Marske, Marrick and Lower Swaledale

Here is a recap of a walk I did shortly before breaking my ankle. I've been slowly making my way around Swaledale this year as it's an incredible valley that packs so many delights and hidden gems - Gunnerside Gill, Calver Hill, Crackpot Hall and its commandeering view over the steep head of the top of the valley, the ruins of its industrial legacy just to mention a couple.

We took the road along the top of the valley from Richmond to Marske which is scenic enough in itself. The tiny village of Marske is a great starting point for a number of hikes. Our walk on this nice Summer's day was a circular route from Marske to Marrick and back and is another walk in Paul Hannon's excellent "Swaledale" walking guide. You can pick this book up in most good walking web stores, for example in the excellent Walking Boots webstore. (Note: No affiliation)

We headed out of the village a short way along the minor road towards the Richmond-Leyburn road before heading off across the fields. This offered a great view of Applegarth Scar, the cliffs of Side Bank Wood leading up to Downholme Moor and our first glimpse of the river Swale.

Looking back we could see the pastures and lush fields that surround Marske and the impressive clock tower of Marske Hall. We crossed the minor road at the historic Downholme Bridge.

The next part of the walk saw a change in the landscape. We left the lush pastures behind us and with the river Swale accompanying us on our left, we slowly climbed up onto higher ground in the valley giving us extensive views across the moorland of Swaledale and it was an impressive view indeed.

The great views continued all the way past the recently renovated Marrick Park and a restored double limekiln, all the way to the village of Marrick. Much like Marske, this picture postcard village is a beauty and seems to be lost somewhere in time.

Our return route followed the Coast To Coast route. We climbed back up out of the village onto the meadowland and this meant some classic Swaledale scenery, big meadows and stone barns.

I love this aspect of the Dales, wide open undulating meadows that offer massive views from the tops and images of a beautiful working landscape wherever you look, with sheep, barns, haybales, drystone walls and farms all around.

From here it was a simple if at times steep walk back down through the fields and onto the road taking us back to the car at Marske. Once again it was a pleasure to explore the diverse scenery that Swaledale has to offer.

Hanging Up The Boots

...temporarily that is!

An accident has left me with a broken ankle. As if this didn't hurt enough on it's own it has the very painful side-effect of putting the fells, dales, moors, lakes and tarns out of bounds for the next few months. As a friend wrote to me, "those fells aren't going anywhere", which is good as neither am I.

This of course means I won't be reporting on any walks here for a while. I think I'll take the opportunity to reorganise the blog a little and add some more links here and there as well as posting some archive material I have. In the meantime, continue enjoying the fells and I hope to see you all again out on the hills before the end of the year.

Tarn Hows in the Lake District

Although I have been to Tarn Hows with crag rat Rainer many moons ago, I had never been with Claire, so a visit from my parents seemed like the idea opportunity to have another look at this beauty spot.

Tarn Hows is an amazingly picturesque spot out in the middle of the southern half of the Lake District. It was formerly owned by Beatrix Potter, before she passed the land onto the National Trust. Although a popular destinantion, it is quite remote to get to by car, but within walking distance of many places - Coniston, Hawkshead, Ambleside and the Langdales to name but a few. I think next time we come we'll start off from somewhere like Coniston and head past Tarn Hows on our way to Black Crag or one of the other nearby fells.

We took my folks on a whistle-stop tour of the lakes, stopping in Keswick, Hawkshead and Grasmere along the way. On a day with very changeable weather including some heavy downpours, we were extremely lucky to get sunshine and no rain on our walk around Tarn Hows.

This is a lovely gentle walk around the lake, nearly all on level ground which makes it accessible to pushchair and wheelchairs.  The views are pretty good, from the top of the tarns near the car park you get a good panorama of some fells further afield towards Langdale, and walking around the tarns you get some good views of Wetherlam and the Coniston fells.

The Tarns themselves are great to look at too, with a variety of woodlands, wetland and moorland around, as well as some unusual looking grazing cows - which we later learned are Belted Galloways.

