Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: river derwent

Showing posts with label river derwent. Show all posts

Borrowdale

A few photos I took on one of my regular walks down Borrowdale. Parked at Rosthwaite and then following the Cumbria Way towards Grange. I stopped at the old quarries which is about half way to Grange village and retraced my steps.

Considering Borrowdale was so busy, I saw very few people on this walk. It was the first time I had been down Borrowdale since the lockdown restrictions were eased, and it sure felt good!

Cumbria Way, Rosthwaite

Stepping Stones, River Derwent

River Derwent

High Hows Wood

Moss on tree

High Hows Wood

Slate Quarry Remains

Borrowdale

Blossom Tree

High Hows Wood

T'other end of Derwentwater

I made an impromptu visit to the Lakes as the weather forecast for the entire weekend was good. Plus I had been up the previous weekend and I'd had a pretty hectic few days so the thought of a few days up their on my own was quite appealing to say the least.

This year's autumn has been the best in recent memory, not just in the Lakes but everywhere I have been. It has been helped by having more clear sunny days than normal and a lot less wind, especially over here in the west. On the downside it has also attracted more visitors and today, getting any parking in the Borrowdale Valley, was at a premium.

Also it doesn't help that Catbell's rises above this side of Derwentwater. Farther down the road there were literally hundreds of cars lining what is basically a single track road but fortunately, where I parked was off-road so there was no danger of me returning to the car and finding a wing mirror damaged or missing.

Thoughtless parking is a problem all over the Lakes and not just Borrowdale. A year or two ago a farmer at Seathwaite, (which is a popular spot for walking the Scafells and Great Gable), found the road from his farm impassable so just drove his tractor plus attachment along it regardless and caused real damage to a lot of cars. I have also travelled to Buttermere and Langdale on a fair few occasions in the past and haven't been able to get parked up there either. Unfortunately, the district has become a victim of its own popularity and I don't really know the answer.

Anyway, putting that aside, my few hours spend on the shores of Derwentwater were sheer heaven. This end of the lake is made up of four bays: Brandlehow Bay, Abbott's Bay, Myrtle Bay and Great Bay, at the end of which, the River Derwent enters Derwentwater. The first three are beautiful wooded bays which offer great opportunities for photographs. Great Bay is a bit more lacking in this respect and is surrounded by wetlands which get flooded on a regular basis. All four bays form part of the Cumbria Way as it makes its way from Ulverston up to Carlisle so there is always folk about but it never seems to get too overcrowded.

This was definitely a "feel good" walk. The weather played its part, as did the beautiful views and the relative quietness. My drive back took me through Keswick where I was gobsmacked at the number of people just wandering aimlessly around the town. They were akin to a swarm of ants, the only difference being that ants have a purpose whereas the Keswick hoards don't. Give me the quiet spots any day!

Down to the lake

Autumn trees and Bleaberry fell

Brandlehow Bay

Abbott's Bay

Golden Ferns

Abbott's Bay

Golden Ferns

The Cumbria Way

Catbells

The Cumbria way

The Cumbria Way

Looking back to Brandlehow Bay from Myrtle Bay

Great Bay

Cooling Off

Great Bay

Local Livestock

Wetlands at the head of the lake

Walking the old miner's track above Borrowdale.

One of the first and one of the best walks that I have even been on in The Lake District, so much so that I come back to it year after year. If ever there was an "options" walk then this is it. You can start at either Grange in Borrowdale, Rosthwaite, Longthwaite or Seatoller and follow one of a dozen paths up onto the old bridleway which originally took the miners and quarry men of Borrowdale up to the slate mines and quarries at the summit of Honister Pass. You can make it in to a full circular walk or cut the walk short by just taking one of the many paths back down into Borrowdale.

We started at Rosthwaite, walked along the valley to Longthwaite and then took the track up through Johnny Wood and Scaleclose Coppice. The only problem with having so many paths to choose from is that it is all to easy to take the wrong one and this is what we did. We did end up at the miners track but there was a barbed wire fence, a wall and a beck in our way. We managed to carefully circumnavigate the barbed wire fence which then allowed us to clamber over the wall and on to the miner's path. As you can imagine, this was not easy for two fat blokes in their sixties with a dog in tow!

It was then pretty plain sailing all the way to the Honister Pass and back down into Seatoller. Our return path took us through Johnny Woods to Longthwaite where, quite conveniently, the Borrowdale Youth Hostel is situated and where, even more conveniently, you can get a smashing pint of ice cold lager. It had been a hot day with very little cover so our pints were most welcoming and, if there is a nicer beer garden than one next to the River Derwent in Borrowdale, I have yet to find it!

Suitably refreshed we fair skipped along the remaining last half mile back to Rosthwaite.