Parking was by the roadside opposite the turn to Bridge End Farm, on the A591 just south of High Rigg.

Easter Saturday and parking was also restricted because the farmer had 'Beet' us to three of the spaces.

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Stan gathers the group, there would be 23 people and one dog by the time we got underway.

We set off on the forest track around the foot of Great How, leaving the A591 and the traffic behind.

The path follows the eastern, Stanah side of Great How rather than the reservoir side.

Initial dampness after early rain quickly gave way to a fine day, so already time for Loes to adjust her clothing.

The path follows alongside Helvellyn Gill, who's source is high up under Brown Cove Crags.

The beck is smaller than normal as some of the water has been diverted into the lake, but more of that later.

We walk the lakeshore, heading south on a path towards the top of the lakeside woodland, a new path for me which is always nice.

This area was devastated in the 2015 storms and the earth to the left is an upturned tree stump not a high bank.

The path splits ahead . . . straight on for the lakeside path.

We however, take the left turn which stays a little high and heads towards the Dale Head Hotel.

Stan has phoned in advance and has permission for the group to look in at the garden, maybe even stop for coffee.

The original three story building at the back dates from the 16th Century and is now part of the hotel.

Time for a short break on the terrace in front of Dale Head Hotel

The hotel kindly offered to provide teas and coffee to those that wished to be refreshed . . . which was a rather nice surprise.

Our stop here was consequently slightly longer than planned.

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Stan mentioned that The Hotel overlooks Thirlmere reservoir which was constructed in the 1890's to supply water to Manchester,

after a major Cholera Epidemic that was caused by polluted water from supplies within the city.

In 1897 Royal permission was granted by Queen Victoria to build the reservoir and the aqueduct system that would take the water 100 miles south.

In 1894 the first water started to flow and Manchester was taking approximately 50 million gallons a day in it's heyday.

Nowadays the demand has lessened and a new northern pipeline also supplies Keswick and the west coast towns and villages (including mine !).

- - - o o o - - -

Earliest pictures of the area show two smaller lakes, Leathes Water in the distance and Wythburn Water this end, separated by a spit of land.

There was local opposition to the reservoir of course from both the major land-owning families,

the Stranger-Leathes at Dale Head Manor and the Jacksons of Armboth Hall.

Thomas Stranger-Leathes, then Lord of the Manor of Legburthwaite and Wythburn, notably said "only over my dead body will it be sold"

. . . unfortunately for him, he died 3 months later.

Pressure was high therefore on the owners of land on the Armboth side and eventually Mary Osalinski (of the Jackson Family) sold for a relatively high price.

Consequently in 1877 the entire valley and large parts of the fells on either side of the two small lakes, were purchased by the Manchester Corporation.

The Manor house became the operations centre for the project and afterwards, the summer residence of the Lord Mayor of Manchester !

It was transferred into private ownership in June 1990 after which it became a hotel.

Thanks to Dale Head Hall Archive,  Wikipedia and Stan for the information above.

More details of the major Manchester Aqueduct can be found here

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Our slightly extended stay was over and we set off towards Thirlspot and the Swirls car park.

This is the back garden of the hotel where they are starting the process of developing a market garden to grow fresh produce for hotel guests.

A welcome sign on the main drive becomes our leaving sign as we continue our walk.

All the houses and the Hall at Armboth were demolished prior to the valley being flooded, so no longer exist.

Stan also mentioned that, in her day, Mary Osalinski also had a bothy or summer house built for her high up on Fisher Crag.

This still exists and can be visited to this day.

We gather the group by the falls and enjoy the spectacle before moving on.

Following the aftermath of Storm Desmond, while the main road was closed,

a tunnel was built at Swirls for pedestrians and cyclists to pass safely under the usually busy main road.

Loes and Stan lead the way through, closely followed by Dougal.

It leads out into the Swirls car park area and gave a dramatic view of the Brown Cove Crags, now high above us.

This is where Stan had expected to stop for lunch . . . so it would be churlish not to agree.

- - - o o o - - -

From the car parking area we could look down on the other side of the aqueduct and during lunch we were also were entertained

by the antics of motorists, all struggling to find the last free bank holiday space in the over-full car park.

The aqueduct captures most of the water than flows off the western slopes of Helvellyn and The Dodds then directs it into the reservoir.

This caused the lower part of Helvellyn Gill to become significantly smaller, which subsequently was found to ruin the aquatic environment.

Measures have been taken in recent years to restore some of that flow . . . the sign above gives more details.

Stan leads off after lunch . . .

The plan is to head through the gate and join the path above the fell wall and head away to the left.

This will take us back down the valley towards Stanah.

Looking down on the Helvellyn aqueduct from this side of the valley.

The path is a lot rougher than those we experienced before lunch

and it climbs higher up the side of the fell than most people had perhaps expected.

Look at the number of cars parked at Swirls and in the other car parks close by.

However, the compensation for the climb was the excellent views we got looking north towards Skiddaw and Blencathra.

This slate signpost was in better condition than the much newer wooden one just a few yards away.

Stan mentioned the existence of an "infinity pool" higher up on the side of the fell

so Loes, myself and Dougal temporarily detach ourselves from the group and head up on a rising path.

The path rises steeply towards the middle part of Fisher Place Gill and the waterfalls.

We did find a blonde swimming in the pool but it was only Dougal.

The view over the narrow lip, out into infinity, was only possible if you were yourself swimming in the pool.

There was no easy access to the rocks at the back from which to take a better photo.

It seems the group has gathered by the bridge over the beck . . .

This allowed Stan to take his group photo of the day.   (Many thanks for the use of it here.)

Below us as we continue our walk, was the busy farmstead of Fisher Place.