The walk is short and pleasant and well worth a stop off on a Lake District visit.

Souther Fell more Northern Fells fun!

Following some recent roaming around the Skiddaw range, Claire and I had a few hours on our way home from the Lakes, so we headed off the A66 for a quick stop at Mungrisdale village and a nip up the slopes of Souther Fell.

Souther Fell

Strictly speaking this is an extension of the Blencathra range and when coming eastwards on the A66 it is Souther Fell that hides the bulk of Blencathra itself. Its smooth slopes up from the pretty village of Mungrisdale mean an easy enough climb - just right for the day after a long hard slog! If you had a full day it is also a great alternative route up some of the busier neighbouring fells.

looking back towards Mungrisdale

The walk out of the village is steep but easy going up the grassy slopes. Stopping every once in a while the view behind you really stretches out, across the plains to the Pennines and over Little Mell Fell and Great Mell Fell until the Eastern and Far Eastern Fells come into sight.

looking across to the Mell Fells

Without any scrambling to do this might be considered dull by many, but for a quick walk for an hour or two this was just right. The sun was beating down but the relative ease of the fell meant it wasn't too hot. The views juest kept getting better, coming round the curve of the fell we could also see over towards Bowscale Fell and Bannerdale Crags.

Bannerdale Crags

The summit is a long flat ridge, not at all your typical textbook fell top - but a bit of level walking is always welcome after a steady climb. Once you have reached the summit plains the "saddle" of Blencathra reveals its full glory with great views of some of its classic ridges.

Blencathra rising in the distance

Instead of retracing our steps we carried on westwards slowly coming off the fell until we reached Mousthwaite Comb. Slowly the ants we could see in the distance revealed themselves to be fellow walkers making the pilgrimage up towards Scales Tarn on the way up to Blencathra via Sharp Edge.

Sharp Edge and Foule Crag

When we met the river Glenderamackin we turned back eastwards and followed the stream back along the valley, with steep grassy on either side. The descent off the fell top seemed fairly gentle and it was a suprise to see just how far we had descended when looking back up at Souther Fell.

the return route along the bottom of the valley

The rest of the return journey along the valley was easy walking and we soon walked through the gate that brings you back into the pretty village of Mungrisdale. Did I already mention how pretty Mungrisdale is?!

the gateway to the village

A Windermere Wash-Out

Last weekend was set to be one of the highlights of the month - I had entered for the Great North Swim, booked into our favourite bed & breakfast in Ambleside, booked a table at the fab Zefirellis for the Saturday night and picked out a number of walks for the Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.

a dismal looking Helm Crag

As can happen with mother nature and the Lake District come head to head, it wasn't to be. I got the news on Friday afternoon that the swim was cancelled, but seeing as the rest was already booked Claire and I thought we'd make the most of it and enjoy a weekend in the Lakes - it takes more than a spot of rain to deter us! But doubts were setting in on the horrendous drive over on Friday night, with parts of the A66 flooded not to mention the side roads such as the one to St Johns In The Vale looking unpassable.

heavy clouds over Thirmere taken from the car

 After a nice night out in Ambleside, the weather on the Saturday morning was no better! I always look for the silver lining as you may have noticed, so as we decided to cut our trip short, we made a detour to Booths in Keswick for some walking magazines and Lakeland ales, as well as a stop at the rather nice Rheged Centre just outside Penrith where we had a look and the shops and enjoyed the photo gallery on display which included several pictures from my namesake Tom Chapman!

the goodies!

