The National Forest Way, stages five and six

Saturday 7th March 2015

Ashby to Smisby via Ticknall

After taking a break from walking along the National Forest Way I jumped at the first hint of the spring last year and returned to the Leicestershire market town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch where I had finished the previous stage before Christmas. I parked in the small and lovely village of Smisby, just to the north of Ashby, and made my way past the small wood of Woodcote onto a footpath that heads south over the bypass into the town centre. Along the way I had to negotiate a new housing development that was encroaching upon the footpath, but eventually I was back on Market Street, Ashby’s main shopping street, where stage five of the National Forest Way starts. At a small lane between two houses I turned off the road and headed down the lane through a kissing gate into a field where I immediately glimpsed an example of the flower what would come to dominate this walk: the snowdrop.

After passing behind a large warehouse for a well-known biscuit company and over the Ashby bypass I came into an area of woodland where clumps of snowdrops were scattered excitingly across the woodland floor. I feel a lot of affection for these early spring flowers as they herald the start of spring and the promise of new growth throughout the countryside. I have snowdrops in my garden and after the New Year I eagerly follow their progress as they grow through the frosty winter until finally burst into flower in February. I would see a lot more snowdrops on this walk. Following the course of the Ivanhoe Way I walked along a path that at times was atrociously muddy, especially when going around the young Park Pale Woods. I passed through many fields on this tedious section of the walk until I reached Heath End where I took a turning onto the approach road for Staunton Harold Hall and soon veered left towards Dimminsdale Nature Reserve.

To my shame I had never been to this former limestone quarry before, but I was now being treated to a spectacular sight as thousands of snowdrops covered the gentle slopes of the valley. I was in awe and spellbound by this stunning display of a carpet of snowdrops, and could hardly believe my eyes. Eventually I tore myself away and plunged further into this heartbreakingly small reserve soon leaving the idyllic surroundings to emerge onto a road. My walk along the road ended when the road plunged down to a large lake, where the Staunton Harold Reservoir overwhelmed the old road. The way continued with a pleasant walk in surprisingly warm and sunny weather around the edge of the reservoir and into Calke Park National Nature Reserve. With the National Trust property of Calke Abbey nearby I followed the path beside a series of ponds built in a delightful wooded valley. At the end of Mere Pond I climbed out of the valley, crossed the approach road for the Abbey and followed a path into the primrose-filled village of Ticknall.

I had now finished stage five of the National Forest Way, but I was not finished yet as once I had eaten my lunch I set off on stage six. Heading out of the village beside the church I passed along the edge of Windmill Wood and soon reached the crossroads of two footpaths that is known locally as Hangman’s Stone, though there weren’t any stones in the area that I could see. Turning left I followed the edge of the field onto a road where I once again turned left to now head south back towards Ashby. Turning off the road I headed to my second reservoir of the day, Foremark, where I followed the well-designed woodland paths through the woodlands on the south-eastern edge of the lake. More snowdrops and primroses greeted me as I made my way along the path until I reached the millstone grit of Carver’s Rocks and came round to the southern tip of the reservoir where bright sunshine and cloudless skies made for an idyllic picture.

The picturesque walk continued through Hartshorn Bog and past the young plantation of Buildings Farm Woods to the village of Hartshorne where stage six of the National Forest Way ends. I had been enthralled by my walk along the trail though I still needed to cover the short distance back to Smisby and intended on taking a route through the enchantingly named Daniel Hayes Wood, but I was now getting tired and was eager to get back to my car as quickly as possible so I actually started stage seven of the National Forest Way heading towards Several Woods Farm. I was so tired by this point I missed the turning at the farm and it wasn’t until I’d walked all the way along the farmer’s access track onto the road that I realised that I had missed my turning and had to turn back. Taking the correct path I followed the path past a delightful small copse whose floor was covered with snowdrops, and eventually returned to the village of Smisby. This walk was the best that I did on the whole of National Forest Way, and was helped by staying on the trail for almost the entire walk due to huge loop in the route. The highlight of the walk was undoubtedly the snowdrops that were seen at their peak and in stunning splendour in many places, most notably in Dimminsdale.

Jenkins Crag and Sallows

Thursday 24th December 2015

I had spent a lot of time during the previous evening to this walk trying to decide where to go and never came to a decision. Ultimately I needed to get to the railway station for Windermere and after the recent flooding in the Lake District I was wary of relying on buses preferring to walk all the way, but there is not a clear, obvious route to take. The weather forecast had been of no help with a potential for both good and bad weather during the day. It was raining when I got up, but by the time I left the Ambleside Youth Hostel this had stopped leaving a damp, grey and windy day that didn’t inspire me to trek up any fells. The only place that I definitely wanted to visit was Jenkins Crag, which lies on the western slopes of Wansfell in amongst the trees of Skelghyll Wood. On the other side of the road from the hostel I climbed past Stagshaw Gardens into this delightful wood that was overflowing with winter damp and patiently waiting to spring forth with new growth when the season warms. I had never been in this wood before but I am now eager to return when the season displays it in more luxurious colours and delights.

