Lake District April 2010 - (Walk 4)

15/4/10 Walk 4 - Hallin Fell 8 Miles
Pathfinder Eastern Lakeland Walk#4
(Wainwright)
Our Time: 6 Hours (Including Lake Ferry)

This walk began by walking from the Patterdale hotel to Glenridding and Ullswater lake to catch the Lake Ferry Service to Howtown. The service in April is not so frequent as the Summer months when ferrys are every hour (approx). If we had missed the first ferry of the day, then a two hour wait would have to be made - just something to be aware of - get the timetable beforehand!
The ferry travels from the south end of the lake at Glenridding up to the North end and Pooley Bridge (with a stop roughly half-way on the eastern shore at Howtown). The journey to Howtown takes about 40 minutes.

Once off the ferry at Howtown pier we followed the majority of other walkers, but then, instead of bearing right like the majority, we headed left for our start point to ascend Hallin Fell. The turn right is for the very popular lake shore walk back to Patterdale, which we have undertaken on several occasions previously.

The weather was quite cloudy and cold unlike the first few days of our trip.
The roadway led us to several small parking areas and a zig-zag roadway leading part way up the fell. We took the grass pathways and found the true start point of the walk as described by the guidebook and of course indicated by the Satmap GPS.
The grass pathway took us along a quite steep ascent occasionally levelling for brief moments, before once again steepening and zig-zagging up the fell side.
However, before long, after several short stops to admire the views back down the valley, we reached the summit.
Despite the weather, the cloud was not too low and the view quite reasonable, giving us good views to the North end of Ullswater lake.




The descent was back the way we came and was made with
relative ease, and good views ahead of the valley as we
descended.

Once down to our start point, we followed the route as suggested by the guide book, taking us all around the base of the fell along a good pathway. The weather brightened, the sun shone for a while.

This path eventually became the lake shore path we were more familiar with, and we continued along this for another mile or so before diverting away left, across a very indiscreet path over several fields and back to our start point once again.

We walked the short distance back to Howtown pier and ate lunch whilst waiting 45 minutes or so for the next ferry back to Glenridding. The weather had cooled so we sat inside once on the ferry.

After disembarking the ferry at Glenridding it was a short one mile walk back to the Patterdale hotel, though today it was too cold to sit out in the beer garden (unfortunately!)

A good interesting day with short walks to catch the ferry, the boat trip itself, a short hike up Hallin fell, an unhurried walk around the fell bottom, then ferry home.

Our score: 7/10

Lake District April 2010 (Walk 3)

13/4/10

Walk 3 - Great Mell Fell

(2 Miles)
Pathfinder Eastern Lakeland Walk#3 Our Time: 90 mins
(Wainwright)

This walk began at 12:50 as we had to drive from Patterdale to Matterdale End.
We parked by the roadside with the weather dull and cloudy, though the rain had pretty much held off.

Following the guidebook and Satmap we followed a wide track up a slight incline until a stile/gate was seen on the right side. This led off from the main track towards Great Mell Fell.

The guidebook suggestion was to simply follow a fairly vague path up to the top of the fell and retrace your steps back down. There were alternative routes down in the book , but they were not suggested as the easiest means describing gorse and bracken and steep descents. We decided to stick to the simple option.

Great Mell Fell stands at 1,692 Feet with a height gain for this walk of only 800ft. However, that said, it was a bit of a slog up with some fairly unexpected steep sections.

The day was much colder (and windy) so gloves, hat and wrapping up warm were the order of the day. We pretty much followed a family of other walkers with children up to the top, though did over-take them along the way.

Once at the top the view was reasonable, rather than spectacular, and we ate some chocolate and crisps whilst resting at the top.

As you can see quite a bit of cloud and certainly looking like the threat of rain.


The descent was by following our steps back down and return to the car by 14:20.

This was a "Wainwright", but not I think , one of his finest moments!!

Our Score: 5.5/10

Lake District April 2010 (Walk 2)

12/4/10 Lake District Walk 2
Place Fell
(8 Miles)
Pathfinder Eastern Lakeland Walk#20
Our Time: 6 Hours
(Wainwright)

Place Fell overlooks Patterdale and at 2,165Ft elevation is possibly the highest thing us relative novices have climbed. Beda Fell last year coming a very close 2nd.

The day started at 9am in a similar manner to the Grisedale walk, after finishing a hearty breakfast, only this time crossing the road through the village and over the beck to head out to Boredale Hause. The ascent to reach this was fairly steep (for us!) and a reminder of last years walk to Beda Fell.
Boredale Hause is a interchange of various pathways leading off to different fells. We rested for a while here having taken around an hour to reach this point with a good few short stops to gather our breath and admire the views across and down to our Patterdale start point.

After consulting the Eastern Lakes Pathfinder guidebook (Walk#20) and GPS we headed off towards Place Fell. The pathway was quite obvious and in good repair, and we took our time as the ascent steepened, resting frequently with the weather warming and little wind evident.
The trip log above shows clearly the ascent at the early part of the walk, the route back via Ullswater lake side and relative less ascent/descent after the main event of the Place Fell cairn summit.
The route screen shot from my SATMAP is shown right below, and the ascent path from Boredale Hause.








The view below shows Patterdale village, seen from a spot near to Place Fell summit. The view here, actually being better than the summit cairn itself, particularly down to Patterdale.



It was good to reach the summit and a well earned rest to enjoy
the view, a packed lunch, and the fine weather.
We saw very few other walkers, so unusually had peace and quiet whilst we ate our lunch.

The descent was via reasonable paths leading down to Ullswater lake shore. We passed by Scalehow Force waterfalls and then several miles (considerably busier) along the familiar (to us) lakeshore path.

