The Borrowdale Bimble - Part 1
Friday 12th July
I had two fells left to climb in the Borrowdale area - both at either ends of the valley. It was time to get them done.
I was on a long weekend. There had been heavy showers on the Friday morning, but it was forecast to clear so, after finishing work at lunchtime & nipping home to grab my gear I set off towards Borrowdale.
Arriving at Seatoller's National Trust Car Park, I kitted up & set off down the road towards Seathwaite. After a mile or so, I reached Seathwaite Farm - the wettest inhabited place in England, which attracts an average of 140 inches of rain per year!
Seathwaite is a small hamlet at the end of a minor road which turns into a rocky pack-horse route after the farm. It's name, of norse origin meaning 'the clearing in the sedges' first appeared in written records in 1340 spelt ' Seuthwayt'. In the 1550's graphite was discovered nearby, and began being mined . This went on to supply the burgeoning pencil industry in Keswick. Today, it is a working sheep & cattle farm, and also hosts a popular campsite & camping barn.
After passing through the farm yard, the track heads up the valley following the young River Derwent, which, not much further up splits into to gills back to its source.
The path soon reaches Stockley Bridge, an 18th century pack-horse bridge which is a similar build to the more accessible Ashness Bridge. Crossing over the rocky gully carrying Grains Gill, there is a lovely pool just below the bridge, perfect for cooling off after a hot summers day in the fells. I paused to take a few photographs.
After the bridge, the track splits, either heading along the side of Grains Gill, or, the route I took circling below the northern flanks of Seathwaite Fell on the track towards Styhead Tarn.
As I headed up along the track, I kept casting my eye up the crags of the fellside trying to make out a way up. Wainwright guide advised there were no paths up to the summit, but there were two route whch could be taken. The first one was a steep ascent up the fellside before heading up a steeper grass gully. The second route, was very similar, but the final grass gully wasn't as steep.
Just after crossing a small, but dried up beck, I spotted a faint trail, around the location of Wainwright's second route, which turned off the Styhead track in the direction of Seathwaite Fell. I followed it as it climbed up beside the dry beck, and up a grass gully between some crags. It was a short, steep ascent, climbing 725 feet in a third of a mile, topping out on a small boulder field not too far from Wainwright's summit. I was met by a couple of Swaledale Ewe's, who stoppe dgrazing to look at me, wondering who the devil would choose to climb up that way!
This was what Wainwright classed as the summit (and for my Wainwright record will be logged as such - #210, 1,970 ft). It had a fantastic view back down to Seathwaite, and up through the Borrowdale valley to a distant Derwent Water. However it wasn't the true summit - the highest point of the fell was a short stroll away. The fell-top was very characterful. Consisting of rocky knolls, grassy hollows, small picturesque tarns & some sheep grazing in-between & it was a joy to weave my way around to the true, 2,027 foot summit.
Low cloud had started to drop over the surrounding higher fells, so the tops of the nearby giants of Great End, the Scafell's & the Gable's were now shrouded from view. From the top of the true summit, it gave a view over the Styhead Pass down towards Wasdale Head - and I could just make out the white buildings of the Wasdale Head Inn in the distance.
But now, I had to find somewhere to pitch for the night. I saw someone stood on top of a rocky knoll not too far away. I knew I was quite close to Sprinking Tarn - a very popular wild camping spot - so I was expecting to maybe see another camper or two, but I wanted to find somewhere a bit more secluded for myself.
I found the perfect pitch. Overlooking my own private tarn was a lovely flat grassy pitch, backed by a small rocky knoll to provide some shelter & privacy, but which also had a view down towards Derwent Water. This was my first wild camping trip with my new tent, so I set to pitching it, which was alot easier & took alot less time than I expected!
As the evening went on, I cooked my dinner, had a few beers and had a little explore around the fell top. I headed up one of the rocky knolls, and found myself overlooking Sprinkling Tarn, counting a good 8 or so other tents around the tarn.
The cloud dropped further, and as the night began to set in I retired back into my tent.
Saturday 13th July
The cloud was still down when I first peered out of my tent on the Saturday morning, and was forecast to slowly lift over the course of the morning. I made no rush to wake myself up, but come 9am I was packed up and on my way. Heading south past Sprinkling Tarn, I passed a few tents that were still pitched. A few people had begun to pack away - others were still tucked up inside. A chap said 'Good Morning' as I walked past, then I heard some whistling & shouting.
On the far side of the tarn was a Shepherd with three sheepdogs, circling around the tarn. Next thing I heard, was a Shepherd who appeared over a rise directly behind me, also with a pack of sheepdogs on his tail.
I joined the path at the end of the tarn below the mightily impressive crags of Great End - which would eventually be my final Wainwright - although the top was shrouded in cloud. On passing by the shingle beach of the path, I saw movement in the waters, and saw a small shoal of fish. Two mountain bikers then came hurtling down along the path, and both let on as the headed on down toward Styhead. I went in the opposite direction, heading towards Esk Hause.
I passed quite a few walkers on this short stretch of path, and there were a few more at Esk Hause - a popular mountain 'cross-roads' which includes the route upto Scafell Pike from Langdale.
For myself, I turned & headed up onto Allen Crags. I would be following the Glaramara high-level ridge north before dropping back down to Seatoller. I stopped on the top of Allen Crags, brewed a coffee, had a couple of biscuits & took in the view, as the cloud was now starting to lift.
After my coffee break, I turned north and followed the path over a few rocky hills, and grassy hollows for a good mile or two in decent sunshine. One spot I'm pretty sure I unique to the Lake District, as you can see both Windermere to the south east & and Derwent Water to the north from the same spot. After a good walk, I reached Glaramara's rocky summit. This had been my 90th Wainwright, which I last visited in February 2018 - but what seemed an age ago. There was patchy snow on the ground last time I was here. Just as I approached the summit, I reached to underside of the cloud-layer, and the visibility dropped.
I didn't spend too long at the summit, and picked up the path north. What I didn't expect was a good 20 foot rock step to tackle on the way down, but, as they say "slow & steady wins the race" & I got down to the bottom without any trouble.
From then on, it was a good path along the grassy tops above Raven Crag, which slowly descended towards Combe Gill in the valley below. There were fabulous views up the Borrowdale valley to Derwent Water, Keswick & the Skiddaw fells beyond. More importantly, much closer I could see Seatoller, it's car park & my car.
I stopped at the gill to top up my water supplies with my filter. Just after filling up, I returned to the path and further ahead spotted a couple of big earth-movers & diggers parked up. It looked as though a road was being constructed, and I then saw a sign for a path diversion away from the construction site.
The diversion had been hacked through thick bracken and went into a dense forest. Every so often there was a 5 foot tall wooden stake, spray-painted orange at the tip, acting as a waypoint. It was quite hot and humid heading through the woodland & there were plenty of Dragonflies flying around. I also spotted a lizard quickly running across a rock. The path returned out of the woodland, and onto the partially constructed road, before turned off again, through a gate with a 'Bull in Field' sign.
The field was thick with bracken & long grasses, a good 5 feet tall, if not more! I saw a few black cows lay down, swatting flies with their tails & ears, but no sign of the bull. I continued along the path and saw a large white animal up ahead - but it wasn't a cow. It came closer, and was an inquisitive fell pony. I gave it a stroke on its forehead, and cleared a bracken frond from its mane before leaving it be, and continuing along the path.
The path ended at the road for Thorneythwaite Farm, and a sign on the gate advised of construction works for a hydro-power project in Combe Gill. I followed the road north to meet up with the main Borrowdale road, which took me along its narrow pavement back to Seatoller.
To be continued....
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