The view from Jenkins Crag extends over the northern stretches of Windermere including the hills of Claife Heights that I had walked over the day before with the secluded Blelham Tarn that I had passed lurking in the hollow below Latterbarrow. Just before reaching the crag I passed a sign that was marked for Wansfell and I briefly considered taking it, but the low clouds that enveloped the top of the fell put me off. This path is not marked on my OS map and was not recommended in Wainwright’s guides until the latest, recently published edition. With hindsight I would have loved to have taken the path, but only if the weather had been better. Instead I continued along the path that enjoyably travels through the wood to emerge with views down the length of Windermere. There is a path marked on my map that goes from the end of Hundreds Road up to the top of Wansfell that I did consider taking, but the clouds were still too low and I really couldn’t be bothered to make the effort up a fell that I hadn’t been impressed with when I was last at the top.

Soon after the junction with Hundreds Road is a squat cairn, marked as a pillar on my map, where a good view can be seen down Windermere, but whose purpose otherwise escapes me. Continuing along Robins Lane I descended into the sprawling village of Troutbeck, and after crossing the valley started climbing up one of the many enclosed lanes that crisscross the slopes above Trout Beck. I was heading towards one of the most famous enclosed lanes in the Lake District, where there are many, the Garburn Road. I’m not sure what my intentions were when I started the climb, whether I was planning on turning south onto Longmire Road or Dubbs Road on my way to Windermere station, but as I climbed an astonishing thing happened: the clouds parted and sunlight filled the valley. With this unexpectedly improving weather I decided to continue heading along the Garburn Road all the way up to the top of the pass even though by the time I reached the top clouds had once again enveloped the Lake District.

I had never climbed to the top of Garburn Pass from Troutbeck before, and as I slowly made my way up the track I remembered the previous times that I had been there. In 2004 I had climbed to the top of the pass from Kentmere as part of the Kentmere Round, and in 2006 I walked from Windermere station up to Sour Howes and Sallows before descending to the pass. A reverse of that walk was what I now intended on doing even though when I had considered it the previous evening I had dismissed it as being a waste of effort on two fells that even Wainwright admitted ‘are not strictly walkers’ territory’. Nevertheless when I reached the top of the Garburn Road I turned off the track onto a wet and muddy path that climbs up to the horribly windswept and boggy top of Sallows. After battling through savagely strong winds that were thundering over the fell, I made my way up to the summit of Sallows where I could barely stand, so I immediately turned around and headed around the top of the waterlogged valley of Park Beck.

I was seriously questioning my wisdom in coming up to the top of these two fells as the conditions were horrendous at the top of the ridge while I tried to shelter from the wind as much as I could. After reaching the top of Sour Howes I followed a delightful path down a line of outcrops through Applethwaite Common while the sun once more come out revealing a majestic view of Windermere glistening before me, which should have made this a really enjoyable descent if it wasn’t for the ferocious winds on the side of this exposed fell. All I had in my mind was a desperate desire to get down the fell as quickly as possible and away from that savage wind. Finally I reached the enclosed lane of Dubbs Road where after collapsing with exhaustion I slowly made my way along the lane to Moor Howe. In 2006 I had started my ascent by passing over the viewpoint of Orrest Head and I had considered returning on this walk, but the wind had been knocked out of me on the fells, so I just stayed on roads and walked all the way to the railway station. It had been distressing to see the Lake District so badly affected by flooding on this short holiday and as I left I hoped it wouldn’t be long before it had fully recovered, and that I would return.

Latterbarrow and Claife Heights

Wednesday 23rd December 2015

The weather for this walk was much better than the rain and strong winds that I had been subjected to during the first two days of my short holiday in the Lake District before Christmas. It was a welcome change to see the sun come out revealing blue skies and stunning views across the fells even though the strong winds hadn’t completely gone away with a harsh, cold wind reminding me that it was December. I could have tried to battle against the cold wind and gone up to the top of some of the high fells, but in the end I decided I would walk over a couple of low, outlying fells that I had actually already visited. Three years ago, at the start of a New Year’s holiday in the Lake District, I walked from the Windermere ferry through the woodland on the western shore of the lake visiting the highest points in the wooded upland that lies between Windermere and Esthwaite Water. On that occasion the weather had been poor with low cloud even on these pathetically low hills and that had spoilt the view making navigation tricky, so ever since I have wanted to return in order to discover where I should have gone on that occasion.

