Fangs Brow walk - Loweswater walk

Route: Fangs Brow, Loweswater and Holme Wood

Area : Western Lake District

Date of walk: 22nd March 2025

Walkers: Andrew and Gilly

Distance: 4.0 miles

Ascent: 600 feet

Weather: Sunny and warm

Today’s walk was a variation of an old favourite above Loweswater and, although we’ve walked these paths numerous times before, we’ve rarely done so in this combination. Instead of our usual start from Maggie’s Bridge we drove along Loweswater to Fangs Brow. Fangs Brow is set in an elevated position on the western edge of the Lake District. We followed the obvious track, signposted for Loweswater, and set off along open moorland. We decided to follow the route in an anti-clockwise direction in order to keep the best views ahead as we walked. The track is known as the Old Coffin Road from Loweswater to St Bees (the description is probably fanciful but the name has stuck)

Before long Loweswater appeared. The views become better and better on the approach to Holme Wood, and from a well positioned bench along the way there’s a superlative view over Loweswater to Crummock Water:

We continued along the terraced path, which involves a few ups and downs, until we came to a gate leading into Holme Wood, owned by the National Trust. We followed a slanting path down through the wood. Sadly the National Trust has been obliged to carry out forestry operations here by felling all larch trees within 100m of a tree infected by the disease Phytophthora ramorum. Larch made up 75 per cent of the woodland and so the felling has been quite extensive, especially in the upper parts of the woodland. Nature will heal the wounds in due course, but the initial part of the descent is through a recently felled area. On the positive side this has opened up new views over Loweswater and the fells around it

We turned left at a junction in order to visit Holme Force. Anyone wanting to follow the path by the shore of Loweswater could easily do so by extending the walk. The path eventually brought us down to the head of Loweswater (the lake is unusual as it drains into lakeland rather than away from it as would be expected). After leaving Holme Wood we followed a path through fields above Jenkinson Place as far as Iredale Place, where we turned left to walk uphill. The path brought us back to the old coffin road and from here we retraced our steps back to the start

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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The start of the walk from Fangs Brow as we follow the sign towards Loweswater

After 100 yards or so we pass by this gate, This will be our return route at the end of the walk, but for now we carry on in the direction of High Nook

Burnbank Fell ahead

Loweswater comes into view

Looking back to Fangs Brow. On a clear day the Solway Firth and Scotland can be seen from here

The head of Loweswater below

We continue along the terraced path, known as the Old Coffin Road...

Ever improving views as we walk further into lakeland

Crummock Water makes an appearance beyond Loweswater

The head of Loweswater - our return route will take us through Holme Wood below

One of the best located benches in the Lake District

We continue along the wonderful path as it contours around the flanks of Burnbank Fell

Whiteside and Grasmoor overlooking Loweswater and C rummock Water

We follow the path around the gully created by Holme Beck - we'll cross the beck again at Holme Force lower down

We leave the Old Coffin Road here and enter Holme Wood via the gate on the left

As mentioned in the introduction, tree felling has taken place here out of necessity, but one benefit of this is that views over Loweswater have opened up...