The Coniston Fells

Friday 13th April 2012

Before detailing my recent holiday in Scotland I’ve still got two days in the Lake District to describe. On previous visits to the Coniston Fells I’d not spent more than twenty-four hours in the area, usually walking into the area one day and leaving the next, but now I was spending two nights at the Coniston Coppermines Youth Hostel, which gave me the opportunity to really explore the area. The weather was mixed for this walk, but mostly I was able to enjoy glorious sunshine, despite cold temperatures. Setting off early, I dropped down the valley slightly to the Miner’s Bridge and joined the tourist route up to the Old Man of Coniston. However, I wasn’t going all the way up to the Old Man, rather I was heading back up to the Boulder Valley where I had been at the end of the previous day's walk. I could have retraced my steps but I fancied a different route so when I reached the quarry road near Crowberry Haws I turned right along a terrace high above the Coppermines Valley that took me to Low Water Beck and the bottom of the Boulder Valley.

After crossing the stream and the boulder filled valley, I climbed the steep hillside below Brim Fell. Half way up the fell I came across a mine level with metal tracks actually coming out of the mine and sticking out into the air. One can imagine how this particular level was mined in centuries past, but I can’t imagine how the wagons on these tracks could have been brought down into the valley. I continued to climb the ridiculously steep fell until eventually I reached Low Water with the tourist path that I’d been on earlier the far side of the tarn. If I’d stayed on that path I’d have saved myself the steep climb, but I would have missed the fascinating insights into the hidden delights of Brim Fell. Turning north I climbed up to the top of Raven Tor, on the short eastern ridge of Brim Fell, before clambering up to the top of Brim Fell itself.

Brim Fell is usually visited after climbing the Old Man since there is merely a short stroll along a broad ridge between the two, but I’d just climbed Brim Fell for its own sake, surely a rare accomplishment. The Old Man of Coniston however was too close to ignore so I wandered over to the popular summit but didn’t stay long as I dropped down the southern slopes in order to see the wide-ranging views towards the sea. Returning past the summit I wrapped myself up against a cold wind and I walked along the broad ridge past Brim Fell Top on my way to Swirl How. After paying my respects to the Halifax Bomber that crashed on the fell in 1944 I passed over the top of Great Carrs and stopped for my lunch near Little Carrs. The weather had been sunny whilst I’d been at the top of the fells, but now dark clouds seemed to have taken residence above the Coniston Fells. Fortunately my plans for the afternoon were on the sunnier lower fells. After lunch I continued down the ridge that starts on Little Carrs and descended all the way down Wet Side Edge into the Greenburn Valley.

This was a glorious descent. I really like long gradual descents on ridges like this as I find it so relaxing to just sail down the fell with a minimum of effort and stunning views right in front of me. Dropping down into the bottom of the valley I joined the main track through the valley and walked past the many quarries in Little Langdale including Black Hole Quarry which I’d visited just the day before. In 2002 I had visited a vast cathedral-like quarry which I thought was near Little Langdale Tarn, but despite much searching I wasn’t able to find it. I’m not sure which route I took in 2002 as the route I now took through Moss Rigg Wood was unfamiliar. Despite my disappointment this was a nice walk through a lovely wood. At Tilberthwaite Gill I took the path that I’d taken in 2002 above the deeply-ravined stream. Rather than crossing over to the north bank as in 2002 on my way up Wetherlam, this time I turned south across Crook Beck and followed a faint path below the steep sides of Wetherlam’s south ridge.

There I saw more signs of mining activity on this side of Wetherlam which added interest to the walk, but on the other side of the flat, boggy valley there is a clearer path near to the undulating tops of the Yewdale Fells that would have been a better route for me to take. After crossing the bog at the top of the valley I finally joined this path as it climbs through Hole Rake before dropping steeply into the Coppermines Valley. This was a fascinating end to the walk in a quiet, seldom visited area that made me desperate to return soon. The big fells that I was visiting in the morning on this walk no longer hold as much interest for me as they used to, but the lower tops like the Yewdale Fells are new to me and so their paths and tops seem more interesting to me. Once into the Coppermines Valley I continued my exploration of the old levels and leats of this long-disused mining area.