Lakeland Walking Tales

I love a good yarn almost as much as I love a good fell walk. I live in a small hamlet in the beautiful Cumbrian Lake District. My kitchen window looks out over the fields to the Coniston fells with Dow Crag centre stage. Whenever I can, I get out hill walking to explore these wild peaks that were forged by volcanoes and glaciers hundreds of millons of years ago. What intrigues me nearly as much as their rocky crags and sweepings vistas is their rich history and mythology.

In this blog I describe memorable Lake District walks and recount the tales that surround them. This is not a conventional walking site, full of detailed directions about which stile to cross or at which cairn to fork left or right. There are plenty of those already. If you need one, may I recommend walklakes.co.uk. However, each post on here should furnish you with sufficient detail to sit down with an OS map and plot the route.

What I hope they will do is to inspire you to pull on your walking boots and explore these remarkable hills and dales. If you need no such encouragement, then perhaps they will, in some small way, enrich your experience by giving you fresh insights into the men and women, real or mythical, who trod these paths before you. If you lack the energy or inclination to haul yourself up to these demanding peaks, then I hope these stories will allow you to experience some classic hill walks from the comfort of your armchair.

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Recent Posts

Looking down on Pillar Rock
The Awesome Power of Pillar Rock

Lakeland’s Mountain Cathedral

First scaled by a shepherd and eulogised by Wordsworth, Pillar Rock is a mountain cathedral with a potent allure. I enlist a mountaineering & climbing instructor to get me to the top.

Dow Crag
Troubled Waters

The Unquiet Graves of Coniston

The ghosts of two murdered loves haunt Yewdale Beck; the spirit of a smuggler disturbs a smuggler; & a Druid condemns a raven to live for millenia on Dow Crag.

Pisgah Buttress and Symonds Knott
The Savage Temple

In Search of Awe on Scafell

Wainwright described Scafell Crag as a great cathedral where a man may lose all his conceit. I go in search of awe on Deep Gill’s West Wall Traverse

Aonach Mor
Shades of Winter

A Highland Mountain Adventure

Over the snowline in the Scottish Highlands to put winter skills into practice with Lakeland’s Hayley Webb Mountain Adventures

Langdale Pikes from Holme Fell
Whiskey Man

Lanty Slee – a Langdale Legend

Langdale was once home to a notorious bootlegger, famed for his ingenuity and audacity. I walk from Tilberthwaite to Tarn Hows on the trail of Lanty Slee.

Coniston Water from The Beacon
Thorstein

A Viking’s Adventure in Lakeland

Thorstein of the Mere blends bloody history & ghostly legend in a compelling picture of Dark Age Lakeland. I visit a Giant’s grave in search of Celts & Vikings.

Swimming in Coniston Water
Sailor, Spy

The Revolutionary Roots of Swallows & Amazons

Could Arthur Ransome’s experiences in revolutionary Russia underpin his classic story, inspired by childhood holidays on Coniston Water

The Pinnacles on Pinnacle Ridge
Over The Edge

The Soaring Majesty of Pinnacle Ridge

Pinnacle Ridge on St Sunday Crag is a head-rush of adrenaline and wonder. I sign up for a guided scramble over this iconic arête

A Bustle in the Hedgerow

Cartmel Valley Diary

A nature diary charting one year in the life of the hedgerows and low hills of the Cartmel Valley.

Loweswater from Mellbreak's north summit
Loweswater Gold

The Remarkable Mysteries of Mellbreak

Beguiling lakes, stiff scree slopes, a champion ale, a superlative waterfall eulogised by a Lake Poet, and a tragedy with a supernatural twist.

Fiacaill Ridge, Cairn Gorm
Walk Out to Winter: New Skills

Winter Skills in the Cairngorms

In the snow-capped majesty of the Cairngorms, I learn winter skills and meet some remarkable people with inspiring stories of courage, devotion, and survival

The Lost Kingdom of Mardale

Haweswater and Hugh’s Cave

In 1936, the Manchester Corporation consigned two centuries-old villages to the bottom of a reservoir. I go in search of a lost kingdom.

