10th May 2025 Coniston

A Walk Lead by Peter Hitchcock

10.5 miles    1800ft

For a change, rather than hit the dizzy heights of The Old Man, Wetherlam or Dow Crag, we shall explore magical woodlands and waterfalls plus tackle some smaller crags and Fell bumps just to make you feel at home in the Lakes.

We leave the car park [60p toilets payable only by card – but there are lots of trees fairly soon!] along a northern valley to the outskirts of Tiberthwaite before turning for a gentle climb up Holme Fell, then ‘down’ and ‘up’ to beautiful Tarn Hows via, hopefully, waterfalls in plentiful flow. The path down from the Fell and up to the tarn could be tricky if wet so ‘sticks’ would definitely be a bonus here. If we haven’t set off too late, we’ll have lunch overlooking the Tarn.

Afterwards, we return south aiming for the Grizedale Forest ridge with epic panoramas spanning The Old Man to the south-west, then clockwise through Wetherlam, The Langdale Pikes, if good visibility – Berncathra – Helvellyn and finally the Fairfield Horseshoe and III Bells. Keep fingers crossed for a clear day. From the ridge top, we descend almost in a straight line to the village but, unless you can walk on water, then we shall have to skirt the lake to the north adding about ½ mile to the route! After approx. 10½ miles and 1834’ up and down, you will be ready for a drink at the end but, with the distance, I shall be keeping the pace going as the coach journey to Coniston will probably take longer than usual so, until the day, I won’t know exactly how much time we have available. But, it will be an interesting and enjoyable trek - see you there.

 B Walk Lead by Pat Guy

7 miles 1200ft

From the village of Coniston we walk to the head of Coniston water, we then take a path gradually ascending to Glen Mary Bridge, there are lovely views from this path. From the Glen Mary Bridge we ascend on a slightly steeper path to the summit of Holme Fell where weather permitting we will enjoy lovely views all around. We then ascend to Hodge Close Quarries passing a delightful disused reservoir on the way.

We then follow a path down to High Yewdale and follow the Cumbria Way back to Coniston. Hopefully it will be a clear day and we should have some amazing views of the Coniston Fells.

C Walk lead by Helen & Mike

5-6 Miles

The walk begins near to Coniston Lake. We will have our coffee at the Bluebird cafe overlooking the lake. Our walk is a circular one from Coniston to Torver between 5-6 miles. The paths on the walk there are ready made paths which are easy to walk on. The only challenging bit is approaching Torver when we have to go up a fairly long hill. As usual we will take our time and stop as needed. There is a bench at the top for a rest. The scenery and views of the lake and surrounding hills/mountains are fantastic and it is a stunning walk. At Torver we will have lunch on the Green which is conveniently located next to the pub The Wilsons Arms which has a lovely delicatessen where you can buy pies/cakes/drinks etc and a great pint of Loweswater Gold !!

There are 2 possible return paths, the first the same way we came but downhill which is welcome after lunch and the second different but with the odd tricky bit downhill through the woods towards Torver jetty. This is again a beautiful path along the lakeside but we can make decisions on the day about which to take depending on weather and how we feel. You can even hop on the boat back if you are feeling flush but we recommend sticking with the walk which is again one not to be missed !!

Sorry, no map available.

April 2025 Arnside

 A & B Walk combined lead by Brian Thorne

Approx 9.5 mls with 853 ft of climbing.

Leaving Arnside we pass the station and cross open fields, to the tower at Hazelslack Farm. A steady climb then leads us up through woodland and limestone pavement to the tight but relatively easy scramble up the “Fairy Steps and a fabulous view back over Arnside and the estuary.

Continuing through the woodland we curve back and lose height, passing through fields back to Hazelslack tower. Our route then takes us due south to the shores of Hawes Water by Challen Hall before we cross the railway once again to skirt around Eaves Wood, pass through the Caravan Site and reach the ruins of Arnside Tower.

Our final climb of the day will then take us over Arnside Knott before descending steeply back to our starting point.

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C Walk Lead by Gwyn Jones

5.5 Miles

This walk is very much the same as two years ago but in reverse. Unfortunately the tide will be well up so there will be no beach walking. There are some ups and downs but the hill up from the village at the start is the steepest. Last time we climbed up to the Knott but this time we go round the bottom. We head for New Barn and then through woodland to Far Arnside. From here we again take a path, mostly in woodland, to make our way back to Arnside.