We reached the Patterdale mid-afternoon around 3pm, and a well earned drink, reflecting over the fine views we had experienced, and possibly one of the finest walks we had completed. (Although Haystacks, in my mind at least, was just about there!!)

Score: 8.5/10

Lake District April 2010 (Walk 1)

Patterdale

A Trip to the Lake District was made April 2010. We stayed as usual at the Patterdale Hotel in the small village of Patterdale near Ullswater. The hotel is owned by Choice Hotels, having other hotels in Keswick and Blackpool. The Patterdale Hotel is very reasonably priced and the stay included evening meal and breakfasts.

We arrived on the Saturday, and stayed 6 nights, leaving on the Friday. Whilst the hotel is not particularly "posh", it is fairly basic as far as facilities go. however, the rooms are clean, all have bath/shower combinations (ideal for a soak after a days walking). The food we have found to be very good, (though the dining room, it has to be said is a little small) and the evening meal included in the price with a choice of 4 or 5 dishes for each course and of very reasonable quality. Typical price for a room for a mid-week break mon-Fri (4 nights) is around the £320 mark (£160 each) which is pretty good considering the inclusion of the evening meal. They will also provide a pack up ordered a day in advance for £5/per person.

The main thing for us though is the location, and you can pay a little extra for a room with a view over the fells. Ullswater lake is in walking distance (1 mile) as well as Glenridding with a few more pubs and a couple more shops. Ideal if your previous experience of the Lake District has been Windemere and the hordes of tourists queing for trips on the lake. Why not try Ullswater, with little or no queues, trips on a steamboat up/down the lake or take a boat out yourself on the uncrowded lake.

Pattedale itself is located just over the Kirkstone Pass (turn right near Ambleside, and drive up "The Struggle", and over the pass). Glenridding is about a mile further west from Patterdale, as is Lake Ullswater. All in all a fairly quiet part of the Lake District in comparison to Windemere, Ambleside and Bowness. An ideal base for many walks without having to drive further to a start point. Patterdale provides easy walking access to Place Fell, Beda Fell, Angle Tarn and of course Helvellyn for those feeling a little more adventurous. The picture above shows the lovely beer garden outside the hotel - which does however, get quite busy with walkers passing through or finishing their days adventures with a well deserved pint.

11/4/10 Walk 1 - Grisedale - 7 miles

(Pathfinder Eastern Lakeland Walk#18) Our Time 4hrs,15 Mins

Our first walk of this trip set off from the Patterdale Hotel about 09:15 on a very fine Sunday morning, walking through the village after a hearty hot breakfast. Passing by the village store (which sells as most of these general stores do pretty much everything!).

Wainwrights famous guidebooks were first sold at the Patterdale general store, back in the day when Wainwright was unknown and the books unheard of.

From there a right turn took us around the back of the hotel and heading up slight inclines towards Grisedale.

The walk was a fine start to the trip and a good start walk to get back into the swing of things after what seemed to be a very long winter! I think the both of us agreed that a steady start and relatively "flat" walk was a good idea.

The Grisedale valley gave fine views of both Patterdale common and of course Helvellyn. The picture above shows the snow still on the higher reaches of striding edge.

The SATMAP GPS I purchased late last year was used for all the walks this trip (the first real serious use since I bought it.). The route was fairly simple, and had been taken from the Pathfinder guidebook for the Eastern Lake District. The set of these were bought for me as a Birthday treat from Susan. Very good books with OS maps of the routes, GPS co-ordinates and turn by turn written route descriptions. Each book giving around 28 walks of varying difficulties.

For the "Average" walker (which I guess we are just about) a good mix of walks.

Anyhow, the route was pretty much a straight out and back in the reverse direction albeit a slightly different path.

The route was a mix of pretty good pathways and as can be seen above some roadways and stiles. Excellent view of the valley ahead and fells either side.

The route/pathway back was just as impressive giving another view of the valley from the opposite direction. Quite quiet too, with just a few other walkers encountered.

All in all a fine walk on a fine day, returning to the hotel around 13:30 for a drink in the beer garden, making the most of the unexpected fine April weather.

Score: 7.5/10

Laceby, Irby upon Humber and Aylesby

Sunday 7th March 2010. The best day of the year so far weather-wise and luckily my day off.

We chose an eight mile walk from "Lincolnshire and the Wolds" which is a Pathfinder guide book.
Susan didn't want anything too long or arduous for our first proper walk of 2010 (we had done a walk locally on New Year's Day but that seems a long time ago now...)

The walk started in Laceby, we found a free car park very close to the above church - nice gargoyles! Quite handy to have markers such as churches, saves wandering around trying to find the exact place we left the car at the end of the walk.

Perfect weather for walking. Bright sunshine and a lovely fresh chill to the air so we weren't too hot.
From Laceby village we crossed the A46 and strolled along to part of the Wanderlust Way. This part of the walk was mostly fields and was fairly dry although a little boggy in some parts.

No other walkers/ people about but we did spot a large March hare at the side of Irby Holmes Wood.


Susan's favourite kind of walk - mostly flat with just some small inclines along the way. Perfect for when you have been hibernating for the winter. The only point of worry for her was coming across warning signs "Cattle" but fortunately we didn't see any!

Plenty of bunnies to be seen, a few dog walkers near Irby, other than that a very quiet walk. Nice views of the wolds and looking across the fields we could see Immingham and various industrial plants and a power station...

It's not all fields, we had to (carefully) cross three very busy main roads and towards the end of the walk we strolled along a tarred footpath but mostly it's nice Lincolnshire countryside.

All in all a very pleasant day.

About three and a half hours and slightly over eight miles.

Would do this one again and give it 7 / 10.