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| The start of Dubbs Road |
Along Dubbs Road |
| A couple of mountain bikers were getting ready at the same
time as us and set off just before us. Dubbs Road and some of the other
bridle ways around here make for excellent bike riding country, in fact
I was hoping to make use of some of these that I had previously ridden
on on our return journey, that is if I could persuade Sarah that we should
stick to Plan A and not Plan B! The Dubbs Road made its way along side
the western side of Applethwaite Common and we could see the summit of
Sour Howes ahead. It made for a good start to the walk, flat, even and
interesting hedgerows with Blackberry's and Rose hips all ready for the
picking! |
|
|
| By the side of Dubbs Reservoir |
And a bit further along Dubbs Road |
| We soon came across Dubbs Reservoir. There were a few cars
parked here, it looked like they were from the fishermen and the groundskeepers.
I knew that one of them was from the groundskeepers as I could hear him
moving the grass by the side of the reservoir, I did wonder why anyone
would be mowing the grass here but thought better of asking. Anyway
he was doing a fine job, unfortunately the wall prevented me from getting
any good photo's, but it was a pretty sight! From the reservoir Dubbs Road
started to get a bit rougher, only slightly and gain height. It was nice
walking past the ferns by the side of the road. |
|
|
| Looking back to Dubbs Reservoir |
The Coniston Fells |
| The others seemed to find it a bit cool so kept stopping
to put on layers. I thought it was ideal walking weather, not to warm,
great visibility and no sign of any of the wet stuff! In fact Sarah
seemed to be really feeling it as she started to stuff her ears with paper
tissues to keep them warm! She does seem to do this sometimes. Being the
gentleman that I am (my turn this week!) I offered her the use of my wooly
hat. This seemed to do the trick as she immediately felt better. We came
across a gate along the road that we had to open, I could see a mountain
biker coming down the road and held it open for him, this held us up but
I can remember all the times I have had to stop and open gates whilst riding,
it's a pain, so I played the good samaritan again (two good deeds today
and it was only 10.30am!) |
|
| Troutbeck and Wansfell |
| As we gained height and changed direction we came across
a view that you would not really expect from such a low level walk. The
Coniston Fells opened themselves up and below us we had a full length view
of Troutbeck with Wansfell above it. I knew then that this was going to
be a good walk, the visibility was great, we could see for miles and miles!
The sun was shinning and I think that it was here that John decided that
he was enjoying the walk, even Sarah perked up some, but then again she
did have my hat to keep her ears warm! |
|
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| A herd of cows that John thought looked like Lions |
Along Dubbs Road with Caudale Moor in front |
| We stopped here for a while above a field full of cows.
Whilst I took a few photo's John was describing the cows to her. I am sure
that he said that they were a French breed but at the time I was not really
listening. Then I heard him say that one of them looked like a lion, my
ears pricked up at this as I thought he was starting to have a go about
the "Lion and the Lamb" on Helm Crag again! I was expecting him to
really start to take the mick now as he was starting to feel better but
no, he was pointing out a cow laying down that really did look like a Lion.
He found this highly amusing (must be that cough medicine
he was taking!) I took a photo though just to keep him happy! |
|
|
| Nearing the plantation above Limefitt Park |
Looking down to Troutbeck Tongue |
| By this time we were all in good spirits and chatted away
about our forthcoming camping trip. It was one of those days that was ideal
for walking. In fact it made a really nice change to stop and admire the
view instead of stopping because we were out of breath or our legs were
rebelling! Dubbs Road had been gaining height very gradually so we
were able to look down into Troutbeck and feel a good sense of height.
Below us was Limefitt Park, this made for some interesting sights through
the trees as we passed by them, the tents and caravans looked tiny. As
we passed by the wooded area above Limefitt Park we had a really good view
up to Troutbeck Tongue. John even pointed it out with a comment about a
hill in the valley. The last time I had seen Troutbeck Tongue was from
Thresthwaite Mouth when we did a walk from Kirkstone
Pass to High Street , then it looked very dull and gloomy, a very desolate
sight. Today it looked fantastic! It just goes to show how much the weather
and time of year can change what you see and think in the Lake District. |
|
|
| Looking back at the Garburn Road / Dubbs road junction |
Applethwaite Quarry |
| It was at this point that Dubbs Road joined the Garburn
Road. The Garburn Road and Garburn Pass is one of those places in
the Lake District that is used by so many different sorts of people out
to enjoy themselves, walkers and fell runners, mountain bikers and motocross
riders all share the same track, not to mention horse riders as well. The
road showed evidence of them all, horseshoes, footsteps and tyre tracks!
