Ullswater

Saturday, 19th November
8Km (4.9 miles) 2hr 24mins

A number of weeks since we've  been walking due to other commitments and the weather.  Thankfully, this walk proved to be anything but seasonal.  Mid-November and we ended up walking in t-shirts !!
Thanks to friends John and Marilyn who had been given a free night's accomodation at the North Lakes Hotel and decided to share it with us !!  It was only fitting that I planned to Saturday afternoon excursion !

From the hotel we took the short drive to Pooley Bridge at the very top of Ullswater and, after exploring the village (a full ten minutes worth) we bought tickets for the Ullswater Steamer and boarded the boat for the short 20 minute journey to Howtown.  The weather at this stage of the day (midday) was chilly with low cloud over the hills, although there was a hint of blue. I have to say that sitting at the front of the boat I was pretty cold by the time the voyage ended !

Disembarking at Howtown Jetty (GR NY443198) a short walk leads to the road and just by the Howtown Outdoor Centre a gate gives onto the path and a short uphill stretch to another gate which gives on to a track.  The track hugs the wall as height is gained, almost inperceptably and the views spread out below you.

Also, as we gained height so did the cloud and within 10 minutes of starting the fleeces were discarded in favour of t-shirts.  The route was easy to follow and gained height almost without notice and the views became more and more extensive making it a delight to be outdoors at this time of the year.

The apex of the walk is a stone circle called The Cockpit (GR NY 482222) at approximately 330 mtrs. - 150 mtrs of ascent that hardly felt like it.  From the stone circle the anly way was downhill firstly across moorland and then along an old Roman Road that eventually became metalled and landed us back in Pooley Bridge.

A fantastic walk which, had we known what the weather was going to be like, would probably have been longer.  However, if I could  predict the weather then I wouldn't be writing this blog and the next day proved a point as, back in Yorkshire, the day from dawn to dusk was thick fog.

A selection of photos avaiable which probably don't do justice to the fantastic scenery.  Thanks to John, Marilyn and Gill for a fantastic weekend. Let's hope the weather at the weekends is better over the next few weeks and let's us get out - only 20 miles to go to crack the 300 mile mark for this year !