Remember: Press F11 for a full screen view of this page.
 

 

Wet and Dry Scale Hill

Date : 16th September 2010 . . . Three local walks from this week.

Location of Start :The red phone box, Loweswater , Cumbria, Uk ( NY 143 211 )

Places visited : Scale Hill and the nearby Gasgale Gill Valley.

Walk details : An hour or so for each walk, maybe slightly more.

Highest point : Scale Hill (Brackenthwaite Hows on the map) 676 ft - 208 m.

Walked with : Ann and Bethan or myself and Bethan.

Weather : Rather variable . . . from the sublime to the ridiculous.

 

Wet and Dry Scale Hill at EveryTrail

 

 

To those of a technical nature, or who remember school craft lessons,

"Wet & Dry" usually meant a type of sandpaper used to smooth and finish a piece of work.

Here we take the literal context ... a walk with rain or a walk with no rain !

With Harry under house arrest for his own good, Ann stayed at home during the day and walked Bethan on my return from Fishers.

Unfortunately the weather, which had been reasonable during the the day, took a dive about ten minutes after she left on the walk.

Sunshine out at the coast but a big grey cloud over Ann's head

some of which can be seen streaking across the picture in the form of liquid H2O.

It must be dark under that cloud . . . as the camera flash illuminates the fast moving rain drops.

The camera is pointing at Gasgale Gill and Grasmoor over there in the gloom.

The head of Crummock Water, and the Buttermere Valley beyond is lost in the rain storm.

Leaving the top, Ann made her way back down to Lanthwaite Woods as the air started to clear.

That's better . . . Grasmoor re-adopts its position as the guardian of the valley.

 

" Great "

 

" I was nice and dry all day and now I'm soaked.

It's a good job I can cope with the weather."

" By the way . . . you look a bit wet too . . . did you know ? "

 

- - - o o - - -

 

Perhaps things will be drier on the next walk ?

They couldn't get much wetter !

 

- - - o o o - - -

   

Spoke too soon . . .

" Are we going up here for a walk today . . . path or river ? "

   
We'll try the path.
That river looks a bit too full.
   

With the finer weather today

Ann tried for a local walk up Gasgale Gill

but the river side path on the right hand side was impassable

due to the fast flowing river brushing the rocks

which were slippery themselves from the recent rain.

 

The path up the other side has also been washed out at river level.

 

Gasgale in these conditions is very difficult now

but if you wish to climb or descend the valley

all you have to do is to take a higher path

underneath Grasmoor or Whin Ben

and miss out the "bad step" and waterfall.

   

" It wasn't a wet walk today so I'll sit down in the river and get really wet that way instead ! "

- - - o o o - - -

Today it was my turn to brave the elements and fight my way through the harsh Loweswater climate on Bethan's daily outing.

   
Could that be a dry stile on the way up through Lanthwaite Woods . . .
. . . and perhaps a long distance view down the Lorton Valley ?

Yes . . . this is the life . . . bring on the sunshine.

The Loweswater Fells (Gavel, Carling Knott and Burnbank) swathed in relatively balmy conditions.

Grasmoor again from the summit of Scale Hill.

Below me is the new development at Lanthwaite Green where the owner has demolished and rebuilt the house next to the old farm.

Zooming in, the weather protection sheeting on the scaffolding seems to have suffered in the recent storms

but the house seems to be gradually nearing completion. It will be grand when it's done . . . presumably.

Mellbreak across the foot of Crummock Water.

Scale Hill has a wonderful view despite it's lowly position, even Mr Wainwright mentions the fact in his books.

Click here or on the photo above for a big value, Loweswatercam 360 degree annotated panorama.

   
Back down into Lanthwaite Woods.
The forest track passes an old cave.

Barty's Cave . . . Lanthwaite Woods.

I believe this was probably an exploratory dig undertaken in the era of Loweswater Lead mining.

It's quite shallow but it would keep you dry as Ann found when it rained really heavily a few days ago.

- - - o o o - - -

 

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon 75 or my Canon G10 digital camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . a fold out / fold away umbrella ?

Go to Top

© RmH.2010 # Email me here # or leave me a Guest Book Entry

Previous walk - 12th September 2010 Scafell 3 Peaks Challenge

A previous time up here - 6th May 2009 Lanthwaite from home

Next walk - 19th September 2010 Scandale 24 Peaks Challenge