Southwest Lakeland part 2

Beacon Fell

6-mile circular walk from Brown Howe

A repeat of a fell I did back in the summer of 2010, I wanted to visit this fell because I remembered how rich it was in flora now better equated with the flora of Lake District I wanted to look into the bogs and tarns of this area. 

This walk I did on my own, so starting from the carpark at Brown Howe I crossed the road to a minor road, this took me through a beautiful area of boggy woodland while slowly rising to more open ground.

When I reached this open area of heathland I took a path away from the miner road, it was along this path that I got into more boggy areas, so I stopped went to explore one of these boggy areas.

The first plant I noted was the sulphur yellow of Bog asphodel Narthecium ossifragum covering the boggy areas, I took a closer look there were Oblong-leaved sundew, Dorsera intermedia , Bog myrtle Myrica  gale, and Cranberry Vaccinium oxycoccos.  
         

            

After photographing and some identification, I got back to the footpath and carried on coming across more boggy areas and open water areas, with lots of Bog myrtle around the water edges. 

I made it to Beacon Tarn and stopped for my dinner. Sitting there in the sun relaxing it was a joy.After my break it was down to the shoreline following a path around Beacon Tarn, I noticed a plant growing out the water, species identification could not be more difficult, when you can not get near the plant, because of the depth of water it was growing in, so it was down to my camera to get the best results, and then it was not till I got home from my holiday that I could id it, it was Water Lobelia Lobelia dortmanna, an aquatic plant of nutrient-poor lake and tarns.

I carried on around the tarn and just as I was to start my ascent of Beacon Fell I came across a profusion of Heath-Spotted orchids, and then carried on to the top of Beacon Fell, at the summit I rested and took in the view and then started my descent back to the road. And on to the end of my walk, but back on the minor road I spotted an injured butterfly on the tarmac, it was one species I did not know. It turned out to be a Dark green fritillary.

Wallowbarrow walk 3.5 miles

Back in the Duddon Valley on the same campsite as before Turner Hall Farm, after setting up camp and having something to eat we set out on an evening walk from the campsite down to Seathwaite church and then taking a footpath into some woodland of birch and oak, the ground flora was cow-wheat another new flower for me.

Cow-wheat

We joined the River Duddon and we crossed the bridge and headed for High Wallabarrow Farm.

From the farm it was a steady climb up through woodland passing by many wood ants nest these big heaps of dried leaves and wood, these ants play important roles in woodland ecosystems.
The path starts to level out we come out of the woods with views across the valley, we followed the farm track to the walls of Grassguards, these amazing walls of great height and thickness are beautifully constructed but why did they build them like this? Was it some big field clearance, many of the tops of the walls were covered in moss.

We come to another farm and head back into woodland now heading downhill following Grassguards Gill to the River Duddon and the stepping stone, but we were not crossing the stepping stones but following the river into Wallowbarrow Gorge on a very narrow path of ups and downs till you come to the screes of Wallowbarrow Crag, we made our way over the impressive screes and the footpath took us to a bridge over the River Duddon and a  path back to Seathwaite church and the finish of the walk.  

Dow Crag walk

This fell started the Lakeland mission off in the winter of 2009, and I never got a view from the summit on that mission, but I wanted to do this again but this time from the Duddon Valley.
So from the campsite on a morning of sunny spells we set out for Seathwaite Tarn a steady climb up, the tarn itself now a modified to a reservoir, from the tarn we followed a faint path above the tarn, sometimes losing the path only to find it again till we came to Far Gill and then started the climb up to Goats Hause using Far Gill as a rough guide to Goats Hause.  

At Goats Hause we stopped and had our dinner, this busy path between Dow Crag and the Old Man of Coniston is where we passed our first fell walkers of the day, as we did not see anybody on the way up.

Dow Crag

We started the final climb to the summit of Dow Crag and was rewarded with good views from the summit, now was the descent path down to the Walna Scar path with views of the Duddon Estuary. From the Walna Scar path, we followed it down till we reached tarmac and the path back to the campsite and the end of another good walk. 

Summit view to the Duddon Estuary 

And that was it another great Lakeland mission, but not the end of my holiday yet, as I wanted to spend the late afternoon at Arnside & Silverdale and visit a special nature reserve.

Gait–Barrows National Nature Reserve

 We found a parking space near the entrance to Gait-barrows at Challen Hall, and walked into the woodland till we came to the meadow we crossed this and then we picked up a footpath what took us back to the road we followed this till we came to another entrance into the reserve and followed a track to an open area of limestone pavement, and in this area the plant hunter slows down to a crawl looking close in between the clints and grikes of the limestone pavement. It was in this area after identifying several species of plants I came across Lady slippers orchid most of the orchids had died off, but I still found a specimen to photograph this one plant that I came especially to see.

