Route: Lanthwaite Hill
Area: Western Lake District
Date of walk: 10th December 2015
Walkers: Andrew
Distance: 4.7 miles
Ascent; 400 feet
Weather: Mostly overcast with some brighter spells, cold and windy
I can’t recall a more miserable spell of weather in the Lake District – with the odd exception it seems to have rained every day non stop for the last 6 weeks. This culminated last weekend in ‘Storm Desmond’ which caused some of the worst flooding ever experienced in Cumbria
Today was mercifully dry and as I wanted to check out conditions in the Lorton area I decided on one of my favourite local walks, Lanthwaite Hill from which there are tremendous views in all directions, gained in return for little effort. It’s a walk I’ve followed many time and one which I could never tire of
I parked as usual in the National Trust car park at Scale Hill and within 10 minutes or so was admiring the view from the top. I descended through Lanthwaite Wood to the shore of Crummock Water, where there was a lot of debris following the floods, but the paths were all clear
It was reassuring that familiar landmarks along the way had survived the floods, and the walk was as lovely as ever
For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
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Before the walk I drove to Low Lorton - the old bridge was destroyed by the 2009 floods and I was glad to see that the new one is undamaged
The River Cocker from the bridge, running high still a lot lower than during the recent flood
Continuing round the valley, I stopped the car at Foulsyke to admire the superb view of Crummock Water and the western fells
Next stop, Scale Hill Bridge (I’ll be starting the walk from here later on), and again no sign of damage
A shaft of sunlight over Crummock Water, looking towards Haystacks
Whiteless Pike
Last stop on this tour of the valley, looking back to the foot of Rannerdale Knotts
Later that day, the start of the walk from Scale Hill as I look across a swollen River Cocker towards Mellbreak
The water monitoring station - note the plaque on the side wall…
The river level in 2009 was 3.54m, around 3m higher than the norm. Last weekend it peaked at 3.14 here
Instead of following the main track to Crummock Water, I turn left here to follow a narrow path which leads steeply up the hillside
The rocky steps near the top
Deer gate leading out onto the fellside
On Lanthwaite Hill, with Whiteside and Grasmoor beyond
Sweet Lorton Vale from Lanthwaite Hill
Crummock Water
The foot of Low Fell
Grasmoor
Rannerdale Knotts
Descending round the edge of Lanthwaite Wood
Floodwater
Lanthwaite Wood
The boathouse on Crummock Water - hard to imagine that the water level was half way up the wall a few days ago
I follow the lakeshore path
Flood debris at the foot of the lake - it will soon be gone…
..but the view will always be there
Looking back to the boathouse
As I’d expected, the footbridge across the foot of the lake is impassable
The weir - the point at which Crummock Water ends and the River Cocker begins
Fallen tree on the way back to the start
Last photo of the walk - Bonnie on the track through Lanthwaite Wood
Later on, sunset over Lorton Vale and hopefully a sign of better weather to come
