What's in a name?

There's been a bit of a kerfuffle around here over the past week or so on account of the fact that two of our local radio stations have been swallowed up by a big corporation and have consequently changed their names.  The Bay is now Heart and Lakeland Radio is now Smooth.  I'm pretty sad about it to be honest as they just don't feel local anymore.  When I was driving home up the M6 I used to get excited around about Preston as I jabbed at the radio dial trying to find The Bay to welcome me home - I can listen to Heart anywhere these days but I could only listen to The Bay at home.  It got me thinking about names and how important they are to us, so here are a few stories behind the names of local landmarks which we've discovered as we've researched our books.

Scafell Pike

Heading out to Scafell Pike

It's more the pronunciation of this which causes the problem with most folks either in the Scawfell or Scarfell camps, though there are plenty of Scaffel fans too.  The original name comes from ancient Norse and translates as "Bald Summit" and for our 50 Gems of Cumbria book we tracked down a couple of experts in ancient Norse to hear how it should be pronounced - but if you want to know what
they had to say then you'll have to read the book!  What I can tell you is that up until the 1800's the term "Scawfell" (as it was then written) referred to a collection of 4 peaks in the general area, including what is now known as Scafell Pike - although that name didn't really begin to catch on until the early 1900's.

Jenny Brown's Point

This is a popular spot near Silverdale with an equally popular story surrounding its name.  Local folklore tells us that it is named after a nanny who rescued the children in her charge from drowning at that spot.  Chances are this isn't the case and there's no evidence to back up the story,  What we do know is that in the 1600's a woman named Jenny Brown was named as a beneficiary in a will and lived in a house in the area, but it's still not clear why the point is named after her.  There's also a lot of debate as to what purpose the chimney served; Morecambe Bay Partnership are doing a lot of archaeological work to get to the bottom of that one and you can follow their updates here.

Borrowdale

Bat Cave?

There are at least three Borrowdale's in Cumbria and probably more - the name means "valley with fort" so if you find a Borrowdale you'll most likely find the remains of a fort somewhere nearby.  We've written many times about "the other Borrowdale" just north of Kendal (Kendal = Kent Dale) which has the remains of a Roman fort buried under a field at the far end of the valley.  It is a beautifully deserted place to walk just about any time of the year although I have my suspicions that the Bat Cave may be nearby...

Haggs Wood

The "Kirk" in Kirkby Lonsdale

There are a lot of Haggs in Cumbria, and I'm not being rude.  A "hagg" or "hag" was the name given to a bunch of fodder, typically holly, which was fed to sheep over the winter.  Apparently if you take the branches higher up they're not so prickly and the sheep don't mind them.  The word "holly" often evolved into "Hollins" and explains the number of "Hollins Farms" in the region.

Kirkby

Not surprising that there's loads of these too as it means "village with a church" - Kirkby Lonsdale, Kirkby Stephen and Kirkby-in-Furness (Furness means "rump shaped headland" so now you know!)  Kirk is the "church" part and Kirkstone Pass got its name from a large stone towards the top which looks like a church steeple are you approach - you'll probably need to drive over 2 or 3 times before you spot the stone but once you spot it, it's easy to see how it got its name.

There are TONS of interesting and unusual facts crammed into our books - buy them, read them, and impress your friends with all the things you know. Click the pic to find out more & order yours.  😀

Click here to find out more

#LakeDistrictBid Advent Calendar Day 7 - Because of the great big mountains

The mountains in the Lake District may not be the highest in the world - or even in the UK - but, as they say, size isn't everything.  There really is nowhere quite like it.  Even though they are all found within a relatively tiny geographical area, they are all so very different - from the jagged ridges of Blencathra to the boulder strewn summits of Scafell Pike and the smooth rounded flanks of Skiddaw - the fells have something to offer you whether you're a gentle stroller, a hardened hiker or a full on rock climber.

Though mountaineering legends such as Sir Chris Bonington, who have visited the far flung corners of the planet and scaled it's highest peaks, will testify that the fells can hold their own against some of the most dramatic landscapes on the planet, UNESCO World Heritage Status would give us a platform to broadcast that message around the globe.