The view forwards now included the Yoke to Ill Bell ridge, when I pointed
this out to John as a possible route, one that we could return via Troutbeck
Tongue he seemed very tempted. I had considered this but thought it too
far, seeing it in the flesh as it were, it did seem possible, but not today.
We all seemed to enjoying this walk so much that I did not want to change
it and go rushing off "bagging" unplanned for peaks! Not far along the
track we came across something that I wanted to spend some time looking
around, Applethwaite Quarry. |
|
|
| One of the many tracks in the quarry |
One of the many level areas of the quarry |
| The first signs of the quarry were huge spills of slate
that fell down to the track. I talked to the others about having a look
around the quarry and they seemed to be non committal at first. Walking
past a few entrances we eventually came to the end and I sort of made there
minds up for them by walking through a gap in the wall and into the quarry
area! I had showed them the map and the choice of route we had. If we continued
up the Garburn Pass we would end up somewhere between Sallows and Sour
Howes and have a sort of there and back thing between the two summits.
From Applethwaite Quarry the map showed Sour Howes summit not far
away, it seemed daft not to look at the quarry and then make a beeline
straight up the fell side! Anyway, they agreed and we made our way into
the quarry. |
|
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| Another track |
A solitary tree marks a fine viewpoint |
| As soon as we left the Garburn Road we saw some kids messing
about in the trees and a few bikers at rest. I couldn't really see much
through the trees and at first I thought that they were mountain bikers
but this was soon dispelled as they cranked up their engines, they were
motocross bikes. We stopped and watched them as they set off up some
paths that we couldn't see. I had a heart stopping moment as one of them
seemed to misjudge a climb and nearly had the bike fall back over on him,
but I needn't have worried as he did seem to have everything under control,
just! There were various paths up spoil heaps and as I talked to Sarah
about climbing up through the quarry and straight up to Sour Howes, her
eyes lit up, "Yes, I'll climb up that!" she said. So we did, and soon found
ourselves at a level area with an unobscured view over Troutbeck. We decided
to stop and have a drink here, it would have been rude not to! I was quite
surprised that we had been walking for only an hour by now, we seemed to
have come so far! |
|
|
| Looking down into the quarry |
The largest quarry face |
| Whist I enjoyed a coffee, John tucked into a homemade quiche.
Well he said it was homemade but a few minutes before he had told us about
his cooker being broken! Sarah and I looked at each other for a bit and
then I took him to task on this! I never seem to know when he is pulling
a fast one. He went into great detail about an ex colleague and his cooking
recepies, and explained that his oven was still working but his rings weren't.
This got me onto a new recepies I tried last night. Sarah obviously doesn't
cook as she did not offer up any of her culinary tips and tricks! We
sat there for quite a while and just enjoyed the chat and the view and
the weather, there was going to be no rush today. Eventually we decided
that we should set off and do some more walking. |
 |
 |
| A small pool in the quarry |
Tire marks straight up the face! |
| I just wandered around the quarry taking a few photo's and
trying to compare it to Hodge Close, another quarry that I seem to visit
often. Really you can't compare the two, Hodge Close is a huge hole in
the ground and Applethwaite Quarry is a few holes in the side of a hill.
None the less this quarry was still interesting to look around, with all
the trees that have been planted it meant that you could not see it all
in one go, something new appeared around every corner. Around one of these
corners John and Sarah took the high route whilst I took the low one. I
was confronted with a large slab of rock that looked vertical. In the middle
of this were tyre tracks left by a motor cross bike! I climbed up this
slab and it must have been well over 45 degrees! Who had the bottle to
ride a bike up here ? From the top I guess it must have been up, if someone
had ridden down I think that they would not have stayed on the bike for
long! |
|
|
| Looking back over the quarry |
And again from slightly higher up |
| Pondering this we made our way up to the highest part of
the quarry. There was a fence around the top of the workings and we had
no choice but to jump over it. I know that this is in theory wrong, but
I decided to work on the assumption that it was to keep the sheep from
falling in to the quarry rather than prevent walkers from climbing out! Climbing
higher up we came across some more workings and a very large spoil heap.
This made for some interesting walking but we soon found ourselves at the
top. The motocross riders that we had seen before came into sight below
us. We turned and looked back at them as they rode up and down and around
the quarry. This was fun, so we sat down and enjoyed the spectacle of these
riders pitting themselves and their machines against gravity. Most of the
time they won, when gravity won they displayed remarkable agility by jumping
of their bikes before something nasty happened! |
|
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| The highest quarry workings |
Looking up Troutbeck |
| When these motocross riders eventually moved out of sight
I felt like standing up and giving them a round of applause for the entertainment! Many
years ago I came across a group of motocross riders on the Walna Scar Road
who seemed intent on doing as much damage to the area as possible by wheel
spinning and generally causing a nuisance. These guys however did not even
seem to make any excessive noise as they just used enough throttle to get
them up their intended route (most of the time!) It just goes to show that
the Lake District has something for everyone if used properly and sensibly.
