Occasionally on
I’d been walking the Coffin Route – again! – from Grasmere to Rydal when I decided to head up the side of Dunney Beck to avoid the crowds. The track continues parallel to the main route after 50 metres of
Surprise number two of the day was the incredible sculpture garden behind Rydal Hall. This is in a “woodland walk” area, which all sounded a bit naff to me, but decided to take Larry in for a bit of p & q. The sculptures are made by Dianne Standen out of fabrics, mainly wool, and I was totally entranced. They appear in many cases to be growing from the trees, and glow in reds, golds, greens and blues. Many people pass the entrance, but few make the detour. Please remember to take a look next time you’re passing!
I then headed up Rydal Beck to look for another spot I’d never visited. The beck itself is a continual delight, so try to keep close to its right hand (true left) side. There are waterfalls and pools, but wait until you’ve crossed first one wall to emerge onto the open fell side, then a second before tracking left away from the path to reach Buckstones Jum – no ‘p’ on the end despite the OS map’s giving it one. It’s a beautiful pool with a little slide for water and swimmer ingress. There’s a grassy area for changing, and a shingle beach, then the water is quickly deep. Smooth rock slabs sweep into it. It is just perfect for a dip, and on 9th April I couldn’t resist. However, I only lasted a few seconds on that occasion, but 10 days later it had warmed substantially and was blissfully warm.
My final surprise was Spout Force, between Whinlatter and Lorton. There’s a clearly marked car park, then a short walk down to the river and upstream to reach a viewing platform. However, it’s worth waiting for a dry spell and rock-hopping up the stream bed, which twists its way through fern-draped cliffs before emerging at a pool. No swim for me this time, but I’ll be back on a hot day to check just how deep it is. I’d walked from the car park many times – a circuit from Graystones to Lord’s Seat and back over Whinlatter top makes a fine, quiet round despite the bogs on Tarbarrel Moss. Include Barf too for views over Bassenthwaite, although it’s a bit of an outlier. I once came across a lone hound trailing along the edge of the now felled forest on Widow Hause, loping a great circuit from somewhere around Burthwaite in a matter of minutes, totally focussed on its task. Anyway, only on this latest occasion had I added the waterfall to the itinerary.
It’s been two months since my last article, and I seem to have packed a lot in. A trip to Santorini was surprising in that it was cooler than Cumbria when we arrived!
I’ve also walked the Yorkshire Three Peaks with a group from Newcastle. The day was cool but clear and the group was pretty fit, so it went off fairly well. We were staying at the wonderful Station Inn – nothing too much trouble for them – at Ribblehead, so they wanted to walk anti-clockwise from there. The first two hills, Whernside and Ingleborough, went easily enough, but then there are two long descents which sap the energy somewhat. However, we managed a detour to Hull Pot on the return from Pen-Y Ghent. Another surprising feature that is only visible from a few metres away. It opens up like the entrance to hell!
Then we had a week in Wales, and happened upon a big event in the Black Mountains based on Llanthony. A very friendly camp site on the banks of the river, where the owner moved his tractor to provide us with a space for our camper, was within easy distance of the dog-friendly Half Moon. Then on north and a run over Cnicht and the Moelwyns, a favourite route. Quiet, good views, interesting industrial archeology, mostly easy going with interesting rocky sections, especially between the two Moelwyns and of course on the ascent of Cnicht, then a great little café in Croesor at the end. I’d wanted to do it anti-clockwise but a herd of cows had other ideas!
Finally, Keswick MRT is getting busy after a slow start to the year. A number of easier rescues were followed by a long stretcher carry from Esk Hause, in vile weather, which finished about half past midnight. Then a dog rescue on King’s How gave us a chance to practice our rope work for real. A rescued dog is definitely a happy dog!
John Hunston – the walking mountain leader
johnhunstonwalking.com
John is a member of the Keswick Mountain Rescue – you can donate to this amazing, lifesaving charity online via this link: http://keswickmrt.org.uk/donate/
