Whittle Wanderers

Great Wood, Bleaberry Fell, High Seat. Wed 6 Oct 2004
We drove to Grange-on-Borrowdale, south of Keswick, arriving just before 7:55. We had to miss our usual leisurely cup of tea before our walk, as the 79 bus was due at 8:05. The start of our walk is from the Great Wood car park, a few miles to the north, and walking along the narrow busy road didn't seem such a good idea. So the £1.30 fare to go by bus was money well spent.
	Taking the 79 bus to Great Wood.

Eric by the trail through Great Wood.

	The view from Cat Gill. Cat Bells can be seen across Derwentwater.
The rain had eased as we reached the woods but the wind was still rather blustery. The trail heads south then starts to climb steeply up Cat Gill. Above the tree line the winds became stronger and the ground wetter. A lot of rain had fallen over recent days and the ground was probably as wet as it gets. Just before the final climb of Bleaberry Fell is an old stone sheepfold. Since the last time I passed it there has been some repair work done to the dry stone wall.
The steep climb of Bleaberry Fell was uneventful but just before the summit we were exposed to the full force of the wind and could hardly stand up. Just to the east of the summit is a small depression and flat area of grass. Here we found a little shelter and stopped to have our first coffee stop. Our next objective was High Seat to the south. The trail is quite good at the start but winds through large areas of very wet ground but with careful navigation we were able to make it through without getting wet feet. Guidebooks that refer to this area suggest it is crossed in either drought conditions or when very cold and the ground is frozen. The wind wasn't too bad but as we reached High Seat Summit we were again exposed and had to shelter behind the summit hump to be able to take in the views. Rain was threatening but so far the views had been good.
The view towards Helvellyn from High Seat.
We took the descent path to the NW, heading for Ashness Bridge. It was tricky at first due to the wind but the wind dropped as we lost altitude. In places the ground was almost as wet as the approach to High Seat. We decided to have a lunch stop when we reached Ashness Gill, which we did, but the weather changed and we ate our sandwiches in the rain. At the road we headed south towards Watendlath but before getting there turned west, over the footbridge and into Mossmire Coppice. A nice path follows down the side of the impressive waterfalls all the way down to the B5289 main road at the Lodore Hotel. It was still raining as we walked the last stretch along the road to the car at Grange-in-Borrowdale. Eric and some other walkers took shelter in the entrance to the small church while I sat in the car drinking from my flask of tea, which I didn't have time to at the start of the day due to having to rush for the bus.