TOUR 21 The Heart of Lakeland Leave the soft red sandstones of Carlisle and the Eden Valley to weave through hills of volcanic rocks and lakes carved out during the last Ice Age, before heading into the Pennines, with their different, gentler beauty. ITINERARY CARLISLE Ǡ Caldbeck (13m-21km) GRASMERE Ǡ Ambleside (4m-6.5km) CALDBECK Ǡ Bassenthwaite AMBLESIDE Ǡ Coniston (7m-11km) (9m-14.5km) CONISTON Ǡ Bowness (10m-16km) BASSENTHWAITE Ǡ Buttermere BOWNESS Ǡ Patterdale (13m-21km) (20m-32km) PATTERDALE Ǡ Penrith (14m-23km) BUTTERMERE Ǡ Keswick (13m-21km) PENRITH Ǡ Haltwhistle (34m-55km) KESWICK Ǡ Grasmere (15m-24km) HALTWHISTLE Ǡ Carlisle (23m-37km) 2 DAYS ¼ 175 MILES ¼ 282KM GLASGOW Birdoswald hing Irt Hadrian's ENGLAND B6318 Wall HOUSESTEADS A6 A69 A 07 Greenhead 7 1 4 9 Haltwhistle Ede A6 n Brampton 11 A 9 6 A6 8 9 CARLISLE Jct 43 Knarsdale 5 9 9 9 Eden 5 2 A Slaggyford S A 5 6 A Tyne B 6 8 Dalston 9 South Tynedale A689 Railway B Alston 53 Welton Pe 05 t te r i B l 52 M 99 6 Caldbeck Eden Ostrich A Uldale 1 World Melmerby 59 6 1 A w 8 6 6 A B5291 2 lde Ca Langwathby Cockermouth Bassenthwaite Penrith A Bassenthwaite 10 A A6 66 6 Lake 6 6 931m Wh A A66 inla 5 Skiddaw Pas tte 91 M Brougham Castle Low s r 2 6 66 9 A 2 5 6 2 Lorton A A B5292 3 4 5 Aira B B 5 Force L 2 Keswick o 8 Derwent Ullswater w 9 t Crummock Water e h l e Water a Glenridding r Buttermere d Thirlmere w o Patterdale 3 r 950m Buttermere r o Helvellyn 9 B Honister A 5 Pass 9 Rydal Kirkstone 1 5 Mount Pass Haweswater A Grasmere 5 9 2 Ambleside Stagshaw 6 Lake District National 3 59 Park Visitor Centre A Hawkshead Windermere Coniston 85 B52 8 7 0 10 miles Bowness-on-Windermere Near Sawrey 0 16 km Coniston Windermere 114 Water _ Carlisle Visitor Centre, Old Town Leave Bassenthwaite on Crummock Water, Buttermere Hall, Green Market, Carlisle unclassified roads towards the B5291 round the northern E Keswick, Cumbria Take the B5299 south from shores of the lake, then take The capital of the northern Lake Carlisle to Caldbeck. the A66 south to Braithwaite. District now caters for walkers, Continue on the B5292 and climbers and holiday-makers, B Caldbeck, Cumbria over Whinlatter Pass to Low but one of its oldest industries is This stone-built village is set in Lorton then left on to the the manufacture of coloured undulating countryside with the B5289 to Buttermere. pencils, which originally used Lake District hills to the south. local graphite. The Cumberland In the churchyard is the grave of D Buttermere, Cumbria Pencil Factory has a museum John Peel, who was buried here The tiny village of Buttermere and among its exhibits is the in 1854. The famous huntsman stands in the heart of spectacular world’s largest pencil. inspired his friend, John landscape. A stiff climb to On a hill to the east of Woodcock Graves, to write the Whinlatter Pass, beyond the Keswick is Castlerigg Stone song ‘D’ye ken John Peel’. There Forestry Commission’s Visitor Circle, a prehistoric monument is a plaque outside the house Centre, takes you on to wild in a setting of magical beauty. where Graves composed the moorland. The surrounding Cumbrian folklore claims that song. hills, Red Pike and High Stile, the famous great stones were tower over the flat green valley once men who were turned into Continue on the B5299 floor, with impressive waterfalls boulders by witches. before branching left on to such as Scale Force. The B5289 unclassified roads through takes you through Borrowdale, a _ The Moot Hall, Market Square Uldale to Bassenthwaite. valley which is reached by cross- ing 1,174-foot (358m) Honister Take the A66 for 4 miles C Bassenthwaite, Cumbria Pass. Dark rocks tower above (6.5km), then turn right on to Bassenthwaite is situated off the the skyline and quarries scar the the B5322 through St John’s in A591. ‘Thwaite’ is a Norse word landscape where Borrowdale the Vale and then the A591 for a clearing in the forest, and is rock, formed by volcanic activity south to Grasmere. found in many village names in about 500 million years ago, is the area. Bassenthwaite Church, extracted. This famous rock is F Grasmere, Cumbria 3 miles (5km) south, was used in buildings as far away as Grasmere’s hills and lakes are founded in the 12th or 13th Dallas and Hong Kong, and you a real tourist magnet. William century and retains its Norman can buy small souvenirs from Wordsworth wrote much of his chancel arch and many Early many of the local shops. The greatest verse here, and his English features. Nearby Lake southern end of the valley is