Yesterday’s walk was special for a number of reasons, the perfect crisp, clear and sunny conditions, the company of my great friend and hiking buddy Si and the fact that I was back on familiar and well-trodden territory, the Coniston Fells, where my Wainwright journey started in August 2015.
I have of course revisited these fells many times since my first ascent, however this is the first revisit since Si sneakily decided that our walk in August on the Kentmere Round would be our official start of round two of the 214 Wainwright summits, having completed the challenge in September last year.
We parked up in Coniston village where you get a grand view of the summit of the first peak on the walk, Coniston Old Man. At 803 meters (2,635 feet) it is the highest point in the Coniston/Furness Fells and the highest point in the historic county of Lancashire.
Our ascent to the Old Man, via Coppermines Valley, takes you through some breathtakingly beautiful scenery, including the long since abandoned Copper mines, the last mining activity ceasing in the 1950’s. There is also evidence of slate quarrying with slate still being mined up to the present day. There are a number of dilapidated buildings and discarded mining machinery to be seen on the ascent.
As we continue past the old mine workings, we paused to take in the view and watch the stillness of the surface of Low Water, a spectacular corrie tarn, we have around (at our speed) 30 minutes to the summit at this point.
Arriving at the summit, it is fairly busy due to the excellent conditions, we do the obligatory selfie shots at the summit cairn, the true summit and not the Ordnance Survey triangulation pillar as many folk assume. We have a brief break to take in the extensive views south across to Morecambe Bay and the Irish Sea and north-west to the impressive Scafell range, the highest peaks in England.
We set off again and make the short walk to summit number two of the day, Brim Fell, just northwards along the summit ridge of the Old Man. There is a fine summit cairn at this point and again great views but the summit itself is, in my opinion, not particularly interesting.
Next stop is Swirl How, a beautiful rocky summit just a fraction lower than the Old Man and with great views westwards across the sea to the Isle of Man. It was en-route to this point that I did remark that we had not seen any sheep on today’s walk then all of sudden a small flock of beautiful Herdwick appeared. I love the Herdies, their adorable features and stocky frame, as Wainwright stated in his Pictorial Guide to the Southern Fells, of which the Coniston Fells belong, they are the ‘hardiest of all fellwalkers’.
Discussions took place as to our next port of call, the summit of Great Carrs was a short walk away and meant we could tick off summit number four of the day, together with Grey Friar and Si was hopefully wanting to visit Wetherlam also. After much weighing up, we opted for Great Carrs only due to time limitations and agreed to come back again soon to visit the remaining two (and possibly a cheeky Dow Crag in the mix too!).
The walk to Great Carrs is less than ten minutes so it is a no brainer really. We returned back to Swirl How and then descended down the worryingly named Prison Band, a steep, rocky descent down to Swirl Hause, great in today’s conditions but I have previously done it arse first in thick snow.
More discussions and debate once we reached Swirl Hause on whether we should attempt Wetherlam but we decided against it and made our way down via Levers Water, which was dammed to provide water for the copper mines and is still providing water to Coniston village. There are some huge boulders strewn along its eastern banks. We rested a while here to enjoy the tranquillity of the setting.
The final descent took us back through the Coppermines Valley but on the opposite side of our ascent up, passing the youth hostel and old mine worker’s cottages.
We finish the walk back at the car park where we began, just under ten miles walked and four more peaks bagged, taking our second round total to 12, just 202 to go!
Days like this stay with me forever and I am at my happiest when walking the Lakeland fells, the beauty, peace and sheer majesty of the mountains really do wonders for my well-being, cleansing my mind, body and soul, ‘Nature’s Medicine’ I like to call it, and wouldn’t it be great if we could bottle it? For a short time, I am transported to a happy place, saddened that it has to end but taking comfort in the fact that I can get my fix again soon. I recommend it to everyone.
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