Click HERE to visit the Lake District National Park Authority website where you can learn more about the whole process of making the bid and register your support to show the folks at UNESCO that this is something that matters to everyone who loves the Lake District.

Blencathra

Striding Edge

Route to Scafell Pike

View from High Street

View from Place Fell

Dow Crag

Skiddaw

Click HERE to go back & start from to Day 1.

Cumbria has something to suit every mood.

"Hi ho, Hi ho, it's off to hike we go..."  Well, not necessarily.  There's an assumption that a trip to Cumbria means hiking and the outdoors, but that doesn't have to be the case.  Whatever your mood, Cumbria has something to offer to suit you perfectly.

Grumpy?

From 26 - 28 August 2016 Lakes Alive will have something to cheer even the grumpiest of souls with its new annual free family friendly festival - it's centred around Kendal (growing from the ashes of the awesome Mintfest).  There are lessons in drone flying, creating clay murmurations and the chance to experience a virtual bird hide - c'mon, admit it, you want to have a go don't you?  The full line-up of events and activities is here - what are you waiting for?

If it's big name comedy you're after then check out places like the Brewery Arts Centre and the Sands Centre in Carlisle, both of which attract the very biggest names in comedy so there's bound to be something to tickle your funny bone.

Throughout the year Taste Cumbria run a series of fabulous food festivals, and who doesn't love good food?  You can check out their events right here, and if you're still feeling grumpy after all that then fear not - there are usually plenty of amazing local microbrewers at the food festivals so you can drown your sorrows if that works better for you.

Happy?

"The hills are alive..." and where better to dance for joy than right on the top of one of the many fells?  You don't have to hike Scafell Pike for the best views; if you fancy something a little lower then try Gummer's How for spectacular views of Windermere, Hampsfell for glorious views of Morecambe Bay or Loughrigg for a hike with a decent pint at the end of it.

Sleepy?

Just not in the mood to do anything much?  Then hop on a boat and let someone else do all the hard work for you.  There are excellent boat trips to be had along Coniston, Ullswater and Windermere all of which will allow you to chill out and drift through the landscape, usually with a drink in your hand.  But don't doze off or you might miss something important!

Sneezy?

Hayfever suffer?  Then worry not; the Cumbria Coastal Way stretches for 182 miles taking you from Lancashire to Carlisle the long way around.  There are dunes, cliff walks and plenty of paddling to be had and, most importantly, the fresh sea breeze is a little easier on the symptoms than the pollen laden inland routes.  The coastal railway is perfect for returning you to base if you fancy a linear walk, or you could stop along the way to explore seaside towns like Grange-over-Sands or Whitehaven.

Doc

There are so many outdoors pursuits in Cumbria that your health will improve without you even noticing it: walking, cycling, swimming etc. etc. etc.  We all know that exercise if great for our heart, lungs, joints, bones and pretty much every other part of our anatomy, plus physical activity is also great for your mental health so get out there and get active!  Exercise is also important for helping burn off some of the calories from the excellent Cumbrian food provided by the many artisan cafes, restaurants and delis.

Bashful?

Not a fan of crowds?  Me neither.  Sometimes it can be hard to find peace and quiet, especially on some of the more popular fells so here's a couple of tips for escaping the crowds.  Firstly find an unusual route; Helvellyn from Thirlmere is a much quieter route than the routes from Glenridding (for example) and secondly start out later in the day.  Come 4pm the fells are pretty much deserted even in the middle of summer when it doesn't get dark until 10pm; we're rarely on the fells much before 11am and by the early evening we have the place to ourselves. Bliss.

Dopey?