Ospreys in the Lake District

As I wrote last week, a recent trip up the Northern Fells wasn't without its mishaps. But clouds and silver linings and all that - one of the side effects of us not going up Ullock Pike was that we ended up on the wooded slopes of Dodd.

one of the paths in the wood

Not only that but we had the rarest of things too, some spare moments in the Lake District! So we decided to follow our noses or if you prefer the many signposts, and headed up to the Osprey viewing platforms that are perched on the side of the fell.

model of an Osprey nest

The Osprey in case you didn't know (don't worry - I didn't) is also known as Sea Hawk or Fish Eagle among other names - so you know that means this is one big mean bird! Ospreys have been returning to Bassenthwait Lake in the Lake District since 2001 and chicks have also been successfully reared there too.

the lower viewing platform

We were lucky to be there just one day after a chick had hatched, and we were able to get great views of the adult birds through the telescopes manned and provided by the Lake District Osprey Project.

looking across Bassenthwaite Lake

The birds were amazing to watch and we felt lucky to have been there on that day! Seeing as my camera does not have a mega telescopic lens you'll have to take my word for it that these are magnificent creatures - although you could always nip over to Dodd and have a look for yourself!

looking back at the summit of Dodd

Recommended Links:
Forestry Commission page about Dodd Wood
The  Lake District Osprey Project

Exploring the Lake District's Northern Fells

The Skiddaw range

This was a strange day indeed. It started out with nothing but promise, so nearly let us down, yet came around at just the right time. It also left a lasting impression, even more so than the usual Lake District walks!

Packed lunch sorted, we took the bus up past the Forestry Commission site at Dodd wood leaving us at the foot of Ullock Pike. It was a truly magnificent day with not a cloud in the sky and a breeze on our faces as we headed up the steep start of the walk through the sylvan wooded slopes. Once we were out of the woodland it picked up. The heat of the sun was pounding on our faces but the breeze had also increased its welcoming freshness too. 

looking northwards to the slopes of Binsey

As we reached the ridge that traverses Ullock Pike and onto Long Side and Carl Side our luck took a turn for the worse and we were treated to a howling wind. We pushed on, nearly getting knocked off our feet on several occasions and with the wind increasing in strength with every metre of ascent gained. 

the peak of Ullock Pike ahead

Soon enough we started passing bedraggled walkers coming down the other way, and without fail they all warned us that the winds were too strong and they had turned back before the sharp peak of Ullock Pike. It seemed crazy, it was such a beautiful day, yet the high ground was destined to be out of reach. After a short moment of stubborn persistence on my part, Claire and I decided enough was enough and so we headed back down.

looking across Bassenthwaite Lake

The Rescue

On our walk back down crossing a couple of fields we saw a lamb in the distance which seemed very interested in the field's perimeter fence. On closer inspection we saw why - it had its head stuck in the fence! Claire being the braver of us took the front end, whilst I held the back end of the lamb to stop it from struggling too much. In under a minute it was free and ran off bleating to its mother and an intense feeding session. Despite being beaten by the winds on Ullock Pike, we now felt that we had achieved something far more worthwhile!

Dodd

Bassenthwaite Lake from Dodd wood

Our walk back to Keswick took us through the very pleasant woodland around the foot of Dodd wood, until we reached the welcome picnic and rest area at The Old Sawmill Tearoom where we stopped for our fab pasties which we had picked up in the morning. After lunch our route went up the slopes of Dodd past the osprey viewing platforms - more on this in a future post. 

looking back to the summit of Dodd

Soon enough I noticed that we had gained significant height and were not at all far off the ridge route to the summit of Carl Side, which happened to by my designated fell for the Wainwright Society challenge walk of 2012! Somehow we had missed the path off to the summit of Dodd, so this looked like the last chance change to climb a peak today.

Carl Side

As we headed up the path to the summit, the wind returned with a vengeance, nowhere near as strong as earlier in the day and with the path along much wider terrain we felt much safer, but it was still a struggle to make the summit. 

a look back to Keswick and Derwentwater

The clear skies rewarded us with more fantastic views, over the vale of Keswick and Derwentwater, up the steep scarred slopes of Skiddaw and Skiddaw Little Man and with a hazy Isle Of Man rising from the sea.

Skiddaw looms behind Carl Side

It wasn't the kind of weather to hang about in though, so after a minute or two on the summit of Carl Side we headed back down the steep descent in the direction of the hospitality of the pubs of Keswick, satisfied and tired after a long day of adventure!