Hats off to them and thanks for the show! (Oh God,
I'm starting to sound old now!) I remarked to Sarah that when our legs can no longer carry us
up to the high fells we should invest in some of those bikes, they looked
like fun! |
|
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| Sour Howes summit coming into view |
Sour Howes summit |
| Leaving the quarry behind we got back to the serious business
of getting to the top of Sour Howes. There were no paths here it was a
case of just heading straight up the fell side. The sheep looked on, wondering
what we were doing on their turf! For the first time today the leg
muscles started to complain a bit, but before we knew it we had come out
onto the summit plateau and headed for the highest ground we could see.
Once here it was obvious to see the summit away to the south, but not that
far away. Sarah seemed surprised by the fact that we were at the top, pleasantly
surprised! After the last walk and all the false summits of Glaramara,
I at first thought that this would be one of those, you know, one of them, "is
this it, or is it that over there" sort of places. But no, a few minutes
later we proudly stood on the summit of Sour Howes! |
|
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| Sour Howes summit cairn |
The terrible trio at Sour Howes summit |
| Because the breeze had started to pick up we all felt a
bit chilly so we soon moved slightly below the summit. Here the sun was
shining and there was no breeze. This would do for a lunch spot, we were
sheltered and the views south were great, I could even see Blackpool Tower!
John and Sarah seemed a bit skeptical at first but when I pointed it out
to them they saw it too. The only down side about this place was
that it was on a slope, I have written before about having lunch on a slope,
but did I listen to my own words of wisdom as everything, including me,
tried to be overcome by gravity and move downwards! What do you think? |
 |
| 360 degree panorama from Sour Howes |
| When we sat down for lunch we had sunshine, as we chatted
away about what a great walk this was and generally enjoying the view,
the clouds came in! Visibility was still good but we all started to feel
the chill in the air. To the south we could see Morecombe Bay and as far
as Blackpool, to the west the skyline was dominated by Scafell and Scafell
Pike, to the north Caudale Moor and the Ill Bell Ridge seemed really close.
The Howgills and even Ingleborough gave a great view to the east. This
was definitely one of those minimum effort, maximum view sort of hills! |
|
|
| Windermere |
Thresthwaite Mouth |
| Somewhat reluctantly we left the summit and headed off towards
Sallows. I stopped to take just a few more photo's as I just could
not resist the view of Windermere. The photos that I took of Sallows did
make a good panoramic shot though! It also showed the way forwards and
around to the summit just across the valley. |
|
| Sallows from Sour Howes |
| There was a sort of indistinct path heading towards the
Garburn Pass that we followed. It became more noticeable as we joined a
wall. It had turned quite cooler now and I started to feel it, but as I
thought that this would probably the last time this year I fought the temptation
to put on my jacket for as long as possible. John and Sarah meanwhile were
wearing about every layer of clothing that they had brought with them!
Walking down the path John started looking at the grass "it's boy band
grass!" he exclaimed. Look it's all sort of short and spiky! And yes, the
grass was short and spiky. Sometimes I really do worry about John ! |
|
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| The path along the wall towards the Garburn Pass |
stile not shown on the maps |
| We made good time along the wall and the conversation turned
to kids, well about having kids. This conversation then turned into the
number of hills we have climbed and how long it was going to take us to
complete our round of the "Wainwright's"! Somehow John then managed to
combine the two conversations (as only he could) and decided that I would
have grandchildren, he would be changing nappy's, and Sarah would just
be getting around to thinking about it (I still can't
follow his logic) when we got near the end of the round, and I thought I was getting down
about the time we were taking! Suddenly we came across a stile in the wall
that was not shown on any map. I had been wandering about how we were going
to get across the wall, generations of other peak baggers had obviously
had cause for the wall to be replaced with something that allowed passage
between the two fells! It certainly made life easy for us today, so a big
thank you to whoever was responsible! |
|
| Sour Howes from the path to Sallows |
| After passing the wall I stopped to take a panoramic photo
back towards Sour Howes, and doesn't it look good (well
nobody else is saying anything!) Anyway from here on the character
of the walk changed, it was an uphill trudge across moorland. John had
obviously been waiting for some sort of physical challenge today as he
no set off at a cracking pace that me and Sarah just barley kept up with!
