Captain's Log

Coniston Rat Catcher

It was  08:00 when we arrived at the Coniston village carpark. Even though it was so early, the morning felt hot and humid. There wasn’t a cloud in the blue sky. It was going to be a tough day in the Lakeland fells. Today’s walk would  take us past the Coniston mines and up to Levers Water. From there we’d climb the spectacular Prison Band ridge to the summit of Swirl How. We’d then follow the long Coniston Ridge to Dow Crag and then drop down to the Walna Scar road. We’d then complete an out-and-back to White Maiden and White Pike. The Walna Scar track would take us to Torver Bridge where we would branch away and forge a route across fell and field to Coniston. 

The Cabin Boy and Kapitan were with me today. They were both sporting new OMM pouches that they had hooked to their fronts. ‘That’ll make you sweat a bit’ I thought, but I didn’t say anything. They must have had a pay rise at work since they each had a new pair of walking shoes too. Coniston village was just waking up as we walked through it. A lovely grey cat was mooching around the front entrance to the Sun Hotel. It must be the hotel’s rat catcher since we’d seen the same one sitting on the windowsill a couple of years ago when we’d walked past. We joined the track up to the Coniston mines and our long ascent started.

Levers Water

After crossing the Miners Bridge, we followed a young couple on the road to the Youth Hostel. It was getting increasingly warm now and the chap had already removed his shirt. He was wearing flip-flops and so I figured they wouldn’t be walking far. I was therefore surprised when they continued past the Youth Hostel and started to climb the steep path on the western side of Levers waterfall. Our route took us on the zig-zag stone road up to Levers water. Another bare-chested youth overtook us on the way up; it must be the undress code for this sort of weather. As we neared Levers Water I spotted a couple of tents pitched on the west side of the small dam. The lad who had motored by us walked across the dry overflow towards them. Another kid was faffing about around the tents. I bet he’d been baking under canvas last night. At least there was plenty of water nearby to cool off. 

We followed the rough path along the eastern side of Levers Water and started the climb up to Prison Band.  The path took us close to Swirl Hawse Tarns. Close enough that I felt justified ticking them off my Lakeland Tarns Venture list. On our ascent, we’d watched three figures make fast progress down the ridge of Prison Band. We met them just before we reached the top of the pass. They were young lads and bare chested of course. I began to feel overdressed. They’d walked across from Coniston Old Man and confirmed that there was a cooling breeze higher up. It seemed that they’d parked at the roadhead that meets the Walna Scar road and were unsure how to return. I told them to follow the stone road down from Levers Water and then to cross the footbridge over Lever’s waterfall.
‘Can we take a dip in the waterfall?’ one of them asked.
‘I shan’t be stopping you’ I told him. ‘I can sell you a ticket for £10’ I added. They started walking away. I was going to offer them 3 tickets for £20, but they’d wandered out of earshot. They obviously weren’t interested in a good deal.

Following The Ridge

I like the ascent of Prison Band. It offers spectacular views down to Levers Water and northwards to the cliffs of Great Carrs. It feels like a ridge ascent without the danger. A runner overtook us halfway up the ridge; good luck to him running on a day like this. The nice thing about the ridge is that it delivers you right to the summit of Swirl How. I’d somehow got a few minutes ahead of the Kapitan and Cabin Boy and so was able to take my time to admire the scenery. A woman was pottering around the summit cairn and we chatted for a while. She didn’t have any set itinerary. ‘I’ll just wander wherever I fancy’ she said. The Kapitan and Cabin Boy joined me and we sat down for a break. A young  Italian sounding fellow (bare chested of course) walked over to me and asked where he could find the Old Man of Coniston. I pointed out the mountain's large cairn further along the ridge and he plodded off towards it. A few minutes later we followed in his tracks. 

There was certainly a strong breeze on top, but it was a warm one and soon wicked away the sweat we’d generated on the ascent. At Levers Hawse, a large number of young girls had sat down and were so engrossed in their conversations that we drifted through them like ghosts. Rather than climb over Brim Fell we picked up the track that runs along its western edge. This provided a wonderful view down into the valley to Seathwaite Tarn. Further along the path, I could see the Italian I’d spoken to earlier. Unless he’d changed his itinerary, he’d misunderstood my directions to the Old Man of Coniston. He was too far away to call or catch-up. By the time we started our descent to Goat’s Hawse, the chap had disappeared altogether. Maybe he’d realised his mistake and headed off towards the Old Man. 

We stood for a while looking down the valley that separated the Old Man from the formidable eastern face of Dow Crag. Goat’s Water lay in the bottom of the valley. Another ascent took us around the head of the valley and up to the top of Dow Crag. The summit was busy and so we picked a spot further away to sit on the grass and have our lunch. Even though we were quite away from the path to the summit, people ascending seemed to treat our location as some sort of cairn on the official route and so it was a rather disturbed break. 

White Maiden And Pike

A strong wind blew over the vertical face of Dow Crag and I had to batten my hat around my ears so that it didn’t blow away. It gradually reduced as we descended along the edge. By the time we reached Brown Pike we were back to a more manageable gentle breeze. It was tempting to just follow the Walna Scar Road back to Coniston when we reached it, but I’d promised myself to do an out-and-back to White Maiden and White Pike in order to make some progress on my Lakeland Explorer Hills Venture. It would only take 30 minutes, 45 at most, and would be a relatively flat and easy  extracurricular activity. 

We followed a vague track and then branched away from it to reach White Maiden's summit. There was a cairn at the top and there was a good view back to Dow Crag’s edge. From the western side, the hill looked fairly tame, a massive contrast with the vertical eastern side. Another vague track took us westwards to White Pike. We could see the spoil heaps of the disused Walna Scar quarries to the north, and the active Broughton Moor quarry to the south. Two more hills ticked, we headed back to the Walna Scar road. 

Back on the Walna Scar Road, we stopped to chat to a couple of mountain bikers who were repairing a puncture. I noticed that they were using an electric pump to inflate the tyre.
'We used handpumps in my day,' I informed him.
‘Was that on your Penny Farthing’ chirped in the Cabin Boy. I gave her a look of disdain; I would have words later. 

Our water had run out now and we still had an hour or so walk back to Coniston. At Torver bridge I filtered some water from the stream and drinking it felt like refuelling the body. 

Return

A fingerpost at Torver Bridge directed us along a footpath to Torver. This was initially quite boggy, even on such a dry day. The track followed the stream and was quite pretty. We came to some disused quarries that were surprisingly deep. One was partially filled with water and some people sat nearby. We’d probably disturbed their swim. A footbridge took us across the stream and we started to field-hop our way back to Coniston. They weren’t really fields though; more areas of enclosed fell. It was important to stick to the path since many of the stone walls were high and stiles were required to get across them. The track was vague in places; I don’t think many people used the path. It was a decent route though with some good views towards Coniston Water. Near to Spoon Hall we reached a permissive path that led us back to the outskirts of Coniston village.  The grey cat was absent at the Sun Hotel. No doubt he’d found some cool area to snooze in the heat. The centre of the village was busy with tourists, the beer gardens overflowing. The Kapitan procured some soft drinks from the Co-op. They weren’t icy cold, but cold enough to slake our thirst. 

It had been a tremendous day out on the fells. The Coniston ridge between Swirl How and Dow Crag always delivers. The outliers of White Maiden and White Pike were a bonus. The cross country route from Torver Bridge to Coniston had provided a pleasant alternative to the normal Walna Scar Road plod