A Lakeland Loop
by Rob Burrow
Day 1: Ulverston to Elterwater - 19 miles
My celebratory ride was to start on the Whit weekend exactly 50 years after the clubs formation at Leominster. It would take in some of the favourite tracks described in old journal articles by Bill and Nellie Hill, Arthur and John Matthews, Bob Harrison and Albert Winstanley, all members who passionately love and loved the Lake District.
The ride was to start at Ulverston, described by writers of the Cumbria Way as the gateway to the Lakes. The circular route would take in some of the remote high moorland passes as well as the picturesque valleys so loved by Lakeland poets and artists, and so it was that five members from Lancashire met at Bryan's home in Ulverston for the start of our adventure.
The group consisting of four touring cycles and two mountain bikes left Ulverston on a clear bright sunny day taking a route of quiet back lanes which gave us superb views with Morecambe Bay behind us and the Lakeland Fells ahead. On reaching Lowick Bridge we made a turn to follow the River Crake in the direction of High Nibthwaite and on reaching the phone box in the village turned for the start of the our first rough stuff track of the trip. (SD295897)
After a hard pull up for 3/4 of a mile on the stony track, we stopped on a sunlit grassy bank for lunch. After a leisurely lunch we continued with the long pull up to Parkamoor where the vista opened up to give us a superb view of the whole of Coniston Water with Coniston Old Man standing majestically in the background. The ideal conditions brought out the cameras in abundance. From Parkamoor we dropped down through the grounds of the ruined house at Low Parkamoor, the front garden of which forms part of the bridleway which leads onto a sometimes grassy, sometimes stony track over The Park, and on down into Heald Brow Pasture in Grizedale Forest.
On meeting the wide forest fire road we took a left at (SD3l8943) to head towards our next destination of How Head a quiet backwater on the northeast end of Coniston Water. From here a difficult pull up on tarmac tested our fitness levels, which would again be tested to the limits over the next few days. To avoid the popular area around Tam Hows on a Bank Holiday Monday we made for the village of Knipe Fold, which meant we took the first road left after passing the quarry on the main Coniston to Hawkshead road.
It was in the village of Knipe Fold that we found a lovely tearoom, which appeared at just the right time. We all sat under the pagoda shaded from the sun, admiring an unusual but magnificent handkerchief tree, which stood in all its glory in the well-kept garden. After the much needed refreshment stop we continued on a B.O.A.T to the west of the village at (SD342995). This B.O.A.T. took us around the north end of the tams and after travelling a couple of mile we then turned right through a gate which led us into a plantation.
The last time I had been this way (two years previous) the path had been lined with tall conifer trees. This time the area looked as if a nuclear bomb had hit it, all the trees were flattened to the ground, testimony to the high winds the area had received in the January gales. (It was a sad site to see). This bridleway eventually led us steeply down to the road where we turned left, then immediately right to follow the road down over the river into the picturesque village of Elterwater and on to our overnight stop at the youth hostel.
Day 2: Elterwater - Derwentwater
The second day of our celebratory ride dawned bright and sunny. Peter G and Bryan had stayed at the Langdale YHA a few miles up Red Bank at High Close.
They arrived promptly at 9:45am and after a hearty hostel breakfast we were all ready for what was to be one of the toughest days of the tour. It was at this point that Peter G thought that he had left his mobile phone on his bunk at the hostel, and decided to ride the hill back to the hostel. He did however arrive back within a couple of minutes having discovered that it had dropped down in his pannier fortunately before he started up the hill, which was just as well as the days ride started will a hill climb back up the road we had come down the previous day. This climb was only for a few hundred yards before we branched right onto a No Through Road (NY325044) which eventually led us to our first track of the day, avoiding the heavy traffic in the Langdale valley below. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing at a farm on route courtesy of my map reading, we finally made the bridge, which took us over Great Langdale Beck, an ideal spot for some photos.
From here we made for the main road to take a left then almost immediately another left onto a byway rideable all the way to the New Dungeon Gill Hotel where we stopped for morning coffee. This would be the only hostelry available for sustenance until we made Stonethwaite in the Borrowdale valley.
After refreshment we took the stony track behind the Hotel heading west towards the Old Dungeon Gill pub where we would join the wider track along Mickleden. This track was rideable in parts but the nearer you got to the head of the valley the more boulders obstructed our way. This was to be a taste of things to come as we lifted, dragged and rolled the bikes along to were the track divides between Esk Hause going west towards Rossett Gill, Rossett Pike, Angle Tarn and Stake Pass going North leading to Langstrath Beck and eventually Borrowdale.
Stake Pass was to be our way and the ascent certainly looked daunting from the bottom of the pass looking up towards the saddle gap up on the horizon. After a short stop to gather our strength we made our assault on the pass. A few walkers stopped to ask why we were taking bikes over what was a difficult walkers path. We gave them the usual answers that we were on a day release from the local asylum. Seriously though Ken G was taken aback when a young lady waylaid him on the way up to ask "What was a laryngectomy doing struggling with a bike over this terrain?" It turned out that she was an ENT nurse and that she and two friends from the NHS had stayed in the YHA with us the previous night. It shows how tired we must have been as none of us had noticed them.
After a lengthy conversation with Ken it was a surprise to me that they did not offer to carry Ken's bike and saddlebag to the top. We did however pass them lying flat out, totally worn out, asleep on the top of the pass. Finally we all conquered the pass and after lunching on top of the world, made our way down on a grassy, I in 4 sometimes rocky track into the valley below, following the right hand side of Langstrath Beck into Stonethwaite where the pub gave us time to recover from 6hrs of mainly pushing and carrying the bikes. From here my plan had been to take the bridle way up to Watendlath from Rosthwaite, but on reflection, and risk of mutiny, I made the decision that it could wait until tomorrow. From Stonethwaite we made our way by road to the YHA hostel on the banks of Derwentwater. Two of the group however still had the energy to head into Keswick for a drink after our evening meal, the remaining four chilled out with hot drinks, showers and a good read before turning in for the night.