This was to be the last uphill walking of the day and I think he wanted
to make the most of it! |
|
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| The trudge up to Sallows |
Sallows summit |
| For me this was the most disappointing part of the walk
today. In some ways it reminded me of the trudge across Mungrisedale Common
(I really can't say trudge up to!) but at least here the summit was a definite
point to aim for and it was uphill! There was a faint path that we
followed, something more than a sheep track at least. |
|
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| John lost his head here! |
The terrible trio at Sallows summit |
| Here we were at the second summit of the day. Sarah seemed
slightly bemused as she knows that my idea of a small walk and hers are
usually two different things. The last walk we did also bagged us two summits
but the effort required was totally different. I am not saying that she
trusts me, but I think I am getting there! John was enjoying himself
so much that he just started fooling around, even more so than usual. |
|
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| Sallows summit |
John still looking for his head! |
| As I took the usual photo's he thought it was incredible
funny to pretend he had lost his head! Sarah thought it would be funny
to see how long we could make him stay like that so I had to keep him waiting
whilst I "fixed" the camera as it was playing up! I thought it would be
funny if me and Sarah did a disappearing act whilst he could not see, I
thing he realized what we were trying to do before we could hide! But
then again hiding places were at a premium up here so my idea was probably
a waste of time anyway! It was turning out to be one of those great days
again, a good walk, good company and some good laughs! (well, I suppose
you had to be there really!) |
 |
| 360 degree panorama from Sallows |
| After taking the photo's we just lay there on the summit
and chatted away for a while. I had put my jacket on as I started to feel
the cold now. We seemed to spend much longer here than I would have
thought, the views were still good and there is always a reluctance to
leave that last summit of the day. All we had to do now was return to the
car. Sarah made no mention of the Plan B so we set off heading towards
Kentmere to pick up the bridle ways that would eventually return us to
the car. |
|
|
| Heading away from the summit |
Kentmere and Green Quarter |
| As we followed the path down Green Quarter and then Kentmere
Village came into view. We spent some time trying to locate the Camping
Barn that we use, I am not going to name it because if everybody tries
to use it they will put the prices up and we will not be able to get our
weekend away! I think I saw it was not really sure, at least it livened
up the descent, it was like trying to play "I Spy" with the kids! |
|
|
| An old shooting butt |
Looking over Kentmere Park |
| As we came across a line of old shooting butts that AW mentioned
I realized that we were drifting towards Kentmere and needed to be heading
more to the south. By now the path had disappeared and it was a case of
make your own way across the moorland. We could see the bridle way that
we wanted and made a beeline for it. At this point Sarah had some problems
with sharp pointy things stuck in her boots, probably dried thistle or
something, so she stopped and made running repairs. I decided that the
ground was steep enough to try sliding down it on my backside. This was
unusual for me as I usually like to be sensible but I think John's mood
was rubbing off on me now! It worked, and I had a fun filled few
minutes sliding down (sorry about the grass stains
dear!) This lasted until
I made sharp contact with a hidden stone, ouch! John tried it and declared
it not as much fun as doing it in the snow. He now expects me to be as
daft as him when there is snow about, we will wait and see! |
|
|
| Nearing the path from the old quarry below Sallows |
Joining the bridle way from Kentmere below Whiteside End |
| Passing through a field that I thought was too steep to
be worked, recent signs of it being moved proved me wrong we joined the
path that came down from the old workings on the southern slopes of Sallows. From
here it was a few minutes walk down to the bridle way from Kentmere. The
last time I was here was during a bike ride from the aforementioned Camping
Barn. If any mountain bikers are looking for place to ride I can recommend
this area! |
|
|
| The bridle way to High House |
Looking back to Sallows |
| We made our way along these bridle ways for what seemed
like an eternity. They changed from wide tracks to single tracks to paths
across fields. Looking back gave us a good view of Sallows but for
the rest the view was nothing remarkable. |
|
|
| Further along the bridle way |
And further |
| We walked, and walked and walked. The only thing of note
was the different sort of way the gates were fastened, for some reason
Sarah wanted to open these gates, she soon got fed up as everyone was different! When
I planned this route it seemed like a good idea to make a circular route
by using these bridle ways, now I was not so sure as after all that had
gone before it was a bit of an anticlimax. |
|
|
| And further |
Until a signpost! |
| Eventually we came to a gate with a signpost behind it.