There are plenty of museums in Cumbria where you can learn about the county and its wonderfully varied history: Barrow Dock Museum will tell you about the industrial past and has some amazing models of ships.  The Ruskin Museum covers the story of Coniston including all you'll ever need to know about Ruskin & Campbell while The Museum of Lakeland Life fills in any gaps that might be remaining.  Lastly my personal favourite, The Pencil Museum in Keswick.  I absolutely LOVE this place; the name completely undersells it and it merits far more than a "oh it's raining so we may as well go there" kind of visit.  Just go, trust me, it's quirky, informative and downright fabulous! (They were sadly badly flooded during Storm Desmond and are still waiting for the building work to finish, but watch this space, for they will be back soon!)

Romantic?

If you're looking for a romantic break without the kids then this is definitely the place to be.  You're spoiled for choice when it comes to romantic getaways but those nice folks at Trip Advisor have listed the top 10 most romantic hotels in Cumbria for us.  Of course there are dozens more, most of which will offer you breathtaking views, a truly personal service and wonderful locally sourced food that's hard to fault.

Confessions of a fell walker.

There's a danger when writing blogs about fell walking that you can come across as someone who's never put a foot wrong when that is very far from the truth, so here are some of the things I've done, or haven't done, which don't fit neatly with the image of "experienced and sensible fell walker".

1.  On our first hike up Helvellyn (via Striding Edge) I forgot to pack our sandwiches and only took plastic bottles of water, one of which sprung a leak and had to be emptied half way up.  We still made it by topping up our remaining bottle from the streams and eeking out our snacks during the day.  Not clever and not a mistake we've ever made again.

Not the place to forget your sarnies.

2.  We have, on occasion, navigated using the "lots of other people are heading that way so it must be right" technique, only to end up in completely the wrong place.  Well, not so much wrong as different, and silly.

3.  There have been several occasions when I've planned a route because it looked like a "nice circular route" and have failed to take into account the contours indicating steep ascents and descents along the way.  Fair to say we've had a few "lively debates" about those when they've come to light.

C'mon, it's not *that* far...

4.  You know that moment when you're stood atop a crag, gazing away into the distance and think to yourself "I know we planned to do X but that summit really doesn't look that far away."?  Been there, done it, got the T-shirt.  One particular hike involving Scafell Pike leaps to mind.  Having already completed the summit ridge we got distracted by Allen Crags, Esk Pike and Bow Fell before Steve wisely called time as I eyed up Crinkle Crags...

5.  We got hopelessly lost in the mist on Riggindale because we were "so sure of where we were going" that we didn't take a compass reading, even though we had one with us. We ended up having to hike over High Street, in the dark, mist and rain with only an iphone torch to guide us.  Not our proudest moment.

6.  We've never read Wainwright.  I've read a biography about him and am intrigued by his single minded determination to complete the books, and I've flicked through and greatly admired the drawings and handwriting, but I don't want to be told what to look for.  Spoils the surprise for me, rather like squeezing your pressies on Christmas Eve.  One day I'll get around to reading his take on the ones we've already done, but I've got so many other books to read about places I'll probably never visit.

"I can see your footpath from here"

7.  We got soaked to the skin around Haweswater when we set off in glorious sunshine and left our waterproofs behind, convinced it wouldn't rain.  We returned to the car a couple of hours later soaked to the skin and truly penitent.

8.  We didn't check the batteries in Steve's head torch and ended up near sprinting along Borrowdale in Kendal valley to get back to the car before it got dark.

9.  We've mistaken sheep tracks for footpaths more times than I care to admit to.  Maybe that's how the footpaths got there in the first place.

10.  "Yeah, that road looks fine, just give it a bit of a run up"  fateful words uttered recently when attempting to reach Walna Scar car park in the snow.  We didn't make it and discovered that even a Landrover can slide backwards on all 4 wheels on a sheet of compacted snow/ ice.

So there you go, my top confessions.  We've been lucky/ experienced enough to get ourselves out of various scrapes unharmed and have learned lessons from each and every experience.  Life on the fells isn't about being perfect, it's about keeping your head when things start to go wrong and learning your lessons for next time.  And please, tell me I'm not alone - are there any confessions you're willing to admit to?