Lady Slipper Orchid 

We carried on looking to see what else was to see, I made a list of the plants and photographed them, I also came across a new butterfly species called a Grayling.

Last words

And that’s it for another holiday and also the end to the exploration of the south-west, what started off as Wainwright fell bagging as now turned into a full-scale mission of exploration. Many people come to the Lake District National Park just to walk and admire the views nothing wrong with that, but for me to look at any piece of the countryside for the beauty is just one thing of many things I ask myself how did it become like that and so on. My interests in botany, geology and  prehistory are my limits, there is much more to this area to discover that I have not mentioned. I have had so many good memories from this part of Cumbria.

The concretions of prehistory sites in this part of Lakeland are many and varied in type from burial cairns and stone circles to settlements. Eskdale moor is just one of many amazing sites that will stick in my memory and also the stone circle of Swinside.

I have now done the highest fells in the Lake District, Scafell Pike four times now from different valleys and every one was joy to do, but the one fell that stood out for me was Bowfell, on one summer evening I sat there on the summit alone for miles about seeing all the other fells about me was such a joy.That mission included a wild camp and that experience of sleeping in such area as the Three Tarns was such a joy to do. 
I am glad that I took on Wainwright's Outer Fells because I got to see some great sites like Caw, Beacon Fell and Black Combe and its was on these fells that I learnt to identify the names of the big fells seeing them from distance.  

The varied habitats of this area as been fantastic from sand dunes, mountain tops, heathland, and woodland just to name a few, the variation in plant and animal in these habitats. I have fond memories of looking for and listing plants,. Seeing natterjack toads at Sandscale Nature Reserve was a memorable occasion for me. I have only just discovered the mountain flora what will continue to expand. The one plant that stands out for me is the Starry saxifrage, but I also should mention the  juniper shrub as being some of oldest species living Cumbria .

The geology is varied in Cumbria and has I am slowly getting to understand it. from Borrowdale volcanic,rocks to some great limestone areas like Birkrigg Common and Arnside  and it's this last area I will be revisiting many more times in the coming years, as I start on the central area. I now have a better understanding of this amazing landscape and how it was shaped by the last ice age.
you can read all about my previous adventures on my blog but it is goodbye for now, as I start on a new area  the central area as defined by Wainwright. Another voyage of discovery.  

Southwest Lakeland part 1

Summer mission of the South-west  part 1

Over the past five years of exploration, using Alfred Wainwright’s book The Southern Fells and other books as my guides of exploration, I have explored south-west Cumbria, now has the Southern Fells come to a close I planned to revisit some of the areas again and to combine it with an exploration of alpine and bog plants and also to clear up some of the fells I did not get good views from.

June 27th, 2014

Scafell Backpack 9 miles.

So I and a friend took the car up to Wasdale Head and parked up and then we had just over an hour of eating and packing up for a planned wild camp near Lingmell Col. We set off in the late afternoon for Lingmell Beck and the climb to Styhead Pass on this sunny afternoon.

Cotton grass

From Styhead Pass we took the Corridor path and just before Lingmell Col was, we found a nice camping spot. We set up camp and watched the sun go down. I had a bit of an uncomfortable night and was awake at the crack of dawn, So I got up to watch the sun come up, feeling the chill of the morning I sat there with a coffee watching the clouds move over the mountains as my friend joined me.

Sunset

We decided after breakfast that it was time to pack up and get on the move for today's mission. so we set off for Lingmell Col with Scafell as the destination,  but before that, we were greeted with the top of Piers Gill, and an abundance of plant life. Alpine pine club moss, Fir clubmoss, Yellow saxifrage, Roseroot, Alpine lady’s mantle, and mountain sorrel just some I discovered.

        

The Lake District is a stronghold for Arctic-alpines - plants thriving in the cold and harsh conditions of high latitudes.  When the last ice age came to an end these plants dominated the Lake District vegetation, but now they are restricted to the highest ground, especially north- and east-facing coves and gullies. 

These species often flourish where the soils are rich in basic minerals which in the high fells generally equates to the gullies or flushes.
                    

We made it over Lingmell Co but low cloud covered the highest fell summits, but not deterred because they were on the move clearing again, maybe I can have the window of opportunity when I reach the summit of Scafell.

The next section of the walk was down to Hollow Stones and the rough path up the screes to Mickledore, once on Mickledore we had views into Eskdale and across to Crinkle Crags. It was at this point my friend opt out the next move, the path to the summit of Scafell. My friend would wait on Mickledore for my return. 