I set off first thing in the morning and soon suspected that the water level of Windermere was even higher than it had been the day before, however the River Rothay, which had been a raging torrent and burst its banks the day before, had now returned to being a steady stream of water. I was now able to cross the river without getting my feet wet and followed the main road to Clappersgate where I took a side road over the River Brathay. The start of this walk involved a significant amount of road walking, however a cyclepath follows the road and afforded me with a pleasing walk through woodland off the road in increasingly sunny weather. Eventually, at Wray Church, the cyclepath turned off towards the lake and I was left to walk on the road up to the village of High Wray where a track took me off the road and up to the National Trust’s High Wray Basecamp, on the edge of the Claife Heights woodland.

A short walk through the wood brought me out and onto the bracken-covered slopes of Latterbarrow. This was where I had ended my walk three years ago, in diminishing light, but now the sun was shining brightly and I had stunning views of the Lakeland Fells to the north and the Coniston Fells to the west. The contrast was remarkable as then it had been wet, cloudy, windy and it had been getting dark, but now the sun was shining brightly under blue skies with the Lake District arrayed before me in glorious splendour. Eventually I tore myself away from the views and the magnificent obelisk that sits at the top of Latterbarrow, and after a moment of confusion I headed south down the hill to the edge of the woodland as I retraced my steps of my previous visit. On that occasion I had a lot of difficulty finding my way through the wood and was solely reliant on signposts that were intermittent.

Despite good weather, navigation can still be difficult in woodland as you are unable to navigate by landmarks due to the trees. This time I used my GPS to double-check my location so I could be sure I was following the right route, especially in the felled areas where the signposts were less frequent. At one point I came out at a unexpected viewpoint that looks past a transmitter towards Windermere and the town on the far side of the lake. I seemed to remember this point three years ago, even though there had been no view back then, which gave me hope that I had actually been quite successful in following the right path back then. Continuing along the path brought me to a tarn that also seemed to be familiar and confirmed that I had come this way. A path opposite the tarn took me past a large fallen tree and up to the trig point that sits on the crags at the highest point in Claife Heights.

I had not found this trig point three years ago, but I don’t seem to have missed much as although the immediate area around the column is clear of trees, there are tall conifers close by that tower over the summit and spoil any view. Coming back down the path I emerged into a felled area that I distinctly remembered as being where I had found, and photographed, some crags three years ago. At the top of High Pate Crag I gazed around at the views all around and reflected that this was a much more satisfying summit than where the trig point is as now I had clear views over the trees towards the heart of the Lake District and over Windermere. I could see the trees that screen the actual summit but not the trig point itself and I wished that those trees would be felled, just as the trees near to these crags have been, so that the actual summit could be enjoyed as it deserves. Three years ago I must have been painfully close to the trig point, but I had simply walked past it, however I think I had found the much more pleasing and satisfying summit crag.

Retracing my steps from my previous visit to the area I followed the path out of the wood to a small tarn that flooded the path, just as it had done three years ago. On that occasion I had waded through it, but now it occurred to me that a better idea was simply to walk around the small pond, which is the obvious thing to do. The path down to the ferry took me through woodland that was much more pleasurable to walk through than the conifer plantation on Claife Heights mainly because this was deciduous. The fallen leaves made the path slippery and difficult to trace but an ingenious path descended the steep hillside to reach the Claife Viewing Station, which has been partially restored since I was last there, and finally I reached the shore of Windermere. I had planned on taking a ferry across the lake to the town of Bowness, but since the weather was so good and it was still quite early in the day I decided to walk along the west shore path.

This wasn’t as great an idea as I’d thought as I was now sheltered from the sun by the hills of Claife Heights, but it must have been better than walking through the busy, built-up eastern shore of Windermere. The lake wasn’t so high that it had flooded the path so I was able to zoom up the side the lake until I was reached Wood Close Point where I found a path that was completed flooded. Soon after that point that I left the shore of Windermere and climbed up to Wray Church where I retraced my steps following the cyclepath that closely follows the road all the way back to Ambleside as the light began to fade. At one point I had feared that this walk would be a disappointing waste of the good weather, but as I rushed along the west shore path I decided that it had been a curiously satisfying walk with some stunning views of the Lakes that more than made up for the low height of the hills that I had climbed. I was pleased to discover that the walk that I had done three years ago was more successful than I’d previously thought.

