Just a little further down the road from the small cairn is a gate into the top of Barrow House Woods.

We entered and followed the river down, reaching the first of our waterfalls for today.

The falls were new to some of the group and they were even more impressive today due to the amount of water in the river.

Onward and downward, around the back of Barrow House.

The foundation stone of Barrow House (then known as Barrow Cascade House) was laid by Joseph Pocklington in 1787.

The building was home to the early industrialist, then became a Guest House and Hostel, latterly the Derwent Water Independent Hostel

Sadly the hostel has had to close recently, as "improvement to the building relating to additional fire safety and to staff accommodation

were prohibitively expensive considering the possible ending of the lease in the next year or so".

The House has commanding views of Derwent Water and many of its islands.

We head down the driveway to the main road, in order to cross to the lake.

The sheltered Barrow Bay, a real contrast to the high winds and white horses out on the open lake.

A storm damaged tree frames a distant view of Skiddaw, Carlside and Ullock Pike.

The water in Barrow Beck was running quite high under the bridge, but didn't seem as copious as the waterfalls had made it look.

The reason was clear.  On the other side of the bushes the upstream river had overflowed and formed a tricky and wet flood plain to cross.

Safely over with wet boots but dry feet, the path became a little more reasonable.

Across the lake the sun was breaking through, the wind causing fast moving sunlight streaks and shadows on Maiden Moor.

Note the white horses that had been whipped up on the surface of the lake, caused by the same strong wind.

Around the corner and looking now towards the head of Derwent Water.

We get our first view of the Lodore falls as a white streak falling down the fellside, to the left of the steep sided Shepherds Crag.

Great discussions seem to be held en route, as we reach Kettlewell car park.

A gap in the Borrowdale traffic and we were safely on the other side, where we could take the footpath through the woods.

No room for a pavement, so the path follows the road on the other side of the wall.

The path rejoins the road just at the point when the Lodore path strikes off to the left.

As a result we can continue the walk without the need to mix with the traffic.

A short walk through the woods brings us around the back of the Lodore Hotel . . .

. . . and to the viewpoint of the equally impressive Lodore Falls, the second big waterfall of the day.

Do check out the link to Southey's poem about the falls, at the base of this page.

Reaching this far, safe and dry, calls for a celebration today . . . well a coffee stop at least.

I had been here many years ago and remember the faint footpath found on the map.

Not having walked this recently I had a quick look around and decided the one we wanted was the easier looking path that set off left up the slope.

The path settled down to a well worn track with ever improving views out across the lake.

The path turned again, on a route not shown on the map.

  I went to explore the short straight-on path but it was a dead end.  It did however provide me with a fine viewpoint.

Back on the correct path and we kept climbing up through the woods, sometimes under them too . . .

. . . into an area shown on the map as Hogs Earth.

This was a delightful part of the climb, the trees, rocks and walls were all covered in thick moss, a real temperate rain forest location.

The walk up through the woods had been a delight and not at all stormy, despite the weather down by the lake.

I think the west facing slopes of the fell had protected us from the worst of the winds.

The path ended its climb as we reached the valley road, at the point I had departed from the road two weeks ago.

A walk downhill now . . . to that famous viewpoint.

Mob walks are usually a bit longer and so people had brought refreshments for lunch.

We were only a few minutes from the car . . . but even less from a nice view . . . so time to sit and enjoy an early lunch.

Suitably over-indulged we headed off once more . . . down the road past the field gate to Ashness Farm.

Chance for a better photo of Ashness Lodge as I pass this time, a delightful re-build, completed just before Covid.

The garden now boasts a wildlife pond, raised beds for vegetables and a solar array to generate power.

The walk concluded back at the car park just a short distance further on . . . which was handy for finding the car of course !

I'll leave you to caption this photo with what Pip was saying to John.

Not the planned walk for today but a nice one nevertheless . . . and two waterfalls for the price of one . . . can't be bad.