Cumberland Way
July 1991
A walk from Ravenglass to Penrith
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The Cumberland way is
described in an excellent little "Wainwright-style" paperback
by Paul Hannon, pub. Hillside Publications. It is a six day walk across
the old county of Cumberland, from Ravenglass on the coast to Appleby
(in the old county of Westmorland). Two further walks - the Westmorland
Way, from Appleby to Arnside, and the Furness Way, from Arnside to
Ravenglass, complete this (very roughly) triangular walk in and around
the English Lake District.
Our itinerary was not
quite complete, strictly. We left the car at Penrith and, on our first
day, travelled by public transport to Ravenglass. The sixth
"official" day didn't look too exciting, and returning to
Penrith on the fifth day would nicely complete our route. And (perhaps
most important) our "pass-outs" would expire before we got to
Appleby....
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 Day
1: Ravenglass - Nether Wasdale
 We
lunched well at the "Ratty" station buffet, before
beginning our almost 10 mile walk across pleasant country, with
the view to the hills drawing us onwards. An interesting, if
none-too-direct route took us via quiet farm tracks to the
isolated Irton church, then, across fields to Santon Bridge, where
the dark waters of the River Irt flow swiftly on their way from
Wastwater to the sea.
From Santon Bridge, a riverside path followed by more field
walking leads eventually to the quiet village of Nether Wasdale,
also known as Strands, where the two excellent inns provided our
food, drink and overnight stay. |
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  Day
2: Nether Wasdale - Buttermere
The path leaves Strands and crosses the Irt to head for the
outflow of Wastwater. Here the more energetic walkers may follow
the traverse along the southern shore, at the foot of the famous
screes, but conscious of the day's 14 miles and two mountain
passes, we took the "official" route, along the quiet
road to Wasdale Head.
 Here
we took to the hills - firstly over Black Sail pass to the lonely
youth hostel
 at
the head of Ennerdale, before climbing again over Scarth Gap pass
into the Buttermere valley. The day had started with light rain,
and cloud on the tops, but now it was improving, and we had some
fine views as we cleared Scarth Gap - extending to Criffel, the
Scottish peak away across the unseen Solway Firth.
The path follows the western shore of the lake to
bring the walker into the village. On this warm afternoon, we felt
slightly superior to the poor motorists struggling to find a parking
spot.
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  Day
3: Buttermere - Swinside
This should have been "Buttermere - Keswick" - but we
had planned our walk for the same week as the annual Methodist
Convention. In booking our overnight accommodation, we had left
Keswick to the last, but it turned out to be the most difficult. In
the end we settled for the Swinside Inn, between the hamlet of Stair
and the Hawse End jetty on Derwentwater. It would shorten our days
walk significantly - but would extend the following day by an equal
amount.
 Given
a pretty short route, we opted for the high level alternative -
instead of the gentle ascent via Sail Beck, we would traverse the
Whiteless Pike - Causey Pike ridge. I think it was on this stage of
the walk that I realised that a couple of heavy Nikon bodies and two
or three weighty lenses didn't make the ideal kit for this type of
trip.... |
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Day 4: Swinside - Dockray
We left the inn and followed what should have been the previous
day's route into Keswick, before heading on via Castle Head to the
stone circle at Castlerigg. Continuing via St John's in the Vale,
the Cumberland Way then follows an old coach road around the
northern foothills of the Helvellyn range, reaching a summit level
of around 1450' before dropping gently down to the tiny village of
Dockray, where we would spend our last night. It rained all day -
sorry, no pictures (I wasn't planning on putting this page together
in 1991). The camera stayed in the rucksack. There wasn't much to do
in Dockray in the rain either - though at least there was a pub... |
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  Day
5: Dockray - Penrith
Dockray straddles Aira Beck - and a mile or so downstream, on
route, is the shapely Aira Force, a regular destination on the Lakes
tour.
On leaving the waterfall, a pleasant path traverses Gowbarrow
Fell, with magnificent views of Ullswater at first. Later, the path
takes to the open country, and by a slightly tortuous route across
the fields, we ended up at Stainton, a village about 2 miles from
Penrith. Here we would part company with the Cumberland Way, and in
 celebration
of the fact, we entered the pub, only to find it had just closed!
 The
landlord seemed prepared to serve us, so we took our drinks and sat
outside, to reflect on a very enjoyable five days traversing this
beautiful part of the country.
And that was it. Just the couple of miles along the road to
Penrith, then back to the car and home.
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Books and Maps:-
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Paul Hannon's "Cumberland Way" is out
of print at time of writing (Jan '07) - I include the link above
mainly so that intending walkers of the route know what to look
for... The three 1:25,000 maps cover that part of the walks
that we did - but not the last bit to Appleby... |
|
; "Near Muncaster")
; "The view from Irton Church")
; "Santon Bridge and the River Irt")
; "Nether Wasdale or Strands")
; "Nether Wasdale - the eastern side of the village")
; "The lane to Easthwaite")
; "Wasdale - Great Gable in the mist ahead")
; "The pack horse bridge at Wasdale head")
; "The trudge up to Black Sail pass")
; "Ennerdale")
; "Black Sail Hut - the youth hostel")
; "Buttermere and the mist-topped Grasmoor")
; "Descent from Scarth Gap")
; "Haystacks, seen from the Scarth Gap path")
; "Buttermere and Fleetwith Pike")
; "Quiet evening, Crummock Water")
; "Trees on the shore, Crummock Water")
; "The B&B")
; "Leaving Buttermere")
; "Buttermere from Whiteless Pike")
; "Eel Pike - the view east")
; "Scar Crags")
; "Last on the ridge - Causey Pike")
; "Hawse End, Derwentwater")
; "Aira Force")
; "Tree near Aira Force")
; "Ullswater from Gowbarrow Fell")
; "Dacre Castle, between Hutton John and Stainton")
;){kind=link}