Icicles, snowmen and inquisitive sheep on Yewbarrow

Britain's Favourite View in winter attire

(Blog & pics by Steve) The forecast was for another clear sunny day so I decided to venture over to Wastwater. Again the forecast was wrong as it was cloudy with intermittent snow, so I spent an hour taking shots at the lake before deciding it wasn't going to get any better and began my climb up Yewbarrow.

I've only climbed Yewbarrow once before in a T shirt on a rare hot March day so this was a change. The initial climb to the base of the crags was fine though still needed spikes to assist, but beyond that I'd forgotten how much of a short sharp mountain it is without much path past the 'face in the rocks'.

The spectacular Wast Water Screes.

A little off piste I came to some great icicles around 13ft long I'd say. Further up is a tough scramble, tough enough during the best of days but in thick snow it required full concentration. Though I'm tall at 6'4 with a good reach, my fat size 13 boots can't fit in all the ideal foot holds so I knew on the way down I would need to change the bulb ;-)

13 foot icicles

After an hour of scramble and re-routing I made it to the top of the crag. I decided that due to probable time, light & blizzard restrictions I would waymark may way around to avoid the crag on the way down by placing little snowmen. The snow was knee deep here and with no one else having been up, I had to forge a new path forward this made the final part of the climb long and tiring.

Once at the top dark snow clouds loomed over Great Gable and Scafell it began to snow on me so wary of the time it had taken me I headed back down. The snowmen were a great help and a little more fun than cairns (or are some really just random piles of stones?) I ended up just below the crags in good time so stopped for a bite to eat with a inquisitive sheep for company.

Hello!

Drifting Away on Great Gable

(Blog & pics by Steve) The sun was shining in the south lakes so I thought it a great opportunity to get out and get some snowy fells lit up by the sun. As I drove around I thought I'd go further afield and go for an easy path higher up and headed to Seathwaite to get some shots of Great Gable, Styhead & Sprinkling Tarn. As I should have expected I suppose the further into the middle of the lakes you go the more likely it is to be cloudy. Darn, snow looks much better in the sun.

Once you get to Seathwaite Farm, it's a popular long steady route to get to Scarfell Pike. At Stockley Bridge you have a choice, go left straight up to Sprinkling Tarn, continuing left the path winds it way up to several peaks,Eskpike, Lingmell & Scafell Pike. Or at the bridge take a right to Styhead Tarn, Great Gable and up to Scarfell Pike via the corridor route. As you can see the left path go on & on ahead of you all the way up, I prefer going up the path to the right.

Cloud lingered over Great Gable and far below Lingmell so opted to stop at Sprinkling Tarn. As luck would have it the sun came out over Styhead Tarn where I stopped for lunch and had a chat to a nice old man. We made our way up to Sprinkling Tarn both stopping every other footstep to take another photo as the cloud disappeared and the sun and blue sky came out. A churpy chappy from Langdale stopped for a quick chat before he yomped off looking for somewhere to camp (or dig out a snow shelter I think he said) somewhere on the other side of Great Gable.

The sun was beginning to set only minutes after it had came out and was giving the snowy mountains a lovely golden glow so couldn't resist, saying goodbye to the nice man as he made his return journey I headed up to side of Allen Crags to get a view over the valleys. As the sun set, I returned down the other path to Stockley Bridge. At some point I shall try this route up, it's long and stepped a lot of the way and I'm not sure which is best, going up or down steps.

As I got to the bridge, I said hello to the nice old man again as he sat having a snack. Turned out he would have had to walk down the road to the bus stop at Seatoller or wait an hour for it so I drove him down and caught it just in time. Nothing worse to end a good hike than a long tedious road walk.

Some are better equipped for winter walking than others.

Beautiful but oh so dangerous.

I was really looking forward to yesterday; after a week of not hiking we were finally heading back to the fells.  Plus I'd had 2 days of work cancel on me and although that means we feel a bit of a financial pinch at least the weather and the fells were spectacular.  I can't lie, we had an utterly glorious day full of stunning views and breathtaking adventures. As we made our way around the Langdale Pikes I was, as usual, running through what I might write in this blog.  I had in mind something witty and silly along the lines of my "bog bound" blog, but this time about the challenges of walking on ice.

