England - Lake District - Side Pike Spray Day

Walk Summary

Wonderful walking along the Langdale Valley. Plenty of birds to spot in the woodland. Constant new perspectives of the landscape as progression is made along the valley. Culminates in the panoramic view of Pike O'Blisco, Crinkle Crags and the Stickles. Traverse of Lingmoor Fell with splendid views of the Coniston and Langdale Fells.

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Date: 13/05/2022

Length: 7.562 miles

Height Gain: 554 m

Terrain: Boggy paths, grass paths, stony paths, stone steps, lightly used roads

Navigation: Reasonably good. The signage to Great Langdale is good from Elterwater. The route through the slate works is clear. The stone wall that runs from Side Pike to Lingmoor's summit and beyond is a useful navigational handrail.

Start: Elterwater National Trust Car Park

Route: Elterwater National Trust Car Park, Chapel Stile, Great Langdale Valley, Side Pike, Lingmoor Fell, Chapel Stile

Map: OL7 The English Lakes South Eastern Area; OL6 The English Lakes South Western Area

Weather: Grey all day. Misty on the high tops. Very strong wind.

Walkers: Nun

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Chapel Stile

Captain's Log

Chapel Stile

They noted that it was Friday the 13th on Breakfast TV this morning. I'm not a superstitious person and so the matter only registered as a fact. As I was walking along the path to Chapel Stile from Elterwater, a black cat walked over my path about 15 metres in front of me. It took up residence on some stones amongst the mine debris and kept a close eye on me as I walked by. It looked rather smug. I gave a self-satisfied chortle thinking about those people who would take such an event as a sign of good luck; maybe the black cat would cancel their fears of Friday the 13th. Silly people.

There's plenty of birdlife along this stretch of the river. Unfortunately the light levels were so low that I couldn't get a good picture. After Chapel Stile, the route passes through the Burlington Slate works. The path went in front of a building where the workers had congregated. I said hello as I walked past and the nearest worker nearly jumped out of his skin. 'Nearly had a bloody heart attack!', he said to his mate. I hope he's not the explosives man. Or, thinking about it, maybe that's why he's so jumpy. It's only when you walk through the area that you realise the huge extent of the operation. A lot of it is hidden by trees.

Burlington Slate Mine

Great Langdale

It's a superb walk down the Langdale Valley. There is always something interesting to see. I think it is one of the best areas for bluebells in the Lake District. There are constantly changing perspectives of the views across to Pavey Ark and Harrison Stickle.

At Baysbrown farm two ducks and a pheasant were bathing together in a stream running next to the farm. I spotted what looked like a Silky Hen...or maybe it was a Silky Cockerel. On the edge of the farm a Peacock wandered about in woodland. Unfortunately it wasn't displaying its feathers. I was surprised that despite the vivid colours it was well camouflaged. When I left the woodland the wind got stronger and stronger until when I reached the bottom of Side Pike it nearly blew me over. 'It should be quite interesting on the top', I thought.

As the path turns uphill around Side Pike, the panoramic view of Pike O'Blisco, Crinkle Crags and the Stickles is terrific. Well, at least it would be if the tops weren't covered in mist.

Silky Hen (Or Cockerel?)

Baysbrown Wood Bluebells

Blea Tarn

Side Pike Shenanigans

As I climbed up to the col between Side Pike and Lingmoor Fell, I was busting for a pee. I didn't want to go within view of nearby Bleatarn House so I hung on until I got to the top of the col and out of view. It seemed sheltered enough but as soon as I started peeing a gale started blowing behind me, through my legs and blew everything up my chest and into my face. Even my headband and hat got wet. There was a horrific few seconds as I struggled to turn the tap off. I couldn't believe it. I tried to find a dry spot on my top to dry my glasses and then doused everything that got hit with my hand cleaner. Luckily my cameras avoided the cascade. Friday the 13th and black cats; I think Friday the 13th won on this basis.

As an aside, the only similar occurrence I've ever had was whilst I was trekking in Patagonia. On that occasion, a sudden gale took the spout up and over my right shoulder. Much to my amazement, I remained completely dry.

The Amazing Langdale Views

Lingmoor Fell

An advantage of the gale force wind was that I was completely dry within five minutes. I started following the wall that runs along the top of the ridge to Lingmoor's summit. It did offer a bit of protection from the crosswind, but the occasional gust would catch me off guard and I would nearly stumble over. I was taking quite a battering a day. I didn't linger at Lingmoor's summit, I dropped down a little way to find some shelter for my lunch. I heard jets fly down the Thirlmere valley. I wondered whether it would be more difficult for them to fly in these gusty winds. After lunch I continued following the well made stone wall back towards Elterwater. A metal gate gave access to the other side of the fell. The gate was locked but there were metal steps built into the gate so that it acted as a stile. How handy; I'd never seen one of these before.

Lingmoor Fell's Well Made Long Wall

Langdale Art

Return To Elterwater

I followed a good path that took me down into the Langdale Valley. The path gave a good vantage point to see the extent of the Burlington slate works. There didn't appear to be as much tree cover around the site from this position. There was constant banging and clanging too. Chapel Stile didn't look too far away from the works. The village didn't look quite as quaint from this angle. As I dropped lower the wind dropped to nothing. It was rather warm too. I met two couples walking up the path towards me. They were in tee shirts. I told them that it was blowing a gale back up on the ridge and they gave me doubting looks. Even my wind battered face and urine stained top and hat hadn't convinced them. I wished them luck.

Back in Baysbrown wood somebody had improvised some art with stones on a tree trunk and this cheered me up a bit. I was hoping I might be able to creep up on the nervous worker at Burlington slate works, but he was nowhere to be seen.

I followed the riverside path back to Elterwater. The day had delivered challenging conditions traversing the fell. The high tops had been obscured by mist and I'd had my unfortunate accident. Despite all that, the walk was interesting and I'd enjoyed it.

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