The Five Coolest Walks in Cumbria

As the record temperatures continue I have a confession to make:  I really do NOT get on well with hot weather.  Sunny is fine, but I don't fare well in the heat which makes getting out for a hike in this weather problematic.  I'm fair skinned and burn easily, which also doesn't help, so I have two choices:  stay indoors in a darkened room with all the windows open or find a decent walk which won't fry me to a crisp.  As I get very easily bored the first option doesn't really work for more than a day or so, so plan B it is - and here are my five favourite "keep cool" walks in Cumbria.

PLEASE NOTE:  You know the routine - even on a cool walk ensure you have a decent hat, high SPF cream smothered all over you, long sleeves and plenty of fluids.

Derwent Water

Although it's a good long hike (around 9 miles) to complete a full lap of the lake, it's mostly flat and huge sections of it are in woodland so there are plenty of places to avoid the heat of the sun.  The last time I did it I loaded the rucksack with drinks and snacks and took most of the day over it (hot weather is not the time for speedy hikes!) and I enjoyed plenty of stops along the way.  The other perk to a hike around Derwent Water is that if you decide you've had enough half way around you can jump on the gondola to get back into Keswick.  Perfect!

Armathwaite - River Eden

River Eden

The Eden Valley is one of the most beautiful corners of Cumbria and a stroll along the banks of the Eden is a joy at any time of the year, however during very hot spells it also has the added benefit of being largely shady and that, together with the ever present river, results in a very cool and pleasing hike with plenty of gorgeous views along the way.  (You may recall we recently went headhunting along the River Eden and, if you missed that, it's right here.)

Hampsfell - Grange-over-Sands

Hampsfell Hospice

It may be a hill but the beauty of Hampsfell is that for most of the climb upwards you're walking through the cool woods of Eggerslack.  True, the last section is exposed but by then you've got a cooling breeze and, at the summit, there's the Hospice where you can sit in the shade and catch your breath.  After that there are the dramatic limestone pavements to explore and a long cool descent through either Eggerslack or Charney woods - either way you end up back in the village where there are a plethora of excellent cafes, pubs and pie shops to choose from.

St Bees Cliffs

St Bees Cliffs

What this walk lacks in shade it makes up for with sea breezes, plus it's a great one way walk and those can be hard to come by.  There are regular busses and trains between St Bees and Whitehaven so, whichever one you start from you know there's an easy way back.  One of my favourite walks is to enjoy a nice pub lunch in St Bees before setting off and then arrive into Whitehaven in time for a chippy tea.  Be sure to leave plenty of time for exploring though as there is loads of fascinating history around Whitehaven and a number of excellent museums (including the superb, and much underrated Rum Story)

Duddon Valley

Pretty much every time I write about the Duddon Valley, someone tells me off for "giving away the secret", but it is a spectacular valley and it would be a shame if all of those breathtaking views went to waste!  There are plenty of paths around the valley, most are not too hilly and plenty of them are in the shade.  If you fancy exploring then do the unthinkable - turn left at Torver (where everyone else turns right to get to Coniston), then take the first road on your right (narrow and steep) and follow it until you find the two small car parks.  From the car parks there are paths down through the woods to Appletree Worth and on over to the River Lickle and a beautiful woodland path.


BEFORE YOU GO!  We are lucky enough to make part of our living from writing books - the fun part is writing them and the hard part is selling them. Yes, you can get them all on Amazon too, but we make next to nothing that way - plus if you buy from us we'll be happy to sign them for you.  Just click the pictures below to find out more.  Cheers! 😀

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Head Hunting in the Eden Valley

River Eden - Armathwaite

This is literally a story of blood, sweat and tears - trust me when I tell you that all three bodily fluids have been shed in pursuit of this particular goal.  It was definitely worth it but not something I'd recommend to everyone.

The story goes something like this - when we were researching 50 Gems of Cumbria we scoured the web and the history books for interesting and unusual things to include, and came across stories and photos of heads carved into the sandstone cliffs of the Eden valley.  Well now, that sounded way too good to miss so off we set to try and find them (those of you who know where they are will be chuckling already!)  After a couple of minor failed missions during 2016 we set off on a proper attempt in October.


We had a lovely afternoon in the autumn sunshine before our final attempt of the day ended with a footpath collapsing underneath me resulting in a 10 foot fall into a pile of brambles (the full story is here).  That's where the "blood and tears" part came in - 3 staples in my head and a hand the size of a small football.  Still, it could have been a LOT worse.

More research told us that the heads were "more easily" accessible when the water levels were low, so we shelved our hunt over the winter.  During 2017 Steve was busy racing around taking photos for his new Cumbria in Photos book and he had another attempt - this time wisely leaving me safely at home - but still drew a blank.  These pesky things are properly hard to get at, so they sadly didn't make it into that book either (but loads of other awesome stuff did!)

Fast forward to this week and we were back up near Carlisle researching another book (edit update 2/5/19 this book - The Old Ways of Cumbria - is now available to pre-order here), which for now has to remain a secret but, funnily enough, does not require us to find the carved heads - however we are in the middle of a heatwave and it hasn't rained properly for ages so we decided to have one last crack at finding the elusive carved heads.

As you can see from the top the river looked superb but the weather meant that even though the walk along the riverbank is mostly shady, it was still a hot and sticky affair (this is the "sweat" part!).  To give you an idea, this is what the route to the carved heads looks like:

No, I'm not kidding.  The easiest way in is probably to swim but the cameras don't like that, so the only alternative is to inch along a very narrow sandstone ledge, battling weeds and nettles, with very deep water just inches away.  There was cursing, there was definitely more blood (but only bramble scratches this time) but we finally made it.  So, was it worth it?  Well, here are the pics we eventually got:

 

The carvings are said to have been done by William Mounsey (a local eccentric who clearly had a good set of wellies or the river was lower back then) and the quote is from The Compleat Angler (Isaac Walton).  The fish is a salmon as the River Eden is an excellent salmon river - one of the finest in England, apparently.

For me it was definitely worth it - I love tracking down curiosities like these, especially ones that are hard to find.  I'd only recommend the adventure to those who are very sure footed or don't mind falling into the river.  As well as the carvings the natural sandstone along there was also stunning.

Once we were done we celebrated with nice cool drink on a much safer rock and pondered what to tackle next now that we'd finally achieved this goal.  (If you have any ideas, do let me know!)

As you can see, we put a LOT of effort into all our books and they are all available to buy directly from us.  Yes, you can get them all on Amazon too, but we make next to nothing that way - plus if you buy from us we'll be happy to sign them for you.  Just click the pictures below to find out more.  Cheers! 😀

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