Haweswater, Blea Water, High Street, Kidsty Pike, Cumbria.
[11.2 km] Thu 16 Oct 2014

OS Grid Ref: NY 46947 10737
Lat/Long: +54.489185, -02.820489

I drove via the M6 and Shap Village to the south end of Haweswater and the car park. There were two vehicles already there but nobody about. Both looked like they’d been there all night. Haweswater is a reservoir feeding water to Manchester. In recent months the level has dropped considerable due to lower than usual rainfall. Contrary to recent news reports the low water level has not revealed the flooded ruins of the village of Mardale.

Wastwater from the road

However, it was possible to see the old walls in the valley bottom. I set off along the path towards Blea Water. Passing the south end of Haweswater I looked across the expanse of dry valley that had been exposed by the low water. The field boundary walls were clearly visible and the lane where the Gatesgarth Pass track originally reached the Dun Bull Inn could be seen. The Dun Bull and surrounding properties of Mardale were demolished. I followed the path up the side of Mardale Beck then Blea Water Beck. The gradient levelled for a while before a short climb up to the spillway at Blea Water.

On the way up I’d seen a partly exposed iron pipe of about 6in dia. I recall that Blea Water was used for local water supplies but the nearest ‘local’ is several miles away. The spillway dam is in good condition with some surface valve lids. When I returned home I was surprised to see that Wikipedia shows Blea Water having a depth of 63m (207ft) the deepest tarn in Cumbria.

Only Windermere (67m) and Wastwater (79m) are deeper. It is listed as the same depth as Ullswater. Looking at its peaceful surface it is hard to comprehend its depth. The map shows a diagonal path up to Riggindale Ridge. I followed it and found it surprisingly easy with a steady gradient.

Before reaching the ridge I climbed into cloud which is what I expected. The track along the ridge is a bit of a scramble in places but without any exposure. I reached a cairn then a flat grassy area across to the main stone wall along the ridge of High Street. Instead of descending to the main path below I followed the wall north to the Straits of Riggindale.

I took the right trail up towards Kidsty Pike but still there weren’t any views. It was surprisingly calm with hardly any wind. At Kidsty Hows I descended below the cloud and had a nice view of Haweswater and the exposed walls around its perimeter. I needed to take care on the final steep grassy descent to Bowderthwaite Bridge.

The low level of the water and exposed walls were too good to miss. I stepped over a fence to walk across the dried muddy reservoir bed. It had been exposed for so long there were large expanses of grass growing. Several years ago I did the same walk and found the same stone slab bridge exposed with a bench mark cut into it. I headed back over the fence and up on to ‘The Rigg’ path. I could see walkers across the valley walking along the exposed old road the Dun Bull Inn. At the head of the reservoir I rejoined my original path and returned to the car park, which was no nearly full.