Tilberthwaite Gill
A scramble in and around Tilberthwaite Gill near Coniston
Weather :- Low cloud and intermittent drizzle

Accompanied by :- John.

Total time taken having fun - 4 hours.

 

Today was supposed to be my return to the fells after 3 months of recuperation. I thought and thought about where to go and what to do without any success. It was not until Friday afternoon that I reached a decision, something not too hard and long…as it happened all of my planning was thrown out of the window by a phone call from Sarah. Paul, Sarah's better half was camping with a mate near Scorton. Overnight some thieving toe rags managed to steal Paul's rucksack from within the tent as they slept. As well as all of the bits and pieces of equipment built up over the years Paul's wallet and car keys were also in it. The result being that they were stranded miles away from home.

Sarah rang to say that she would not be able to come walking as she had to help sort out this mess, but would I show her the way to the campsite. No problem, well actually there was a problem as we did not know the location of the campsite, all I had to go on was after Preston somewhere near the M6 ! After trying out my first thoughts on where the campsite was I ended up getting some directions and found the place in the middle of nowhere. Paul and his mate looked totally fed up, no spare car keys, no money and a mobile phone battery that had given up the ghost, that made finding them hard work as well!

Myself and John left them to it and headed north up the M6 trying to replan our day as we went. Later on I found out from Sarah that it had cost them £120 to have Paul's car taken to the main dealer in Preston and a two day wait for new keys, what a sorry end to a camping trip.

Meanwhile somewhere near the Lake District my mind was working overtime. We agreed that we would not do any new Wainwright's without Sarah but what could we do, where could we revisit? My mind began to think about the Coniston area. I had often thought about a visit to the Old Man to prove to myself that I was capable of doing it. During the planning of today's walk I had wanted to either get to the top of something that felt like a challenge, or have a nice scramble up something. Dow Crag from Goats Water came to mind but I did not have any reference material with me about that, the Old Man via the tourist path, Low Water Beck as a scramble or even a scramble up Brim Fell End and Brim Fell Rake just to do something daft all came to mind. As we neared Coniston we could not see the Old Man, low cloud and drizzle really put us off the ideas that I had come up with so far. Driving through Coniston I began to think about Raven Crag and Holme Fell but John had recently taken his brother here. John recognized the turn off to Tilberthwaite and the car sort of found its own way up to the car park there.

We opened the boot and sat there while having some food and drink, what about Tilberthwaite Gill, it would be great to see if we could get past the waterfall that had stopped us when we went up the Gill to do Wetherlam the other year. Now that would be something to do, a challenge! At first John seemed a bit reluctant thinking that with the increased water levels we would not be able to do it, but after thinking about it for a while and in the absence of any other sort of plan we decided to give it a go

Two images of the lower stretch of Yewdale Beck

At first we headed up by the side of Yewdale Beck straight from the road. The water level was much higher than last time and with all the rain that had been falling even the rock by the side was slippy. Unlike last time when we seemed to head up the right hand side this time we stayed on the left hand side all of the time, this was probably due to not being able to cross over due to the high water level. This was all pretty mundane stuff, more a case of trying to stay upright on the slippy rock and not get our feet wet. Even the places where we had fun last time we ignored. Things like the large tree trunk that we spent ages on last time we ignored, I think we just wanted to get to the waterfall and try our luck.

John having fun on the left hand side A camera shy author hugging trees!

Soon the side that we were on started to become more fun. The bank of the stream gave way to sections of rock. This was more like it, edging along one step at a time just above the water level. At times trees grew outwards from the rock and we had to resort to a favorite pastime of "tree hugging" to get around them. Sections of roots that stuck out of the ground made “handles” that were ideally placed to aid progress. It was as if mother nature had placed these roots there just to help us out as we edged along grasping these natural “handles” This was more like it and our rather glum mood of only a few minutes before began to disappear, I think I even managed a smile or two!

