The Loweswater Five - Photo Gallery

I had a route planned but by the time I parked at Maggie's Bridge near Loweswater it was wonderfully warm and sunny and Mellbreak looked too good to miss. The hills are looking very purple just now, the ling heather is in full bloom contrasting well with the different greens of grass, trees and bracken. Mellbreak isn't that big a hill but it rises impressively from the flat area near Crummock Water and it just has to be climbed. For the first time this year I left my waterproof jacket in the car, I just know it's going to be sunny and warm all day.

From the small car parking area at Maggie's Bridge there is only one way to Loweswater village but there are several footpaths through the village. Instead of the obvious track past the Inn I took a less obvious path behind Oak Cottage near the phone box and had more trouble navigating here than on the hills. I did eventually find my way to the path through Green Wood leading to the start of the path to Mellbreak. Even on the initial climb through the bracken you gain enough height to have a good view of Loweswater flanked by Blake Fell and Low Fell.

Soon you get to the interesting bit of Mellbreak, a steep and rugged shale path over scree at first and then up through the heather. The path gets steeper making it a bit of a scramble for a short time but never anything to worry about and there is plenty of rock up ahead to look forward to. The first grassy shelf is very pleasant and if you walk ahead a little there is the first view of Grasmoor and Whiteside on the other side of Crummock Water. There is a fine short rocky ridge to scramble up; in these dry conditions there is no need to use the path by the side of the ridge.

The view ahead is steep rock, part of Mellbreak's appeal is its promise (or threat) of ruggedness that is never realised but it is an interesting ascent all the way to the northern summit. This top is much more worthy of the title of summit that the slightly higher official summit at the southern end of the hill. There is a second grassy platform that has another good view of Grasmoor followed by the last climb up through dense purple flowered heather. Also dense is the swarm of horse flies, not the dull grey/brown ones I came across earlier in the year but these are the ones with the bright red legs and mouth parts.

The swarm exists for a wide area either side of the summit cairn, they didn't seem to be in the mood to feed but I didn't wait around long enough to risk it. Rather than head southwards along the surprisingly broad ridge I followed a faint path veering off to the right in the direction of Mosedale. As the gradient eased the swarm of flies was left behind and the path ahead following the contours became more obvious as I was expecting it to turn down towards Mosedale. I reached a gully and I was convinced that there should be a way down around here, I could see where the path should end in the valley below.

I didn't really want to go down the gully, there is always the risk of reaching an impassable ledge. There were signs of a line of broken leaves in the bracken by the side of the gully, I decided that it was a safer looking option than the gully itself. There was a definite way through the bracken and it led me to a smaller gully that I was much happier to walk down but inevitably it joined the larger gully at the kind of rock ledge that I was concerned about. Having got this far I decided to have a go at getting down the ledge but just as I got to the awkward step a small path went off to the right.

Within a couple of minutes the small path led me to a very obvious path running straight up the hill from the valley, the bracken makes the path seem obvious here but probably hid it from me as I passed the top of it. The way down is obvious and easy but how do I get across Mosedale, there is a path running along its length and there is probably a stream down there too. There is an obvious track running up the valley by the side of the fence and on the other side of the fence is Mosedale Beck. The only tree in Mosedale lives up the valley a little way still there forty years after Wainwright wrote about it.

The path leads up the valley and on to Floutern Pass, this is the area with the wettest ground in the Lake District, it surrounds Hen Comb on three sides and that is where I want to go next. Straight ahead looks too steep to climb Hen Comb, the path is at its closest here but I have a fence and a stream to cross. A little way down the valley the upward slope looks a little less daunting but there is a wide grassy area to cross, how wet will it be? The path up the valley will take longer, the ground will be just as wet and the slope just as steep so I decided to step over the fence, go downstream a bit and risk crossing the valley floor.

Fortunately the ground isn't wet but it is very difficult to walk across, large tussocks of grass mean you have to lift your knees high and hope you don't step down a deep hole. I could not do this in wet weather, the gaps between the tussocks would be full of swamp and the gentle stream would be a torrent and I wouldn't be able to see the easy stepping stones. I got to the place I was aiming for and started to climb diagonally up the hill getting through the bracken as easily as possible.

There seems to be traces of paths and evidence of spoil heaps, I used the paths and gaps in the bracken when I could, making wide zigzag progress up the hill. Once I got past the bracken it still looked a long way upwards and I just headed straight uphill until I reached another fence. I was just about to climb it when I noticed I was close to a junction of fences that would have meant another one to cross if I hadn't gone a bit further uphill before finally stepping over the fence. I started to climb, slanting towards the summit when I came across a path slanting in the opposite direction but still uphill.

The path took me back to a fence going uphill, I followed it and soon came to the path going along the ridge, a final grassy climb to the summit of Hen Comb. For a little green hill it has some great views, Fleetwith Pike is very distinctive and Grasmoor beyond Mellbreak is just mountainous. The view to my next hill, Gavel Fell is slightly less spectacular across Whiteoak Moss which is another wide wet valley. If Mosedale is passable then it must be possible to make a beeline to Gavel Fell, the descent of Hen Comb is steep and green but not difficult, Whiteoak Moss is wide and strenuous to cross with another fence to step over but not very wet.

Eventually you get to a broad ridge and head uphill, a faint path bypasses the intermediate heights but I ignored the path and walked each of the undulations until I reached a fence. The path follows the fence to the summit of Gavel Fell and on to Blake Fell, on this dry day the crossing between these two hills still gets very muddy in places. The fence makes a couple of turns, right and then left but keep going it will take you to the substantial cairn on the summit of Blake Fell. There is a good view of Cogra Moss and Murton Fell, the climb I sacrificed for Mellbreak is still an interesting looking little hill.

The fence carries on towards Burnbank Fell, the ground here too is quite muddy by the side of the fence. To the right is the height of Carling Knott, in order to get there I had to cross the fence and walk over rough heathery ground. This is the closest to virgin ground that I have come across, it seems to be completely untrodden until starting to climb again where a quad bike track and signs of a footpath take you to the ancient looking cairns at the summit. Walk back down towards Burnbank Fell over rough grass until you get back to the fence, the path is now on this side so no need to cross the fence again.

The summit cairn of Burnbank Fell is tucked into a corner on the other side of the fence, you have to step over it again. Follow a faint path in a north east direction until the path disappears just before you reach a bigger cairn at a viewpoint overlooking Loweswater. There isn't much in the way of a path down to the track you can see below so I mentally tossed a coin and decided to go left where I did pick up a faint path slanting steeply downwards. I got down to the track where I turned right and went through a gate, there is a bit of a climb until you get to Holme Beck and a bit more of a climb until you get to the wall enclosing Holme Wood.

There is a gate in the wall and the good path takes you down to Loweswater at Watergate Farm, follow the track back to Maggie's Bridge.

Andy Wallace 20th August 2005