Misty days in north-west England - March 2005
Walks with a Camera © Geoff’s Pages 2011
The weather forecast suggested that this would
be the year's first really spring-like weekend. I
suppose it was - eventually, when we were
setting off home again. We left home in bright
sunshine - but as we travelled northwards, the
clouds gathered, and mist covered the hills. After
a quick lunch in Kirkby Lonsdale, we drove the
short distance to Cowan Bridge, and set off up
the lane to Leck Fell. We had intended following
the route described in Wainwright's "Walks in Limestone Country" -
and in a sense, we did. Can't comment on the views though - there
weren't any, and I have to admit we got somewhat lost for a while
at the top of the lane, so that we didn't find as many of the caves
and potholes as we might have done.
On the right path again, we descended to Leck
Beck, whose roar we had been hearing on-and-off
all afternoon - clearly there had been some rain
in the previous days, and perhaps a thaw of lying
snow. Passing some very fine falls and cascades,
we made mental notes along the lines of "must
come here again one day when we can see it" as
we squelched our way down, back to to Leck village and the car
at Cowan Bridge. Joining the M6, we headed north to Orton,
where we had intended to have a walk around the limestone
pavements to the north of the village. The thick fog on the
motorway didn't augur well though...
Friday: Leck Fell
Saturday: Claife Heights
in and out, up and down so that the walker
is never quite sure what to expect around
the corner. Nearing the end of the route,
the path splits, offering the alternatives of
the ferry or Far Sawrey, as well as views
over the lake. The sun began to break
through (at last!) as we gradually
descended to the village, once again through open grassland.
Finally, a pint (Hawkshead bitter - wonderful!) in the now-warm
sunshine outside the "Claife Crier" provided an excellent end to a
very pleasant ramble.
The fog had lifted somewhat - we could see most
of the village, though the higher ground in the
distance held little promise. We took the car up
to the limestone area to see whether it was
worth staying - it wasn't. Once again, the cloud
base was well down.
After some thought, we decided to abandon the
higher ground and the limestone country, and drove to
Windermere, crossing the lake via the ferry and continuing the
short distance to Near Sawrey. Whilst it was hardly the sort of
Lake District walk we were familiar with, at least there was a
chance of staying below the clouds. The country between
Windermere and Hawkshead is perhaps typical of lowland parts of
the lakes - undulating country with little craggy outcrops here and
there, plus numerous small tarns, but also a fair amount of
forestry plantation.
We took the path to Moss Eccles Tarn, home to croaking frogs,
coots and some noisy Canada geese. Time for a few photographs -
though the light could have been better... The path continues
northwards past Wise Een Tarn, crossing pleasant open grassland,
before entering the plantations on Claife Heights, above
Windermere's western shore. By
comparison with our previous
day's wanderings, there is little
chance of getting lost here,
with clearly waymarked routes.
Despite the plantation, this is
an interesting route which winds