As we were now surrounded by big stone walls it was time to check the map
and see which way was the best for us. We stopped for another drink
break whilst I checked the map. My in built sense of direction told me
that we needed to turn right, the map confirmed this and turn right we
did (who needs a GPS!) followed by a quick left, an even quicker right,
through a couple of fields and there we were near High House and a road
of sorts. |
|
|
| And then another Bridle way |
Back to civilization at last |
| Passing through these fields we saw one or two small birds
flying across the field really close to the ground, like Swifts or Swallows.
As we walked past we must of disturbed a whole flock of them as the air
was soon filled with a large number of these small birds. None of us could
identify them really, but it was a nice sight anyway! Soon we came across
a house that had a rather large chimney, John seemed interested in this
and the other habitations as we made our way into High Borrans. There was
a nice farm yard and some beautiful cottages, what a nice quiet place this
was! |
|
|
| Borrans Reservoir |
And the large dam wall |
| Passing an old building that looked like it was some sort
of small factory we walked past Borrans Reservoir. It was not a really
big reservoir but the dam wall seemed out of all proportion to the amount
of water it held, very strange! By now we were walking along a tarmac
road. It had been quite a long walk from Sallows, the bridle ways had been
Ok but I found the road to be a bit of a bind. |
|
|
| High House |
Looking back to Sour Howes |
| At least we had a view back to Sour Howes now and through
a break in the trees High House. I wonder what that place is, as it looks
quite majestic? By now Sarah was desperate for the toilet and no
matter how many innuendos John and myself slipped into the conversation
she still declined to go and hide behind a bush!. John was obviously a
bit bored with the road as well, we started to have blackberry fights and
throwing other natural material at each other, simple things for simple
minds! As we reached the main road I gave Sarah the GPS, set it to navigate
back to the car and had her call off the distance to go, at least it took
her mind of her pressing bladder problems! |
|
|
| And eventually back to the road |
T.C.C No2 1882, I don't know what it means! |
| As we arrived back at the car I noticed an old road, mile
post sort of thing. I have no idea what it relates to but I took a photo
anyway! As Sarah still had a pressing need (no
pun intended!) we
drove back to Ings and took advantage of the facilities at the garage and
Little Chef. It was still only about 3.30pm now, one of the earliest finishes
to any of our walks. I expected Sarah to want to head back south early
as she had requested but a decision to go into Kendal and have something
to eat was made. |
|
| The GPS track log from today's walk |
This we promptly did and stuffed ourselves at the Kendal
Arms. When we arrived in the pub we were just in time to see Southampton
beat Man United 1-0, within half an hour Man City were 1-0 up against Arsenal,
for the Liverpool fans that had accompanied me on this walk life did not
get much better than this, especially after the 3-0 thrashing of Everton
the day before (See, I can really plan a perfect walk!) As we waited for
our food, enjoying a pint of the black stuff, sort of orange coloured stuff
for Sarah, we talked about the web site. I thought that it needed a new
look, Sarah agreed, quoting her better half (You could
have told me sooner!) I thought it would be a good idea if Sarah or John could write some words
about the walk, this was met with instant denial, but I think I have managed
to talk them around, well, until they start to I am now going to put words
in their mouths!
John had a difference of opinion with an elderly lady who decided to light up
a cigarette right next to him as he tucked into his sunday roast! (see
it's not just me and old people, John felt like throttling one as well!) I must admit
that I even found this distasteful, coming from a smoker that says a lot. So
with full belly's we left Kendal and set of down the M6, we all looked forwards
to this with no road works to hold us up it should be a doddle. I spoke too soon
because as we approached the bridge over the River Lune traffic came to a halt!
Fortunately this was only due to people slowing down to rubberneck at a car that
had overturned on the opposite carriageway (fortunate for
us but not the driver of that car!) I arrived home at the unearthly hour of 6pm! This was a record.
I even managed to sort out all of the photo's and upload them to the web site
that night. As I finish writing this account it is Tuesday night, another record!
But then again it was such an enjoyable walk that I did not seem to struggle
to write about it at all as can sometimes happen! |
| JOHN'S VERSION OF THE WALK |
SARAHS VERSION OF THE WALK |
| Well we walked up this path thingy, passed a bit of water then came
to this quarry thingy. After a quick brew we sort of watched a few scallys
ride bikes around the quarry. Got bored wid dis an then went up this hill
sort of thingy. At the top Ste took a few pickys and we walked over to
another hill thingy. I was really funny here and everyone ad a laugh! Then
we started walking down the hill thingy and thro some field sort of thingys
and then we got back to the car. It was great! Old git of a woman really
got me goat up though as she was smokin near me as I ad me scram, shoot
the lot of em I say! |
Are we there yet cos I need the Loo! Oh sorry, yeah it was great! |
