A gentle woodland walk that will give you glorious views of magnificent Blencathra
Last updated 17:31, Monday, 19 May 2008
THIS month we tackle a slightly harder walk in the northern Lake District. High Rigg is a great introduction to the fells – an undulating, mostly grassy ridge that should be within the capabilities of anyone of average fitness.
High Rigg: Distance 5 miles
Total ascent 1,230ft
Time: Approximately 3 to 3.5 hours
THIS month we tackle a slightly harder walk in the northern Lake District. High Rigg is a great introduction to the fells – an undulating, mostly grassy ridge that should be within the capabilities of anyone of average fitness.
With your back to the church, turn left along the lane. As soon as you pass the diocesan youth centre, turn left and follow the narrow, muddy path around the back of the building to a kissing-gate in the wall.
With no time to warm up your muscles properly, go through the gate and head straight up the northern ridge of High Rigg – a short, but sharp climb. It’s easy to pace yourselves as the ascent is divided into short sections, each ending at a level terrace where you can pause for a while to catch your breath and enjoy the views of Blencathra behind you. (“I’m just admiring the views” is always a good excuse for a rest!)
As you approach the top of the fell, the grassy path becomes wider and more track-like. It swings right to pass in front of a rocky outcrop that is home to the summit cairn. Once you’ve visited the cairn, return to the track – it soon swings left to winds its way, in a generally southerly direction, across the knobbly top to the corner of a drystone wall. Ahead now you can see Thirlmere and, up to the left, the Helvellyn range.
Having reached the wall, walk gently uphill with it on your left and then aim to the right of some soggy ground in a depression straight ahead. You cross this at its driest part and bear left again around the base of a crag to regain the wall. Drop down to a ladder stile, cross it and then head easily uphill away from the wall, ignoring the faint path off to the left just 50 yards beyond the stile.
Strolling along a lovely, grassy path, your eyes will inevitably be drawn to the blue waters of Thirlmere and the forests surrounding it. Thirlmere is a reservoir that was formed by the damming of two small, natural lakes in 1894. Victorian engineers devised a system, still in use today, which allows water to flow by gravity, without any pumps, all the way from the reservoir to Manchester, 100 miles away.
Keeping to the path as it swings round to the left, you cross a stile in a wire fence and soon find yourself on a more open ridge. Striding out with the steep slopes of the Dodds to your left and the wonderful views straight ahead, it is hard to believe you are less than 1,000ft above sea level. The ridge, known here as Long Band, ends suddenly as you veer left to drop down a steep, loose path to a gap in a wall. A short section of the path is badly eroded, so watch your footing on this descent.
Beyond the gap, you have one more short bit of climbing to do before the path starts dropping away again down the fell’s southern ridge.
As you head down through the Scots pines, you will catch glimpses of a large, bare rockface across the valley to your left. This is Castle Rock, so-named because eighteenth century travellers on their way from Ambleside to Keswick used to see it and believe it was a castle. On approaching it, however, it turned into a simple crag.
This was explained locally as being the work of the castle’s guardian genie who wanted to keep strangers away. Sir Walter Scott made the vale of St John the main setting for his Bride of Triermain. It is at Castle Rock that Sir Walter has King Arthur dallying with the fortress’s fairy inhabitants while on his way to Carlisle.
Having reached a T-junction of paths just above the main road, turn left to walk along a narrow path around the side of the fell. There is a steep drop to the right down to St John’s Beck at first, but you soon reach the valley bottom and, a little later on, Low Bridge End Farm. This is a friendly spot which welcomes walkers for drinks and cakes.
Continuing along the valley path with the wall on your right, you stroll through pleasant woodland before the way ahead opens out, allowing Blencathra to fill the vista. Cruelly, the last part of the walk is an uphill trudge, albeit at a relatively easy angle, but it’s not what you want at this point in the day. Don’t despair though – you eventually reach the road and, when you do, turn left to return to the church.
What you need to know
START AND FINISH: St John’s Church, about two miles south of Threlkeld (grid reference NY306225).
DISTANCE: 5 miles
TOTAL ASCENT: 1,230ft
TIME: Approximately 3-3.5 hours
WHAT TO TAKE: The OS Explorer map, sheet OL5 and a compass. Always carry warm, waterproof clothing and, as on any walk, ensure your footwear is suitable for the terrain. Don’t forget your sandwiches – a proper lunch break will give you time to enjoy some of the wonderful views - and always carry some water.
WHAT TO EXPECT: Although the summit of High Rigg is only 1,171ft above sea level, its short, undulating ridge provides a wonderful walk amid beautiful mountain scenery – a sort of Lake District in miniature. In fact, this is a great route for introducing young people to fell-walking. The hard work is over early in the walk with a brief, but quite steep, grassy climb up to the summit cairn. The ridge path is generally easy to follow - although it does become a little boggy in one place - and the return route follows the pretty valley of St John’s Beck through woodland and beside pastureland. There are very few signposts on this walk, so make sure you know how to read a map.
