Coniston to Great Langdale (Dungeon Ghyll)
Following a relaxing breakfast watching the rain, we got kitted up and were on our way to find Tarn Hows. After my slight deviation, which was soon corrected, Steve thought I should be called El Capitano, as I was the organiser/overseer of the walking holiday.
So now we have El Capitano, Stumpy and Magellan.
There was a bit of a steep climb – this coming so soon after breakfast didn’t help our digestion – and the higher we went the more we could see of Coniston Lake behind us.
Due to the persistent rain the trail was slippery, but we finally got on to tarmac road
climbing, and then arriving at Tarn Hows Wood.
Here was a chance for more photos using the rather large frames put there for that very purpose.
Whilst we were here a group of students on the DoE, (Duke of Edinburgh) scheme came by and Steve helped them as they wanted a group picture. Next we followed the way on the west side of the tarn whilst the students went in a different direction; we later met them on another point of the walk. Moving on and crossing the A593 road to Oxen Fell, on the safe side of a wall and alongside the road, we met another group of DoE students from the same school. After a quick chat we continued towards Colwith Force, skirting around Little Fell, at 211 metres. Walking through the farm yard it was downhill to Colwith Force, a local beauty spot,
where we saw a few people walking but not many as the rain was still falling. After the Force we met up again with the students who were struggling to open a tin of tuna for their lunch, but even with our help and expertise we all failed so they carried onto their meeting point.
The trail then led us back to the road with a steep climb up steps to the A593 and Skelwith Bridge.
As we arrived at the Bridge we again saw the students, this time with their tutors. It was obvious they were heading the same way and there was a possibility of seeing them later on. After a chat with their tutors it was time for us to have lunch in the nearby tea room, Chester’s by the River, an excellent place to stop. It was a welcome relief to get out of our wet clothing and have hot soup and several mugs of Cumberland tea.
After lunch it was gear back on and walk to Skelwith Force to take more photos.
The trail led on to Elterwater Tarn and the village
and this was good walking terrain as most of the path was tarmac. From the village it was on to the old quarry road and across the stream to Chapel Stile where the track was muddy with
lots of loose stones / boulders and puddles. The weather had changed again to no rain, just cold winds, as we continued along the beck into Great Langdale and New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel with a view of Harrison Stickle behind it.
This was our next night’s stopover and the hotel was a welcoming sight as there we could dry our wet gear in the drying room. The evening was taken up in the Stickle Barn building across from the hotel, eating a local delicacy of “Tatty Pot”, (Cumberland sausage casserole with red cabbage and a wedge of brown bread) before another early night.