The thing is, late yesterday evening when I finally found time to catch up on the day's news I read about a walker tragically killed on Sca Fell, just a few miles from where we were hiking.  It struck me that this is not a time to laugh about the ice but an opportunity to demonstrate that however stunning the fells may look right now, they are a very dangerous place to be.

The first few shots show you just how beautiful they are and why people like us are inexplicably drawn to their summits, even in full winter conditions.

Looking toward Crinkle Crags

Loft Crag & Harrison Stickle

Harrison Stickle up close

And here's a few shots to show you what it's really like up there.  Everything that looks like snow isn't soft and fluffy and lovely, it's hard and slippy and dangerous.  Though still undeniably wonderful to look at it's pretty deadly to walk across.

A simple path down and across a small beck, now
just a sheet of thick ice.

View from Harrison Stickle to Pike of Stickle

Scafell Pike lost in the mist.

Snowy/ icy traverse.

Take another look at the picture above.  Just to the left is a sheer drop down into Dungeon Ghyll; there is no margin for error on a day like this.  A few minutes after I took this shot we crossed another more dangerous section and, had it not been for me having the right equipment and our combined experience of the fells, what was breathtaking bit of adventure could have ended very differently.

We had planned our day carefully; a safe, well marked/trodden route we were both familiar with and no difficult ascents/ descents, and yet it was still incredibly challenging.  We had all the right clothing, equipment and provisions and may have looked over-encumbered for such a relatively short hike, but in these conditions it's best not to take any chances.

I've no desire to scare people away from the fells, they are truly in my blood and are a glorious place to visit but, if you plan on hiking please make sure you are properly equipped.  Each Mountain Rescue call out puts other people's lives at risk and all of them are volunteers.  If you want to contribute to their amazing work, please visit my Mountain Rescue page where you'll find a link to their Just Giving account together with a map showing all of their call outs since May this year.  Enjoy the fells but please, stay safe.

Thank you for being nosy.

Pike of Blisco is the big lump on the left.

Well, it's been a while since last I wrote, mainly due to work and life in general getting in the way.  If I'm honest, I've also been mulling over why I think I'm so special that anyone would want to read my mad ramblings.  There are apparently something like 6.5 billion people in the world all of whom are equally as interesting as me and many of them substantially more so, so why do I keep pestering people with this blog?  What on earth could I have to say about the fells which hasn't already been said a hundred or more times before by people many times more eloquent than I.  (Or should that be "than me."?  See, I'm still getting to grips with basic grammar!)  Eventually I came to the conclusion that, being a nosy so and so, I'm hugely interested in what everyone else is getting up to and, there being 6.5 billion people in the world, I figure many of them are equally as nosy as I am so, if that's you, thank you for being nosy and reading my blog.

Langdale Valley.

Right, what have I been up to?  As I said, mainly work, but yesterday we finally managed to make it up Pike of Blisco on our third attempt.  On our first attempt Pike of Blisco was, at the last moment, usurped in favour of Crinkle Crags and our second attempt was scuppered by a combination of failing light and legs.  This time we had only one thing on our agenda and nothing was going to stop us; the weather was fantastic, we had plenty of food and drink and we were in no mood for getting distracted, however fate wasn't going to let us get away with it quite that easily.

A fellow hiker.

Our plan was to park up at the National Trust car park at Dungeon Ghyll.  We've parked there many times before and although it can get busy in the summer we can usually find a small corner to squeeze into.  What we hadn't realised was that yesterday was also the day of the Langdale Marathon which started and finished at Dungeon Ghyll so several hundred other people were also trying to squeeze into a corner.  Eventually we persuaded a kindly official to turn a blind eye to the huge rucksack on the back seat and pretend we were with the runners.  Stage one complete, now all we had to do was tootle up the fell, but fate wasn't quite done with us just yet...

Local wildlife.