Four great books about Lakeland or walking
Four Great Books about Lakeland or Walking

Fell Farms, Watersheds, Forbidden Britain, & the Best Gin

I review books  from James Rebanks, Chris Townsend, John Bainbridge, Beth Pipe & Karen Guttridge

Waterfall River Kent
Strange Tales from the Kentmere Riverbank

Hall Cove & the Source of the River Kent

As I follow the River Kent to its source in Hall Cove, high in the fells that ring Kentmere Head, I discover old tales of tragedy and criminal cunning.

Striding Edge, Helvellyn
In the Footsteps of Wainwright

Striding Edge to Catstycam

A precarious negotiation along craggy crests and plunging precipices to bag my final Wainwright, and a look at what it is that makes Wainwright himself such an inspiration.

The Third Crinkle above The Wall
Wonderwall – The Hidden World of Crinkle Gill

Crinkle Crags via Crinkle Gill

A breathtaking scramble on to Crinkle Crags, through the ravines & rock pools of Crinkle Gill, is nearly blocked by a waterfall known as “The Wall”.

Longside Edge & Bassenthwaite Lake from Skiddaw
Skiddaw Stories

Skiddaw House, Great Calva, Bakestall, & Skiddaw

How Skiddaw spawned the world’s first rock band and why England’s loneliest hostel sparked a constitutional crisis.

Stanley Ghyll
Faeries Wear Boots

Green Crag, Harter Fell, & Hard Knott

A dramatic waterfall; an outpost of Wainwright country; two tragic deaths; and a faery Court of Forlorn Hope, lurking in the shadow of the Scafells.

The Bishop of Barf
Paint It White

Barf via the Bishop

Wainwright’s direct route up Barf feels like an epic quest through a landscape steeped in legend.

Skiddaw summit
The Skiddaw Hermit

A poignant tale of Victorian Lakeland

In the 1860’s, Skiddaw took one troubled soul to its breast. He lived wild on the fell and was known as the Skiddaw Hermit. This is his story.

Packhorse bridge over Groove and Hollow Gill
Secrets of the Screes

Illgill Head, Whin Rigg & Miterdale

Two ghost stories, an old corpse road, a hidden valley, a homicide, and a tragic vanishing: I discover the secrets of the Screes.

Coniston Fells from below Yew Barrow
Song From the Wood

High Dam & Rusland Heights

A stunning walk taking in High Dam, Rusland Heights, & Finsthwaite, and featuring a ghost story and a charcoal burner who kickstarted a conservation project.

Dow Crag
Green Mind

Dow Crag & Wordsworth’s Eco Message

A post-lockdown walk up Dow Crag passes a magnificient waterfall, born of childhood mischief, and inspires a rumination on Wordsworth’s green message.

Thorn of Crowns

The Rites of Spring & the Secret of Crummock Water

In 1988, divers pulled the body of Sheena Owlett from Crummock Water. On a walk over Great Borne & Red Pike, I recall her story.

White horse, Dixon Heights
Rhiannon

A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Dixon Heights

With its ruined tower, Bay views, and wild ponies, Dixon Heights is a Wainwright Outlier, rich in enchantment.

Whisky in the Jar

Great Gable via Grey Knotts, Brandreth & Green Gable

A walk in the footsteps of smugglers, bootleggers, & a Victorian climbing pioneer who lost his lunch on Gable Crag.

Sheep & Wolf’s Clothing

Eagle Crag

From the valley, Eagle Crag looks unassailable, but Wainwright isn’t fibbing when he says there’ s a single line of weakness in its defence.

Lonscale Fell
The Fell King

High Rigg & the Poet Stonemason of St John’s in the Vale

I visit the grave of a Victorian stonemason turned poet, who captured the comedy & romance of Cumbrian life like few others could, and revel in the landscape that inspired him.

Thirlmere from the Benn
Before the Flood

Raven Crag & the Flooding of Thirlmere

When Thirlmere was turned into a reservoir, it flooded the valley, submerging a shoreline rich in beauty and folklore. I go in search of the ghosts of a lost world.

An Unkindness of Ravens

How Castle Rock of Triermain got its name

Castle Rock of Triermain was named for a local superstition and an Arthurian legend. I go in search of Merlin in the Vale of St John.

Symmonds Knott, Scafell
This Is My Church

Scafell: Lord’s Rake & West Wall Traverse

Wainwright declared Scafell Crag, “the greatest display of natural grandeur in the district”. I climb the Lord’s Rake & West Wall Traverse to see for myself.

