Jim Reid - Tour of the Lake District

Readers are advised that while every effort is taken by the author to ensure the accuracy of this guidebook, changes can occur which may affect the contents. It is advisable to check locally on transport, accommodation, shops, etc., but even rights of way can be altered.

The author would welcome information on any updates and changes sent through the publishers.

Cover photo: Below Great Gable, a crossroads of routes, at the very centre of the Lake District

Until I started on this book, I thought I knew the Lake District well. Now Im not so sure. For all the days Ive spent hiking the fells, Im still discovering paths Id never previously walked, and places Ive never quite got around to visiting. At my desk, working on my book in the winter months, my notepad fills with places I want to revisit when the snow comes, when the bluebells are out, when the red deer are in rut

And so it may be with you. Perhaps you are a seasoned Lakeland fell walker, perhaps you live here, or maybe you are considering a visit for the first time.

Whichever is the case, there is something in this book for you. If you have a week off work great walk the Tour in its entirety. It will take you seven days, and by the end of it youll be sure to know this amazing place a little better. Got two weeks free? Even better time enough for a few side trips; the suggestions for short walks in Part 3 should keep you out of mischief. Even if your explorations are just limited to snatched weekends, you can still dip into these pages for inspiration.

Enjoy your time in the hills. In researching this book, I certainly have.

Jim Reid, 2007

Typical Lakeland scenery, from a footpath above Thirlmere

GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS

A peaceful June dawn over Elterwater, with the Langdale Pikes behind (Stage 2)

A dipper bathing in the waters of a rain-swollen beck; my path bordered by the cheer of hawthorns in full bloom; and the lush, deep greens of the lake country resuming its summer colours... as I continued on beyond the last of the dry-stone walls to the open fell, past an alpine tarn and up a scramble on the scree-covered flanks of Great Gable, I was greeted on this occasion with a kings view of the land and water below. Such were the highlights of a day on foot in the Lake District that ended high in the mountains by a wood-burning stove in a former shepherds bothy now a tiny, isolated and charming youth hostel.

The day had taken me along an ancient, well-worn route used by drovers, traders and marauders through history. A picturesque packhorse bridge I crossed over, built without mortar, had stood the test of three centuries of north country winters. I passed farms first settled by Norsemen who saw there a place to stay and make their own. To walk through the Lake District today is to follow in the footsteps of a long line of explorers, visitors and settlers: from the early tribes who first cut the primeval woods and quarried the hard rock of the fells for their axes, to the 18th-century Romantic poets who immortalised the place in verse and paved the way for the modern-day visitor.

This was but one of the days spent researching the Tour of the Lake District, a 93 mile circular walking trek that takes in some of the best of this beautiful area. The routes of past herdsmen and travellers were the inspiration for this modern-day tour, designed to fit into a weeks holiday. It is not intended as an endurance test, although there are suggestions for more demanding, high-level routes for those who like to be physically challenged. Rather the Tour passes over easy to moderate terrain, seeking logical pathways between points of interest, history and natural beauty.