John trying to keep his feet dry! The footbridge over Yewdale Beck

I think that John had more fun than me though as he started doing Tarzan impressions hanging from the trees. This fun section soon ended and we neared the footbridge. Just before the footbridge a huge tree laid in the beck. We could see where it had come from up above the banks. A large trail of devastation ran down the bank where the roots had been torn away and most of the surrounding soil taken with it. The whole bank above the river here looked unsafe, a reminder that the tree roots probably helped stabilize most of the bank and prevented land slides. This was not to be the only sign of landslides and fallen trees that we encountered today.

A fallen tree in Yewdale Beck The start of Tilberthwaite Gill

We climbed out of the Beck and over the footbridge, I remember the rock around here being extremely slippy from last time so we did not want to chance it. Soon we reached the point where the Beck turns right and the start of Tilberthwaite Gill. It was much harder than last time to get in here, another fallen tree that had been washed down the Gill blocked most of the entrance. We looked in at the problem waterfall but it was too far away to see if we could find a way up it, we entered the Gill for a closer look. The fallen tree did sort of help us get across o the right hand side of the Gill. But once over it was only possible to take one step before the rock wall gave up any hand or foot holds, the foot holds that I remember from last time were about a foot underwater now!

The author entering Tilberthwaite Gill....................... and John exiting via a fallen tree
We looked and looked and realized that as we could not walk on water yet we would not be getting any further up this way. We could not even cross over and try the extremely slippy left hand side like I did last time. We sort of knew this was going to happen anyway but the disappointment was frustrating. We decided to head out the way we did last time. This time it was made harder by the fallen tree, I managed to step through a branch and what I thought was rock underneath, ending up with a boot full of water, how refreshing! We did see above the waterfall a grassy slope head down into the gill from above on the right so we would try and head back into the Gill above the waterfall and carry on.
Looking at the problem that haunts us. Next time ! Old level/mine workings at the head of Tilberthwaite Gill

Once out of the Gill and onto the fell side above, which was a case of climbing over more fallen trees we walked along the edge. It was a long way down and we just could not find a way down. We made our way onto the path and ended up at the head of the Gill. There did seem to be possible ways down on the other side so after a quick look into an old mine shaft (why did I leave my head torch in the car) we made our way around the head of the Gill and onto the path that led back to Tilberthwaite. I kept on the path as I was feeling a little fed up while John followed the edge of the Gill until he found a spot that we could get back in. I think the plan was to descend the Gill until we reached the waterfall, have a look at it from above and then make our way up the rest of the Gill.

Inside the old level John finds a way back into Tilberthwaite Gill

We carefully made our way back into the Gill and headed down stream. This was actually much harder work than going up it. John made it all the way to the waterfall while I waited a bit above it, it seemed to be very hard work down there and when he returned he had that worried look on his face that told how “iffy” it was! He had convinced himself that from above it looked even harder than it had seemed from below. Right then, now we could continue on up the Gill.

Looking back down to our stumbling block..............................and upwards into Tilberthwaite Gill

Because this section was relatively easy we chatted away about the possibility of telling Sarah that we had got over the waterfall easily and managed to do the complete Gill, she would have been gutted that she missed out but honesty prevails and yes we had to “miss out” on the waterfall but we did do the rest of the Gill. This section of the Gill was surrounded by steep sides and many signs of recent land slides, at first we thought that the trees had been blown over by the storms back in January but closer inspection showed that the trees had just been uprooted and slid down into the Gill along with huge amounts of soil and rock, the tree roots were very shallow and when they went they took most of the sides of the Gill with them, it was quite scary really, what would it have been like to see it actually happen?

John battling through fallen trees in the Gill An interesting rock / cave formation

At one point the whole width of the Gill was blocked by numerous fallen trees. John seemed to love the clambering over, through, and under the trees while I found it hard work. This was like being in a jungle, a machete would have been useful! This stretch seemed to take a lot out of me physically, I just don't seem to have much upper body strength at the moment, not that I had much before! This was time for arms as well as knees and legs and I soon felt worn out! John loved it of course.

