (if only to have another look for my glasses!), it's just a pity the weather let me down, but I suppose it is the Lake District.”

The main thing that I have noticed about the above paragraph is that I still wasn’t used to walking in bad weather. Despite the day that I had spent at Easter crossing the Black Mountain in misty conditions I was not confident in my ability to walk in that sort of weather. And in the Lake District bad weather has to be expected, and any good weather encountered should be exploited with the most enjoyment gotten out of it. On my first day in the Lake District however the weather was being kind to me; unfortunately luck wasn’t with me. As already mentioned in the introduction, I lost my glasses and left my bank card at home, which caused me to describe my first day in the Lake District as an utter disaster. When I reached Ambleside, instead of revelling in the surroundings and the tall hills all around me, I was looking for a bank where I could persuade them to give me some money. Once I had some money I started looking at the sights and made my way up to Stockghyll Force.

After all my build-up to going to the Lake District I was actually unimpressed by the waterfall and dismissed it as being like any other. I returned in 2008 in failing light and then I described it as impressive, so maybe my head wasn’t in the right place ten years ago. On returning to the centre of Ambleside I passed the bizarre bridge house (built to avoid paying land tax – now a National Trust Information Centre and shop) and turned onto a track just after Scandale Bridge. On the day previously mentioned in 2008 I had walked to Ambleside along this track but it was now taking me to adventure and my first Wainwright, my first Lakeland Fell. At Rydal I crossed the road and began to climb Loughrigg, soon stopping off at Rydal Cave, which Wainwright claimed was big enough to shelter the whole population of Ambleside. I don’t think I have been back since but in recent years the entrance has been fenced off due to large blocks of stone that have fallen from the ceiling of the old quarry. This is just one more thing that has changed in the last ten years.

While climbing the bracken covered hillside behind the old Loughrigg Quarries the sun was shining and I was having my first glimpse of the pleasures that can be had while walking in the Lake District when I lost my glasses. I was being very silly hanging my glasses on the pocket of my trousers and was probably asking to lose them, but a frantic search and tears failed to locate them. This is also not the only time that I have lost a pair of glasses in the Lake District having also lost a pair New Year’s Eve 2008. I hope that doesn’t mean I’m due to lose another pair soon! After giving up on my search I dejectedly made my way up the short distance to the summit of Loughrigg, my first Wainwright. The great man himself wrote “Anyone spending a first holiday in Ambleside cannot do better than make an early visit to the top of Loughrigg Fell. They will see around them a land very rich in promise – and find it even richer in fulfilment.” Apart from two disasters, my first holiday in the Lake District had not started too badly, and I had so much more to look forward to.