July 2026 Kirkby Lonsdale

 Saturday 11th July 2026

KIRKBY LONSDALE: a small, vibrant and relatively unspoilt market town situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Flanking the three counties of Cumbria, Lancashire and North Yorkshire, the town offers a picturesque base from which to explore the English Lake District, the Yorkshire Dales and the Forest of Bowland. Named as one of the Best Places to Live in the UK by the Sunday Times, Kirkby Lonsdale itself is a historic, quaint market town with a fantastic reputation for high quality independent shopping, as well as excellent restaurants, cafés and pubs, and superb accommodation.

A walk Lead by Brian Thorne

12 Miles, 1,200ft Ascent

A reasonably strenuous walk with stunning views over Kirkby Lonsdale to Morcambe Bay.  

Leaving the coach at Devil’s Bridge, we follow paths and tracks via the Woodclose Caravan Park to the hamlet of High Casterton. We cross the old Roman road which once linked forts at Low Borrowbridge near Tebay and Over Burrow, south of Kirkby Lonsdale, and we pass by Bindloss Farm to join the Fellfoot Road track, heading north. 

The climbing now begins in earnest as we follow the minor road, the fell track and finally the path to the huge summit cairn on Brownthwaite Pike (1381 ft) and our lunchstop. 

A welcome descent on a mostly good track (it can be a little boggy) then leads us down to the fell road at Gale Garth farm. A path takes us along the side of the valley for a little way until we rejoin the fell Road once more, and head steeply down, until we reach the Fellfoot Road track and turn north. 

Good paths take us through grassy meadows until we reach the minor road which leads us to Casterton Village and a possible refreshment stop at the local Hostelry. Paths and lanes then take us on our final stretch past the Golf Course, through the caravan Site and back to the coach.

When I did the recce some of the paths were quite overgrown so I would seriously recommend that no matter how hot it may be, anyone  considering doing the A should wear log trousers and not shorts?

B Walk Lead by Andrew Phillips

8 Miles  896ft Ascent

As with the other two groups, the walk commences at Devil’s Bridge, and proceeds up Laithe Lane, crossing the caravan site, before joining a path past the golf course. There will be a short stretch of main road to negotiate, before joining a field path towards Casterton Hall. We then follow the path through woodland, and may follow an extra loop northwards, but only continue that way if the overgrown path has not been cleared since my recce.

Dropping down into Casterton village, we will join a minor road up to Langthwaite, then crossing a stile onto a field path leading to Hole House and Bellgate, before looping round to join Fellfoot Road, heading south to Bindloss Farm (whilst keeping alert for modern “Mesolithic” displays on the way). We then cross the Roman Road to join Chapelhouse Lane back to the start.

Unfortunately there is some road walking on this route, but the lanes in question should have little traffic. The lunch stop is likely to involve relaxing on a grassy bank, depending on the rate of progress.

C Walk Lead by Helen & Mike Lewandowska

We do not intend to have coffee at the start of the walk but mid-way. There are toilets at the start by Devils Bridge and if people are desperate a van for take-aways. The walk starts near Devils Bridge and unfortunately with a little hill before we enter a caravan site and follow the public footpath through this. We then walk along a public bridleway for about half a mile when we reach a golf course. We follow the edge of the golf course along country lanes all the way into Casterton.

At Casterton we plan to take a break for coffee and cake at the Pheasant Inn.

We then walk again on country lanes until we need to cross a couple fields to reach the Roman road. There is one quite steep stone stile here-we found it easier to squeeze through a gap in the fence so hopefully this hasn't been repaired. We walk on the Roman road which is cobbled and uneven for about 10 minutes before reaching roads again. We progress downhill to the golf course again and make our way back to the start.

The walk is about 5 miles. The terrain is mixed country lanes, fields, some rough and uneven stony ground. There are some short hills but a lot of the walk is flat. There are some lovely views along the way and the pub is a nice place for a mid-way break. Kirby Lonsdale is also lovely and hopefully there should be plenty of time to explore at the end.

June 2026 - Ambleside

 Saturday 13th June 2026

Ambleside is a town in the civil parish of Lakes and the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the head of Windermere, England's largest natural lake.

A walk Lead by Peter Hitchcock

11 Miles, 2500ft Ascent

Welcome to today’s route which is a classic Fell walk as befits our Club title. If fine weather, the route will also offer superb views that will enhance any photo album and, from the top of Wansfell Pike, you can see a huge chunk of the Lake District National Park! Enough of the sales pitch!

We head out north-east from near Low Fold car park on a well-used track before tackling a 25 min steep, stepped climb to the top of Wansfell Pike (482m). The hardest bit is now done! We explore a bit of Fell moorland ridge walking to Baystones hill top before descending eastwards down to the Troutbeck valley. We then head north to Ing Bridge so that we can cross the Trout Beck itself before returning south along the other side of the valley to the pretty village of Low Fold. The scenery is fantastic all the way. We then follow an ancient track back to Ambleside which contours us around the edge of the ridge (so not much climbing) and provides brilliant views of the whole of Lake Windemere. Expect a 15 min walk or so from whichever watering hole we end up in as I’m not sure which car park we shall be using.

At just under 11 miles, we shall need to keep the speed up on the flat bits to get back in good time. You will be climbing up and down about 2500’ with, hopefully, very little in the way of boggy bits. Good fun!!

B Walk Lead by Pat Guy

7 Miles and 1,000ft of Ascent

Our walk this month is to the popular Lakeland town of Ambleside. We start the walk by walking through the park and Church grounds and crossing the River Brathay. We then start to climb, initially the path is quite steep so we will take this slowly but it soon levels out to a more gradual climb and then undulates to Loughrigg Tarn a real beauty spot. We then walk along the tarn and through woods to a minor road which we will walk along for about a half a mile before turning onto Loughrigg Terrace, another beauty spot as we walk along Grasmere Lake and Rydal water. Then we walk along an almost traffic free lane back to Ambleside were you will find a large selection of shops, teashops and pubs. 

C Walk Lead By Gwyn Jones

 From the coach park we make our way to the Esquire Coffee shop where we have coffee etc. From here we follow the main Grasmere road for a short while before crossing into a lane which takes us gradually up to Rydal Mount. We then descend to the main road and cross the river Rothay. A short walk through the woods takes us to Rydal Water. Our return starts with a short uphill but then it is a downhill and a fairly level road walk.