Doesn’t that sound like a wonderful English walk? It was.
Each time we plan to go to the Lake District, I am hugely aware of the limited amount of time we have there. I came to the conclusion a few years back that trying to pluck ineffectually at a couple of hours in the area en route to somewhere else doesn’t cut it. Instead of trying to visit every time we pass on our way to or from Scotland, we stay in the region for a few days, albeit less often.
I went through a short phase of wanting to try and bag as many of the Wainwright fell tops as possible: prioritising the list of hills instead of planning good walks. I realised that the importance lies in enjoying memorable walks, so instead of ticking fell tops off a list and aiming to get to the tops of the biggest hills, I’ve latterly chosen lower-level walks which mean that we can enjoy more than one hike in the same trip. Better three or four good walks per trip than one big walk followed by lots of incapacitating muscle-ache.
One of the obvious summits on my list (for photographic purposes) is Low Fell, across the fields in Lorton Vale when heading south towards Crummock Water and Buttermere. I found a suitable, considerate parking spot on the edge of Thackthwaite and we headed for the hills in some beautiful weather. After walking back to the centre of the hamlet, the narrow track to the hills leads west from a farmyard across the fields towards Fellbarrow before semi-circling the northern end of the elongated Low Fell along a smooth, wide, grassy path, which is peppered with sheep droppings and inclined just enough to make me plod. The bracken on the hillside had already begun to turn golden but I largely saved my photography for the ultimate double-summit of the fell, despite the wonderful views across the Vale.
We were blessed with more than beautiful weather, but also with the kind of warmth which meant that we got to lie down in the long grass near the first of the two summits and enjoy the warm sunshine whilst listening to the breeze and the distant sounds of sheep in the expansive fields below. Perfectly-timed clouds threw extremely photogenic shadows across the vivid green landscape dotted with a couple of whitewashed farms, and across Crummock Water with a huge view to the fells around and beyond Buttermere.
After chatting to a dog walker, reaching the secondary summit (Loweswater Fell, named for an adjacent body of water in a valley to the west) and getting my photographs of the wonderful view, we retraced our footsteps before turning off to head down a secondary path to the valley. Unfortunately, we realised too late that this alternative path led down a particularly steep part of the fell and so it was only with much effort and cursing that we reached the stone wall at the bottom of the slope. (If you consider this route near the southern tip of the fell, I’d recommend against it because of its relentless 45° steepness and considerable slipperiness when even slightly damp.)
From the bottom of the slope, we headed back along the kilometre or so of stone wall towards Thackthwaite, stopping to chat to a couple of guys rebuilding a section of wall who lamented the “rewilding” of the land: blocked access to the slopes for cattle and other farmed animals, which have historically ensured the health and varied natural environment and stopped the deep bracken from smothering the landscape.
Once clear of the bracken-lined section of path, we returned to the top of the path across the fields, from which it was a gentle walk back to the village and our now solitary car in the picturesque lane.
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