A little bit of Newlands

The second of my three walks in the Lake District last summer. The idea was to start with Catbells and head over Maiden Moor to High Spy, maybe further.


Anyway, having eventually found the car park at Little Town (I would say it was appropriately named but Little Hamlet might have been better) I put some money in the parking honesty box and pulled my boots on.  Following the path around Looking Crag you go up past the old mine workings crossing Yewthwaite Gill as you walk towards Hause Gate.

View from Yewthwaite Gill

Mine Adit

This is the final path up towards Catbells as you swing left over the gill:

Brunt Crag

Looking Back from the top of the Gill:

Scope End and Ard Crags

Having done this though you go from peace and quiet to the relative congestion of Catbells. To be fair though, it is a great view!

Catbells Summit - looking to Skiddaw

Catbells summit - looking to Blencathra

View to Basenthwaite 

Unfortunately the rain started just after leaving Catbells and continued almost constantly so the camera was packed away for a while at this point. However, I dropped back down to Hause Gate and then crossed Maiden Moor on my way to High Spy. Having then reached Dale Head Tarn I decided to call it quits for the day and head back to the car and took the path which follows Newlands Beck and goes under Miners Crag, Red Crag, Eel Crags and Castle Nook and eventually back to the car park at Little Town.

A word about the path though -  the footpath marked as a right of way on the OS map has disappeared from between Miners and Red Crags and you just have the other higher path until you meet the right of way again at Castle Nook. This higher path is also very indistinct in places but going down I had the advantage of being able to see it further ahead when it disappeared right in front of me (I could not see the other path at all). Wainwright describes the higher path which I took (and it does go 10 yards above that lone larch). The path is very rocky, slippy (as it was wet), steep in places and goes across the scree slope. I was coming down very carefully thinking that if I did slip and hurt myself I was probably the first person to use the path in ages - then I met 2 people at Castle Nook going UP the path!

This is the view back up the path from Castle Nook (it stopped raining just after starting down the path):

Newlands Valley

A lovely day with lovely views, I just need to go back on a nicer day.