Further up the Gill More fallen trees in the Gill

After the blockage was safely negotiated, safely apart from another boot full of water for me, luckily the same one, we reached a section of small waterfalls. This was fun crossing from one side to the other as we made our way up, another tree across the Gill made John smile and me groan.

More waterfalls in Tilberthwaite Gill John trying the harder left hand side

A larger stretch of waterfalls gave a choice of routes. The left hand side comprised of a series of gently sloping rock that looked a bit “iffy”. I headed up an easy staircase of rock and grass shelves while John took on the rock. I raced ahead while he gingerly made his way up, the camera was ready for an action shot of John falling into the water but of course it never came, but when he eventually did cross over and join me he had that look on his face again!

Nearing the end Crook Beck

More easy sections followed until suddenly the Gill branched. To the left was Crook Beck but ahead the Gill narrowed considerably and a large waterfall could be seen at the end. We headed straight up for a closer look at the waterfall.

The end of Tilberthwaite Gill. The waterfall and cave

On the left side there seemed to be the remains of a man made walkway, the odd stone step or two. We had to pass under a rock face that had a steady shower of water coming down, this did help wash away some of the mud, grass and tree debris that had become attached to our waterproofs! At the head of the Gill a large waterfall came down and beside it was a tunnel large enough to walk in. John went to investigate while I waited. Apparently the tunnel curved around towards the waterfall. If the amount of water coming down the waterfall had been less, and the rock had been drier the rock face to the side of the waterfall looked like it would be a good scramble to escape from the Gill, not today though. We could have escaped the Gill here up a muddy and grassy slope but we decided to head back and see what Crook Beck had to offer.

John goes to explore the cave Looking back down Tilberthwaite Gill

When we reached the start of Crook Beck we looked at the options. We started to cross over and head towards the easier left hand side. Half way across I stopped and looked at the right hand side. It looked like there was a way along the rock with lots of little ledges for feet and hand holds, why not! Without thinking too much about it I headed over to the right and after a difficult start soon found myself edging along just above the water. The weater was only a few feet deep and just inches below me but the feeling along here was great. This was the best bit of the day without a doubt. It was a battle of wits between us and gravity with the looser getting wet feet!

Crook Beck. Easy on the left, fun on the right!
Various images of the author attempting the left hand side of Crook Beck, great fun!!
More images of the author and John in Crook Beck, the best fun you can have with your waterproofs on!!

This was the last challenge of the day and a suitable one at that. This is the sort of scrambling that we love to do. An exercise in figuring out where to put hands and feet and in which order, trying them to see if it works and if not thinking the process through again. If we got it wrong all that would happen was a soaking and perhaps a few bruises and some hurt pride! It really was a great way to end the Gill.

John nearing the end The end !

A few minutes later and we reached the point where we had crossed the Beck some time before. We now followed the path back down to Tilberthwaite and even saw a party of supervised kids in the section below the footbridge. A couple of photos of the various bits of the Gill and we were back at the car where I was grateful for my flask of coffee and some dry clothes.

The lower part, Yewdale Beck The upper part, Tilberthwaite Gill

After a really bad start to the day we had ended up having a cracking time. Next time, in the summer sometime we will return to Tilberthwaite Gill accompanied by ropes and a twelve foot aluminium step ladder and we WILL get past that waterfall, it has now become a matter of honour with the waterfall winning 2-0 at the moment, we will be back!
We discussed what was next for us on the way back. Sarah had missed out on a couple of walks that had been great fun now, and with all the thinking about which Wainwright to do next I was having mental blocks. John asked if I had come up with another “challenge” for myself like the Lancashire Coastal Way to do next. I think that the next challenge is going to actually get to the top of another Wainwright, we seem to be having so much fun walking without actually getting to the top of anything! It will be a challenge to resist coming back here a step ladder that is for sure.

Also something to think about is the possibility of a new addition to the family, a four legged ball of fur at the moment that might make a new walking partner, oops, have I let the cat out of the bag……