Lord's Seat and Graystones

Tuesday 19th December 2023

The weather forecast for my week in the Lake District was not good, but this day promised to be the best, so I was determined to make the most of it and go up some fells that I’d not done in a long while. The ones I had in mind were in the far north west corner of the Lake District and ideally I would have been staying at the Keswick Youth Hostel, but there were no shared dormitory beds available there so instead I had to catch two buses taking advantage of the price cap. One bus brought me to Keswick and another brought me to Swan House just outside Thornthwaite where the precipitous slopes of Barf loomed before me and a steep path climbs the craggy ground on an ascent that Wainwright described as “for people overflowing with animal strength and vigour”, which doesn’t describe me anymore. Besides, I took that route up in 2007 so, for something different, I thought I’d take the path that climbs beside Beckstones Gill and I had come down in 2006, remembering it as being a good route. It is still a steep climb and since most of the trees beside the stream were recently cleared I had good views down the hill and across the marshes at the southern end of Bassenthwaite Lake, and since I was sheltered from the sun and wind, I had an enjoyable ascent, working up a sweat, as I toiled up the often wet path.

At one point a small rock face provided me with a satisfying, though wet, scramble up into the continuation of the path through trees to a clear forest road. A short distance from there a stile took me over the fence and out of the conifer plantation onto the open fell not far from the top of Barf. Once away from the trees I was out in the sun and exposed to bitterly cold westerly winds, so even though this was the best weather of the week the strong winds forecast for later in the week were already making themselves felt. The views were fabulous across Bassenthwaite Lake towards Skiddaw and in the other direction, into the wind towards Lord’s Seat, my next target, so wrapping myself up tight I set off along the path, which was initially muddy but was later gravel covered and lovely to walk upon. A steady climb brought me to the windy top of Lord’s Seat where I had great views along the ridge west over Broom Fell to Graystones as well as in other directions except for south, towards the heart of the Lake District, which was misty and hazy. Eagerly, I made my way along the broad ridge towards Broom Fell, but soon clouds began to cover the sky so that, while the strong winds continued to blow, the picturesque views were soon obliterated. 

 

 

When I reached the summit of Broom Fell a tall cairn greeted me, but when I looked at my Ordnance Survey map I discovered that according to them this fantastic structure does not sit at the summit, so I retraced my steps to the grassy mound that they claim is the summit, though I think there must surely be hardly be any difference between this point and the cairn that marks the long recognised summit. Returning to the cairn I continued along the path down to the edge of a conifer plantation, though the trees no longer come anywhere near to the fence and broken wall that marks the edge. After crossing the fence I climbed up to the top of Graystones whose recognised summit sits on a small crag, but once again the Ordnance Survey shake their finger at this and claim that the highest point is further east, so I made my way across the grassy, undulating top and on this occasion I think they may have a point. There are two spot heights given, the one east of the recognised top is 454 metres above sea level and another further south is 456 metres high and definitely feels like the highest point on the fell and has been adorned with a good cairn. Now I considered my onward course having so far retraced my steps of December 2006 including over Broom Fell and Graystones which I had not been visited since that walk. On that occasion I had crossed Wythop Moss from Ling Fell to reach Graystones but given the saturated state of the ground that did not appeal to me.

I had considered descending Graystones to the valley of Aiken Beck before climbing Whinlatter opposite, but the steep slopes meant that option also did not appeal especially as it would put me back into the strong winds that I was now getting fed up with, so I looked for an alternative route north to Ling Fell and found it in Wainwright’s guide. It shows a route of ascent up to Graystones from Embleton Church that bypasses the marsh, so after lunch I set off north down the hill following a faint path not far from a fence, but became increasingly wet and I began to regret my decision. Eventually all trace of the path disappeared so I rechecked Wainwright, which indicated that I should veer to my left towards a stream, but when I reached a barbed wire fence I realised I shouldn’t have crossed it. Back across the stream was a gate which I traversed, continuing to head north and despite the latest edition of Wainwright’s guide recommending that I now cross the stream I didn’t and continued beside it until I reached a junction of streams and a good bridge. Before me now was Ling Fell which I immediately tackled climbing the steep slopes on the tracks of a quadbike that led me all the way up to western half of the fell where a relaxing stroll across the top brought me to the trig point that marks the summit. With the neighbour Sale Fell before me I headed straight down the steep slopes, though with hindsight it would have been less painful if I had used the gentler northern slopes. At the road I crossed the bottom of the valley and headed straight up the hill soon veering right to climb the gentler slopes that eventually brought me to the summit of Sale Fell. 