friends Coleridge, de Quincey Bassenthwaite is a large ice-cut dominated by the summits of and Southey were inspired by lake, and towering above its 2,560-foot (780m) Glaramara and the location. Dove Cottage, western shore is Skiddaw, one of 2,986-foot (910m) Great End. where Wordsworth lived with his only three Lake District hills sister Dorothy, is open to the higher than 3,000 feet (915m). Take the B5289 to Keswick. public and contains relics of his 115 TOUR 21 The Heart of Lakeland life and times. A few miles many stone houses include I Bowness and further along the A591 is Rydal Bridge House, the smallest in Windermere, Cumbria Mount, where Wordsworth lived the Lake District. Built on a tiny The ferry across Lake from 1813 until his death in bridge over the Stock Ghyll, it is Windermere to Bowness was 1850. It houses many of the now owned by the National restored in 1990 and leads to this family’s belongings and has a Trust and is open to the public. small town with its narrow beautiful view of tranquil Rydal In the town library are the relics streets and fine 15th-century Water. excavated from the Roman site church. of Galava Fort, at Borrans Park, Windermere, just north of _ Redbank Road and the woodland gardens of Bowness, is a focal point in the Stagshaw, just south of the town, Lake District for sailing and have superb views of the lake. boating. The Steamboat SPECIAL TO... Museum, at Rayrigg Road, has a _ Central Buildings, Market Cross collection of Victorian and For over a hundred years, Edwardian boats, many of which Grasmere gingerbread has been made in the village.The Leave on the A593 to Coniston. still float and are in working recipe is such a closely guarded order. The lake has 14 islands, secret it has to be kept in the H Coniston, Cumbria including Belle Isle, a privately vaults of a local bank! Coniston Water is famous as the owned estate with a round 18th- The rush-bearing ceremony, place where Donald Campbell century mansion house. held every year, involves the set a new world record and later carrying of elaborately died in 1967. The Steam Yacht _ Glebe Road, Bowness-on- decorated bundles of rushes Gondola, an 1859 steam launch, Windermere; Victoria Street, to the church, after which has been restored, and now Windermere the bearers are rewarded with takes passengers on regular a piece of delicious scheduled trips around the lake. gingerbread. A little further on, at Hawks- RECOMMENDED head, is the Beatrix Potter WALKS Gallery; at Hill Top, in Near Continue to Ambleside. Sawrey, Potter wrote some of her For a gentle walk, follow world-famous children’s stories. the footpath opposite the rail- G Ambleside, Cumbria The house is open to the public. way station in Windermere to Ambleside is a major Lake the top of Orrest Head, District centre at the northern _ Ruskin Avenue 784 feet (239m), where there end of Lake Windermere. Its are fine views of the lake and Take the B5285 to the Belle Isle. Mysterious Castlerigg Stone Circle Windermere ferry. TOUR The Heart of Lakeland 21 RECOMMENDED WALK A popular walk leads up Helvellyn from Patterdale, via Striding Edge, to the summit and returns by way of Swirral Edge. On a clear day the whole circle of Lake District summits can be seen. right along an unclassified road to Haltwhistle. L Haltwhistle, Northumbria This small, grey market town is a good starting point for Hadrian’s Wall, built in the 2nd Dove Cottage, Grasmere Red Tarn, a corrie lake in a century AD to ward off Scottish hollow scooped out of solid rock tribes. Holy Cross Church, during the Ice Age. Two miles founded in 1178, is a fine exam- FOR CHILDREN (3km) from Glenridding is Aira ple of Early English architec- Force, and it was here that ture. There is no tower, and the The Lake District National Wordsworth was inspired to sanctuary preserves three carved Park Visitor Centre is on the write of his ‘host of golden coffin lids, thought to date from eastern shore of Lake daffodils’. the 14th century. The South Windermere at Brockhole, Tynedale Railway, England’s northwest of Windermere. As _ well as providing information Main Car Park, Glenridding highest narrow-gauge railway, runs from Alston towards about the park, it offers a wide variety of attractions, including Take the A592 alongside Haltwhistle. Further along the special family events during Ullswater to Penrith. A69, at Greenhead, the Roman school holidays, lake trips in wall, turret, fort and museum summer, garden tours from K Penrith, Cumbria recall life 2,000 years ago.