Grisedale Tarn
Pedestrian Verse

St. Sunday Crag, Fairfield & Grisedale Tarn

A walk over Fairfield to Grisedale Tarn, a place of lost Celtic crowns, spectral armies, and a Lake Poet’s poignant elegy to his shipwrecked brother

The Langdale Pikes
To the Shores of Lake Placid

Landscape of Liberty: from Auschwitz to Ambleside

A wintry walk over Lingmoor Fell to the Merz Barn, and the story of 300 children who survived the Nazi death camps to start a new life here beside the lake.

Scrambling round the Cannon of Jack's Rake
Hit the Rake Jack

Jack’s Rake & Dungeon Ghyll Force

Jack’s Rake is a tough scramble on Pavey Ark that Wainwright claims is “just about the limit” for a fell walker. We put hand to rock to discover for ourselves.

Postcard from the Edge

Blencathra via Sharp Edge

Sharp Edge is a razor sharp arête on Blencathra and something of a challenge for fell walkers. Is it as terrifying as some claim, or the finest day out in Lakeland? I set off to find out.

Red Screes Trig Point
Ocean Rain

Red Screes, Mountain Bagging & Memories of War

I join the Mountain Bagging group for a memorable scramble up Red Screes and meet a Falklands veteran who’s written a thought-provoking book

Ullswater from Heron Pike
Underworld

Glenridding Dodd, Sheffield Pike, Greenside Mine & Operation Orpheus

A Greek legend connects an old lead mine & and a Cold War initiative to curb the nuclear arms race. I trek over Sheffield Pike to find out why.

Bannerdale Crags
A Big Day in the North

Blencathra via Doddick Fell

Blencathra via Wainwright’s third best route: the exhilarating ridge of Doddick Fell; and a ramble over Mungrisdale Common, Bannerdale Crags, Bowscale Fell  & Souther Fell

Humphrey Head
Riddle of the Sands

Humphrey Head

Historic home of England’s last wolf and holy waters celebrated by Romans and modern day celebrities, we investigate the mysteries of Humphrey Head.

Stunted Hawthorn on Hampsfell
Fire & Water

Sunset Over Morecambe Bay, in Snow

Climbing Hampsfell in snow to watch the sun set over Morecambe Bay turns into the most magical of fell walks.

Castle Crag quarry
Mountains & Margarine

Bonington, Beatrix, Kurt & the Borrowdale Caveman

Castle Crag in autumnal splendour and the museums of Keswick and Ambleside spark a train of thought about four Lakeland luminaries and the landscape that inspired them.

Drigg Beach
Here’s Where the Story Ends

Path of the Plague Dogs II

News reports, artillery fire & Sellafield help evoke the atmosphere of Richard Adams’ novel as I follow the dogs’ path through Dunnerdale and out to the sea.

Monk Coniston Jetty
Whitecoats: Path of the Plague Dogs I

Coniston to Seathwaite Tarn via Levers Hause

In Richard Adams’ 1977 bestseller, Plague Dogs, Rowf and Snitter escape from a vivisection lab into the Coniston Fells. I put on my boots & follow their route.

Buttermere
The Beauty of Buttermere

Buttermere, Haystacks, Blacks Sail & The High Stile range

A journey around the hills and hostelries of Buttermere reveals rich history and astounding natural beauty.

The Nab
This Deer Hunter

The Nab & The Rut

It’s antlers at dawn as Britain’s largest land mammals fight for the right to party, and I pay a tribute to a sly old fox for inspiring me to walk The Far Eastern Fells.

Chome Hill
This Land is Your Land

A Dragon’s Back & a Right to Roam

An away trip to the iconic Chrome Hill, in the Peak District, provokes a rumination on the right to roam and the mass trespass of 1932

Reconstruction of a Fable

The Fairfield Horseshoe & the Calgarth Skulls

The fine mountain ridges of the Fairfield Horseshoe and the spooky story of the Calgarth Skulls

Seathwaite reservoir
Away from the Numbers

Grey Friar, Great Carrs & Dow Crag from Seathwaite

After a farcical start, the disarming beauty of the Duddon valley sets the scene for a stunning ridge walk up Grey Friar and around Seathwaite reservoir.