 

 

During the afternoon the sun had made occasional attempts to break through the clouds but was always brief and unsuccessful, though now as the sun began to set the clouds finally broke to provide me with good views across Bassenthwaite Lake as I slowly descended the eastern ridge. The peculiar valley of Wythop Beck that falls precipitously from grassy fields through Wythop Woods to the lake drew my eye so after extending my walk over the fell to Lothwaite at the eastern end I turned back on myself to take the bridleway that crosses the grassy fields at the head of the valley before plunging down through the woods to the road. I had deliberately started this walk on Barf so I would have options from Graystones and this ultimately led to me roughly reversing the round I did in 2006, although on that occasion I had started from the village of Embleton. The day would have been better if it hadn’t been so windy though clouding over was not really a problem except that it ruined any pictures that I took. I was glad to return to fells that I had not done in seventeen years with a walk that was an enjoyable stretch after a long autumn.

Windermere to Ambleside off-road

Monday 18th December 2023

After coming back from the Lake District last summer, I had a difficult autumn that saw me doing hardly any walking for various reasons and this had a negative impact on my mental health, so I made the decision to start walking again as often as possible even it was only locally for just an hour like in lockdown and this had a hugely beneficial effect on my mental health as well as my physical health. The benefit seems to start almost as soon as I walk out of the door as it is not long before my heartrate slows and I am suddenly feeling more relaxed, but I was still not walking for more than an hour or two, so I was desperate for the chance to be out for longer. Being outdoors is a huge boost for me, so it is ironic that I work in an office all day in front of a computer and the pressures of work tied me up all autumn until the week before Christmas when I finally broke free and was able to experience the freedom that I so desperately needed. There was only one place I wanted to go and that was the Lake District even though the weather was now much worse than when I had left it at the end of August, but just being in the Lake District, no matter the weather, was all I needed. Unfortunately I didn’t reach Windermere until two o’clock and at this time of the year it would be dark by four, but I was keen to do a walk in the available time.

When I arrived in the Lake District four months earlier, I immediately set off along a footpath that crosses the western slopes of Orrest Head and now I followed in my footsteps until I reached High Hay Wood where I had lingered previously wishing I could explore before reluctantly returning to the path. Now, despite the drizzle and rapidly approaching lack of daylight, I came off the main path to take a permissive route through the wood, across several grassy fields and into St Catherine’s Wood. The view up Whinless Beck, between the woods, was captivating and began the work that had prompted me to come to the Lake District and revitalise me after the long autumn. After passing through St Catherine’s I crossed a road and followed tracks across sodden grassy fields that brought me into the Trout Beck Valley. I came this way in 2016, after visiting the top of Orrest Head, and on that occasion I discovered that the bridge over Trout Beck had been washed away. Now, I found that splendid, substantial bridges have been installed that took me easily across the valley and steeply up the path to Town End. Eventually, I managed to drag myself up the hill to Holbeck Lane where I had great views, despite the dwindling light, across the fields and down the length of Windermere.

Branching off onto Skelghyll Lane, I crossed the hillside and climbed to meet the track that crosses the southern slopes of Wansfell and I have taken many times while staying at the Ambleside Youth Hostel. This track took me into Stelghyll Wood and with the light failing I made my way along the wet path, across Stencher Beck and down the hill to the northern end of Windermere and the Ambleside Youth Hostel. This has been a tricky year for me when I have had difficulty motivating myself to get out for a walk, but whenever I have gone for a walk I have found that the benefits were tremendous. It was great to be back in the Lake District and although the ground may be saturated after the huge amount of rain we’ve had this autumn and the weather may not been good, it was just the recuperation I needed and that nowhere else could provide.