Ambleside to Grasmere

Tuesday 22nd December 2015

This day started with rain and so much flooding in the area it was being reported in the National media. The Lake District had seen a lot of flooding over the previous weeks and this was just a repeat of the same heart wrenching scenes that everyone had already seen on their televisions. I was staying at the Ambleside Youth Hostel beside the shore of Windermere and water was pouring over the road to the right and to the left of the hostel leaving the hostel as an island in the middle. As I walked around the northern end of Windermere I saw many instances of flooding and decided that a walk onto the fells in this sort of weather would be out of the question, so I contented myself looking at the floods. At Rothay Bridge I saw a dramatic example of this with a spectacular sight of the water pouring along the River Rothay flooding the riverbanks and covering the road on the far side of the bridge.

After crossing Rothay Bridge I turned off the flooded main road onto a minor road that follows the River Rothay upstream, but it wasn’t long before I found that this was also flooded with waters that came up to my knees when I waded through them. This inevitably resulted in my getting wet feet and it wasn’t long before I was wading through floodwaters of a similar depth for a second time. I wasn’t hopeful of my chances of being able to venture any farther along this road that closely follows the flooded river, but nevertheless I continued along the road, and after passing Rothay Park found that the road then climbs above the valley floor and safely away from any potential floods. I have never walked along this road before and I actually found it an enjoyable and pleasant experience. By ten o’clock the rain had begun to ease so I was able to walk around Loughrigg without getting any wetter.

When I reached Pelter Bridge I continued on the western bank of the river following a track that soon became a fast moving stream with water pouring down the path. Beyond the top of the stream I came out near the lake of Rydal Water where I took a path heading further uphill to the Loughrigg Quarries and Rydal Cave. It briefly started raining again at this point so I took shelter in the partially flooded cave before venturing back out into the rain to follow the path around the side of Loughrigg and onto a terrace path that overlooks Rydal Water. The rain had soon stopped and I was able to take in the stunning views across the lake towards Nab Scar and Heron Pike little realising that I would be soon be on those fells. Continuing along the path I walked along Loughrigg Terrace, which according to Wainwright is more popular than any other path in the district and one that all visitors know. The views from the terrace across Grasmere are well-known as they extend towards Helm Crag and Dunmail Raise where the rain has severely eroded the road between Grasmere and Keswick.

As I began to descend towards Grasmere I reflected that with the improving weather and the rain looking like it was not going to return it would be a shame not to try and go up one of the nearby fells. My eyes turned across Grasmere towards Heron Pike which I had never before ascended. After passing through Grasmere and past Wordsworth’s Dove Cottage I turned uphill onto an excellent path marked on maps as a right-of-way that after passing a rhododendron grove zigzags cunningly up the hillside. I was really enthralled by this ingeniously designed path that works with the contours rather than bulldozing through the landscape as modern paths often do. This path must have been created to serve Alcock Tarn and is a credit to the engineer who designed it, unlike Alcock Tarn itself which Wainwright dismisses as being a dreary sheet of water, and I can’t say that I disagree with him.

I walked up to Alcock Tarn in 2012 from the Swan Hotel, and on that occasion I had continued climbing up to the top of Nab Scar on a path that starts from the southern end of the tarn. Once again I took that path, now in actually better weather, across the fellside until I reached the ridge just below Lord Crag, and on this occasion I turned left towards Heren Pike. This top is usually climbed as part of the Fairfield Horseshoe and the only time that I have been at the summit before was when I descended from Fairfield on my first ever holiday in the Lake District in 2002. The weather now was very poor and I had a hard battle trying to make my way up the ridge through strong winds and rain until eventually, and thankfully, I reached the bare summit outcrop of Heron Pike. The battles continued when I turned around and headed down the ridge into the wind, and only eased once I had reached the cairn at the top of Nab Scar.

With Windermere ahead of me on the far side of Ambleside, I steeply descended Nab Scar on the heavily constructed path that is a consequence of the huge popularity of the Fairfield Horseshoe walk. The difference between this path and the one that I had taken up to Alcock Tarn was significant, partly due to the huge difference in the popularity of these two paths. This latter path took me down to Rydal where an easy walk through Rydal Park brought me back into Grasmere. The walk on this day was much better than I thought it was going to be when I started. I never thought I would reach the top of a two thousand foot fell, and along the way I walked along some glorious paths, and that includes the road between Ambleside and Pelter Bridge. Thanks to the rain holding off for most of the day, and despite the flooding, I had a good, enjoyable walk on great paths, and that is what makes the Lake District so special. It isn’t the lakes or the hills as many other places have them. The Lake District is full of glorious, ingeniously designed paths that are a pleasure to walk along, and many of them built by miners to serve the many quarries that once littered the Lake District. That is why the Lake District is such a walker’s paradise, and why I keep on returning.