Walla Crag walk, Derwentwater, Cumbria

Walla Crag cairn

I'll start by wishing you all a Happy and Healthy New Year. I'd thought I'd make an early start on the blog this year to ... try and squeeze an extra post in :-)

There's nothing better on occasions to go for a winter walk to escape Christmas food indulgence, lethargy and shopping. Today however was different as it was too windy and this virtual walk will have to do as a reserve.

It seems to me that I now post in Time Tunnels or a Time Hop with consecutive themes either being from last week, last year or maybe 2011. I haven't covered much of what I got up to in the not so happy year of 2012 on this blog but it was a great period of change, un-needful stress and lots of excessive travel on the road (usually in the dark) to South Yorkshire. All of this had to come to a sudden end in late January 2013 when the need to renovate and clear out my Mother's house for rental (nursing care home fees) purposes. Both February and March of that year were tough accepting the change whist constantly working on the house at weekends, late at night after work and then after visiting my Mother.

The day finally arrived when I handed in the house keys to the Estate agent to pass on to the new tenant. As I hadn't been anywhere for months and needed a break, the following saturday I checked and opted for the best available weather conditions in a radius of a two hour drive. This particular day out on 6th April 2013 was momentous in many ways as it was the beginning of a new chapter in my life although I wasn't quite sure what kind of chapter at the time.

Climbing up to Walla Crag

I drove to Keswick in Cumbria and opted to do my favourite walk, details and map are here ...

The Walla Crag / Ashness Bridge circular walk

... heading south on the east side of Derwentwater. This is the walk that I always recommend to any friends who are new to hillwalking in Cumbria / The English Lake District as it is so varied and inspiring.

In fact I get so enthused about it that I am pleased that you are about to join me on this visual feast of walking.

Derwentwater and Catbells

The view starts to open out a bit once the path hits the edge of the woods above Keswick. (above two images)

Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite Lake from Walla Crag

On leaving the trees behind, there is a bit of ascent pain that average walkers manage to deal with for a short time but as they say "No pain. no gain" and the views from the top are spectacular.

Derwentwater and Keswick from Walla Crag

I'm sure you can understand why I am a fair weather walker to capture photographic views like this and share them with you. For those walkers like myself who have followed in the footsteps of Alfred Wainwright will know that the imperial height measurement in feet was easy to remember at 1234 ft, but Ordnance survey seem to have upgraded it in more recent years to 1243 ft (379 metres)

Passing Ships, Keswick Launch, Derwentwater

The Keswick Launch is a ferry company that runs a simultaneous clockwise and anticlockwise service around Derwentwater calling at numerous landing stages on the lakeshore.

Bleaberry Fell

Not being one to conform to tradition, I decided to add an extra dog leg into the the walk by covering the higher and more exciting looking wintery Bleaberry Fell at 1936 feet (590 m)

Bleaberry Fell path

The path seemed pretty much straightforward to start with so I'd thought I'd give it a go, however ...

Bleaberry Fell ascent

The extra dog leg walk was a bit more tricky at one point of ascent as four dog legs found it far easier than the human's two :-)

Skiddaw from Bleaberry Fell

From experience and what you can observe in this post is that the greatest ascent doesn't usually produce the better views as their is always some undulating crag or mound in the way, but it certainly opens up a different world. Skiddaw in the background being the fourth highest mountain in England at 3054 ft (931 m) ...

Helvellyn

...and then swinging panoramically to the south east, Helvellyn being the third highest at 3118 ft (950m). Brrr, too cold to hang about here, so time to re-join the main path again.

Ashness Bridge

The path southwards from Walla Crag defends the gradually down the hill until the World Famous Ashness Bridge is reached.

Although Ashness bridge bears a single track road serving the remote and hamlet of Watendlath, it became famous in Victorian times on The Grand Tour as many artists travelled to the area to replicate the scene. A William Linton (1791-1876) example
Comparing the Victorian scene with the 21st century image, it is unfortunate that the trees are starting to obscure Derwentwater with the Bridge gradually becoming more prominent in it's own right with each passing decade.

Derwentwater Lakeshore

The best way to see the lake of course is to continue with the walk down the road to the lakeshore.

Skiddaw and Derwentwater

and a beautiful and easy stroll back northwards to Keswick with views of the mountain Skiddaw

Friar's Crag

One of the most famous locations on the shores of Derwentwater is Friar's Crag. It seemed to get it's name from the peninsula that was used to moor boats and transport monks to the nearby St Herbert's Island for a pilgrimage.

Walla Crag from Friar's crag

Had this been a summer post, I would have chosen the above image as the title shot, but instead I've just highlighted it from obscurity !!

Friar's Crag view

Not only did the view south from Friar's Crag attract the monks for their onward journey but the tourists came later, although maybe not before Canon Rawnsley set the scene as a founding member of The National Trust. The Canon was influential as vicar of Crosthwaite in preserving large areas of Borrowdale from the developers. Brandlehow Woods was the first on the far side of the lake towards the right of the image.
Friar's Crag was handed over to the National Trust in 1920 following Rawnsley's death.

Keswick Launch

It might be romance and speculation to suggest that the Monks inspired boat travel on Derwentwater but boat owners didn't miss a trick and hired out their craft for pleasure use on the lake. That was all blown out of the water by the arrival of a super ferry of it's day called The May Queen. Everyone wanted to travel on it and a lot of surrounding business was lost. The Keswick Launch company commenced operations around the same time in 1935 with big plans for the imminent launch of a second boat.

Annie Mellor

There was much controversy in the town of Keswick as many locals didn't think that there would be enough business for the Annie Mellor. As you can see, it is still operational today along with other classical vessels in the fleet. Unfortunately due to regulation changes as a result of a fire on a boat in The River Thames (Marchioness Disaster 1989), two of the fleet including The May Queen that were taken out of service were beyond repair and broken up. The vessels that survived and were rebuilt to the new required standards were Annie Mellor, Princess Margaret Rose, Lady Derwentwater and Iris.

Boats for Hire Derwentwater

Just to complete the story ... It's nice to know that some of the classical smaller boats are still available for hire.

The Heads, Keswick

The walk back into Keswick passes the unusual street name where the Victorians first built their hotels that overlooked the lake and some of the scenes depicted above. The mountain backdrop is Skiddaw to the north once again.

Hi... Robin, Keswick

Lastly there were no comedy shots today but a bird bonus at the both the start and end of the walk as I changed in and out of my walking boots in the passenger seat of my car. Those that know Keswick and The Lake District will understand that car parking fees can be expensive as the authorities seek to encourage longer stay visitors and the use of public transport such as the one I have hinted at in this post. However as a long stay day visitor, I have a secret parking location in Keswick and with a visual treat like this, I'll be returning there again !! It was good he came back to see me at the end of the day.

Robin, Keswick