Our route took us out along Oxendale Beck and past Stool End farm before we began to ascend.  Before we'd even made it as far as the farm I'd slipped off a rock and gone up to my knee in mud, dropped our main flask which thankfully bounced and now sports a proper outdoors style dent, broken a fingernail and realised that I was wearing entirely the wrong underwear for the day.  You know, the sort that disappears into the dark recesses of your anatomy and needs to be coaxed back out again on regular occasions, ideally when no-one else is looking.  Not that that's how I broke my fingernail, no, my rucksack did that.  I'm not a girly girl and don't really give a damn how my fingernails look so long as they're clean, but as I caught the rucksack awkwardly it broke the nail right down below the quick - see, you're wincing aren't you?  I gave serious consideration to calling mountain rescue but feared they'd scold me for my lack of nail repair kit.  Instead, as  a huge admirer of antarctic explorers, I asked myself "What would Scott have done?".  So, I discarded the nail, consoled myself with a ration of Pemmican and soldiered on.

Collective noun for Paragliders anyone?

One of the benefits of everyone being in the area for the marathon was that almost no-one was there for the hiking and we had the fell pretty much to ourselves.  As we were making our way up Brown Howse we had some excellent views of proper climbers over on Gimmer Crag.  I have a deep admiration for proper climbers as I lack the dexterity, flexibility and, if I'm honest, courage to launch myself up a rock face so will forever have to content myself with only achieving the grade of "hiker" so far as the great outdoors is concerned.

View from the summit. Minus elderly gent.

Now, let me tell you what I like most about Pike of Blisco.  What I like most about Pike of Blisco is that in order to climb Pike of Blisco you have to set out with the express intention of doing so; you can't simply "knock it off" as you make your way along a ridge route, and that appeals to the purist in me.  Although I'm not a "bagger" I do log each fell we hike, but I've always felt a bit of a fraud claiming to have made it to the summit of, say, Broad Crag, when the only reason I did so was because it was on my way to Scafell Pike.  According to our widget we've done 70 or so "Wainwrights" but that's not strictly true in my book as we didn't climb each of them individually.  There's a lot of ridge walks in there which make us sound better than we actually are.  Still, no such problems with Pike of Blisco, granted you could probably tag it onto a Crinkle Crags route, but it's enough of a fell to merit its own specific hike, and it really doesn't disappoint.

Blea Tarn

Making our way past another group of proper climbers getting some practice in on the craggy outcrops, we were soon on the summit and I was not prepared for the view.  I expected the stunning views along the Langdale Valley but hadn't banked on the glorious vista which stretched down along the length of Windermere.  We settled down with a flask of tea (dented) and an Eccles Cake while we took it all in.  As we sat there congratulating ourselves on our strenuous hike and elderly gentleman sprinted past and with a cheery "afternoon" was gone again in the general direction of Wetherlam.  Pesky fell runners.

Our route back dropped us down to Wrynose Pass before doubling back via Blea Tarn.  Of course we lost the path somewhere in the boggy, marshy wilderness but thanks to the combined efforts of Steve's strategic navigation (finding the path of least resistance) and my rather more direct approach (the path of least distance) we were soon back on the straight and narrow.  Or rather "broad and boggy".

View from descent.

We'd heard a lot about Blea Tarn and although it's small as tarns go it is in an idyllic setting and we caught it just right, arriving as the late afternoon sun was illuminating the surrounding fells and creating the most spectacular reflections.  I sank onto a nearby bench downing tea and painkillers as I enjoyed the view and negotiated with my back to hold out for just an hour or so longer.

As numbness blissfully kicked in we headed on down via the National Trust campsite and back to the car.  Interestingly there were still 2 other cars in the field when we got there so either some other hikers had managed to sneak past the officials too or there were a couple of poor runners still out there somewhere.  Or perhaps they were in the pub already, I've only ever run one marathon but I do recall beer being rather high on the list of things required in the immediate aftermath.  Purely for medicinal reasons you understand.  Whatever the reason, it made an unusual change not to be the last car in the car park as, underwear retrieved for the final time, we headed for home.

Windermere sunset en route home.