So I set out on the rough path to Scafell, this route is a classic accent of Scafell known as the Lord’s Rake, I have put it off twice before, but this time I was determined to succeed the climb.  I came to Deep Gill with the massive crags of Scafell surrounding me, I went into the steep wide scree gully rising into the mountain, it was tough going with the boots slipping on the sliding stones, I worked my way up the gully, and I had to stop at one point, another side gully came into view  and the gully was a profusion of one flower, this was Starry saxifrage, I managed to photograph some while sliding on the scree not easy to do. I pushed on to the top of the gully; it should be easier on the return route. Ahead was another decent and then a climb. I made it to the stony summit of Scafell and the view was poor but better than last time, that time we could not find the summit, but had walked past it in the thick fog.

Deep Gully and Starry saxifrage

Now the return route was a repeat of Lords Rake back to Mickledore and meet up with my friend. The decent from Mickledore back to Wasdale was a long and hard going are leg muscles were feeling it with the extra  weight of camping equipment, and now the heat of the day, we passed Hollow Stone and carried on  into Lingmell Beck on this hot sunny afternoon to the finish at the car park I and my friend were so tried and the backs of our legs aching after it.

We left Wasdale behind and went to Eskdale and had a nice evening and camped at Hardknott fort. Next morning we woke up to low cloud and drizzle, we had planned no high-level walks today, we were still aching after yesterday mission, so we decided on an easy low-level walk today.  

Stanley Ghyll, 29th 2014

A revisit on this damp morning to Stanley Ghyll, at least it has stopped raining; Stanley Ghyll is a deep stream-gorge cut into the granite. The gorge carries the Birker Beck through a series of waterfalls to meet the River Esk.

This wooded ghyll has a rich assemblage of mosses, lichens, liverworts and ferns.   

We followed the stream into the ghyll, the atmosphere getting damper, everywhere we looked there were ferns everywhere, even the sessile oaks had polypody ferns growing on them. We climb the path to the waterfalls and enjoyed the view of the falls, and then retraced the path back.

Stanley Ghyll

We left Eskdale and took the car to Coniston and picked up some food supplies and went to find a campsite. We had a relaxing afternoon at the campsite and then decided on a small evening walk.  

Bleaberry Haws

The weather now had improved to a nice dry evening so we set out from the village of Torver to do a small walk to discover the ancient sites of the Bronze Age. I tried to visit this site last summer, but the weather conditions got the better of me.

We reached the open ground with wide open views, with Coniston Old Man ‘Mother’ mountain in view, this mountain was the focal point of all the communities that lived between the mountains and the sea. And these burial cairns is where they laid there dead. 

We followed a track and the faint footpath to the old slate workings.It's at this point me and my friend split up to start looking for are first cairns, searching through the pathless grassland till we found Bleaberry Haws.  

Bleaberry Haws

The cairns were not easy to find because they were grassed over and we did not find the small stone circle what was mentioned in the book.

It was a nice place of solitude and got me thinking about what ceremonies that were held here with the mother mountain in view the Old Man Coniston.

We retraced our route back to the quarry and followed the path back to Torver.

Geology walk, 30th 2014

This next walk was a revisit to the Coniston Copper Mining area, we parked up in Coniston and set off following the deep gorge of Church Beck over the Miners Bridge and along the track up to the Youth Hostel passing through an industrial area of spoil heaps. After the Youth Hostel, we started to climb still on a track road, till we found a path that took us over a wooden footbridge and we followed this path at the side of the beck climbing steeply crossing the spoil heaps of Simon’s Nick and up to Levers Water.

Time for a rest and it was a nice sunny day, the last time I was here, was when I left my dad's ashes up here, now was the time to have a few moments thoughts about him.

We left Levers Water looking for a path that would take us into the Boulder Valley and it was while we were looking for this path we came across entrances to Simon Nick mine and started to look at the spoil heaps closely, the area had been picked-over by geologists, I was looking for green patches in the chunks of rock, it was just a matter of ‘getting my eye in’ it was here that I came across copper appears as malachite a form of the metal composed of copper carbonate.

We carried on down into the Boulder  Valley looking now at the rocks, these where the Borrowdale Volcanic rock, a rock that was formed from ash that had welded together in a treacle-like mass. The large rocks near the path had rippled surfaces; a clue that this ‘treacle’ must have flowed some distance before setting. 
The path led to a wooden footbridge across Low Water Beck, and once over we came to the Pudding Stone – the largest named-boulder in the Lake District after the Bowder Stone.
The path took us over Crowberry Haws and then descending on the path back to Miners Bridge and Church Beck we then retraced are the route back into Coniston.

Pudding Stone