Words & Photos Andy Stothert

December 03 2009

Even the blindest of those who hold faith in the fact that the Lake District is the most beautiful corner of paradise have to concede that it could do to be a bit bigger. And consequently, like anywhere else where we, the planetary pest, haven’t got quite enough room to rule the roost, there are some minor skirmishes over territory.

For instance if you wander up the Walna Scar road from Coniston you’ll most likely be having a day out on the Coniston Fells; whereas if you head off up the Walna Scar from the other side of the hill, from the Duddon Valley, the Seathwaite Fells will be underfoot – even though much of it is the same ground.

Indeed isn’t it strange that where you set off from alters the mood, and that a different approach to familiar places can lend oft-trod fells an almost pioneering feel. From Coniston these fells are rugged and rocky right from the start, and while they do present a slightly softer complexion to the world from the Duddon, it has a wilder less frequented feel.

Anyway enough scene setting, my adventures among the Seathwaite Fells always start from the campsite at Turner Hall Farm, but there are a couple of parking spaces besides Tarn Beck and a couple more above the Duddon’s exciting stepping stones about a mile away. Which way round is optional here, and I can’t say that I have a strong preference: only that it seems harder clockwise than anti, so the route described here is against the clock.

From the campsite the easiest way onto Caw, the first target, is to walk down to the pub (before opening time) stroll up the track toward Caw, then after the top wall, head straight for the top of the hill. The way up becomes more obvious as you go. From Caw the craggy little Green Pikes is crossed, then a lovely boggy depression before White Pike is tackled. There’s a path around the bog, but not up the fell, and from White Pike to Dow Crag is a very rapid and scenic march to one of the Lake District’s best summits. From Dow Crag the only real plunge of the day arrives next, down to Goats Hawse, before taking that lovely path which traverses steep ground to Levers Hawse. Missing out the Old Man and Brim Fell may seem like a wicked omission, but this narrow tip-toeing line across their flanks is a worthy alternative. From Swirl How (now officially the king of the Coniston Fells) the way onwards is over Grey Friar and a descent on the south-west ridge to the shores of Seathwaite Tarn where the dam is crossed.

From there it’s a simple matter of ambling down the track back towards Seathwaite, the campsite, the pub, or both.

Distance: 11.5 miles/18km Ascent: 3495ft/1065m Time: 7-9 hours Start/finish: Turner Hall Farm campsite (GR: SD 234965) Maps: Ordnance Survey Explorer (1:25,000) sheet OL6 (The English Lakes, South Western area); Harvey Superwalker (1:25,000) Lakeland South West; OS Landranger (1:50,000) sheets 90 (Penrith and Keswick) & 96 (Barrow-in-Furness and South Lakeland) Information: Coniston TIC, 01539 441533

Technical Spec
Ascend Caw by following track S from Newfield Inn then above intake wall SE to summit. Descend NE to Green Pikes, cross Yaud Mire on path N then ascend NNE White Pike, Walna Scar, Brown Pike, Buck Pike and Dow Crag. Descend NE to Goat’s Hawse, follow path NNE to Levers Hawse, then main path to Swirl How and Great Carrs. W to Grey Friar, then descend SW ridge to Seathwaite Tarn dam, then track through Duddon valley.