Jimmy Hewitson and the Howitzer

Coniston, Tarn Hows, Black Fell & Holme Fell

A poignant tale of courage, compassion and the redemptive power of the Cumbrian landscape

Ennerdale Water
Back to Black Sail

Great Gable, Black Sail Hut, Pillar & Steeple

Sex, fictional drug dealers and plenty of rolling rocks. Tim and I climb Great Gable & spend a very entertaining night at Black Sail hut.

White Winter Hymnal

The Old Man & The Raven
After days wrapped in a Christmas cocoon of lethargy and overeating, I head up the Old Man to savour the snow-capped splendour of the Coniston fells.

Born To Be Wild

Millican Dalton and Castle Crag
A Borrowdale cave played home to a Professor of Adventure. On a walk up Castle Crag, I visit the cave & recount a Christmas story I’m sure he would have loved

Ill Bell Summit
Summer’s Almost Gone

The Kentmere Round
The Kentmere Valley is a slice of heaven and the horseshoe of high fells that surround it make for a long but exhilarating adventure.

High Stile over Haystacks summit tarn
In My Time Of Dying

Haystacks and Wainwright
On a walk over Haystacks, I recount how I swapped the music venues of Newcastle for the hills of Cumbria and found an unlikely new hero.

Pillar Rock
A Walk on the Wild Side

The Mosedale Horseshoe
A real life crime drama; a challenging hike over savagely beautiful mountain terrain & a night at England’s remotest youth hostel

Scope End, Newlands
All That Glitters

The Newlands Horseshoe
The wild scenery of the Newlands valley is spectacularly fine and surprisingly famous.

Air crash memorial Great Carrs
Ghosts of Canadian Airmen

Wetherlam, Swirl How & Great Carrs via Steel Edge
An Andy Goldsworthy sheepfold and the wreck of a wartime bomber bookend a thought-provoking walk over the Coniston fells.

Langdale Pikes over The Great Slab
Axis: Bold As Love

Bow Fell Via The Climbers’ Traverse
The summit of Bow Fell feels like the centre of the world and this ascent via the Climbers’ Terrace and the Great Slab is simply breathtaking

Hall's Fell Ridge, Blencathra
Sympathy For The Devil

Blencathra Via Halls Fell Ridge
We climb Blencathra via Halls Fell Ridge to discover its Arthurian connection and why Wainwright rated this ascent the best in Lakeland

Morecambe Bay from Hampsfell
This Is the Sea

Morecambe Bay, Hampsfell & Cartmel
The treacherous beauty of Morecambe Bay, The treasures of Hampsfell and the medieval heritage of Cartmel

Stickle Tarn
Stickle Tarn
Hard Rock

Langdale Pikes and Castlerigg
A stone circle at sunrise and a “steep ladder to heaven”, linked by an ancient axe industry. A cloud inversion completes a striking walk

Harter Fell Herdie
Herdie on Harter Fell
Redemption Song

Herdwicks and Harter Fell
A walk up the heather-clad flanks of Harter Fell & the story of how the  Herdwick sheep survived foot and mouth disease

Newby Bridge First Light
Newby Bridge First Light
The Boatman’s Call

Claife Heights and Sawrey
The ghostly tale of the Crier of Claife and the true legacy of Beatrix Potter haunt a walk on Windermere’s western banks

Scafell Pike
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Scafell Pike and Sca Fell
A homicidal jester, a notorious whisky smuggler and a spectacular walk to the top of England’s two highest peaks

Trial By Water 

Grisedale Pike and Force Crag Mine
Ospreys on Bassenthwaite, the last days of Force Crag mine, Long Meg and a cracking walk up Grisedale Pike

King of the Copper Mountains

Dow Crag via the South Rake
Skullduggery in Whitehaven, a copper mine begets a sausage and an exhilarating scramble on the Coniston Fells

Manchester, So Much To Answer For

High Street From Haweswater
A drowned village, the last English golden eagle and the “connoisseur’s route” to the highest ground east of Kirkstone

Grisedale Tarn
The Stuff of Legend

Helvellyn via Grisedale Tarn
A lost celtic crown, a ghost army, a reckless romantic with a devoted dog and a teddy with a tragic tale