Windermere Way - Day 4 Ferry House to Ambleside

Distance: 12.5 miles
Ascent: 875m
Weather: cloudy, sunny spells

Lots of: bunnies, chiff-chaffs, robins, hordes on Loughrigg Fell
A couple of: swans, ducks, speedy children, squirrels, kingfishers
Fewer: buzzard

Our last day of the Windermere Way today was from Ferry House up to Ambleside,  in the other direction from the rest of our routes but we wanted to end in Ambleside due to transport being more readily available. Chances are that the ferries wouldn't have been a problem today, but we didn't want to risk getting stuck on the wrong side of the lake and trying to get a taxi to come out for us.

So we got the ferry first to Ferry House and walked up the hillside to the top of Claife Heights where, as every steamer captain will tell you, there is at least one of every species of native British tree growing. Our knowledge of trees, especially in winter, isn't good enough to confirm or deny but the information boards about the woods mentioned 8 types of tree here: sessile oak, birch, holly, rowan, hazel, ash, wych elm and bird cherry. There was also soil, but not officially natural soil.

We walked along the ridge of The Heald and then dropped down to Belle Grange, where we joined the lakeside track,  passing people enjoying a spot of fishing and car fumes.

At Wray Castle we turned inland, along a very swanky new path to Skelwith Fold where we crossed some fields up a hill and followed a lane into Skelwith Bridge. We had lunch by the bridge,  where Rob made a very funny joke two minutes too late, and were further entertained by the goings on in the car park.

After lunch we went up to Loughrigg Tarn which is very pretty and very popular,  and then over Loughrigg Fell which is also very pretty and very popular - less so on the side away from the lake though. We did see a few people, including a lady who was looking for the golf course (?) - ed. later investigation tells us that there used to be a golf course to the north of Todd Crag but not since the 1950s; although this doesn't seem to prevent it from being used as a navigation point in a fair few walk descriptions, there is no indication of it on the OS map.

The route down brought us to Clappersgate and, after a bit along the road, we followed the River Rothay around the lakeshore passing the Roman ruins to Waterhead to catch the steamer.

Windermere Way - Day 3 Newby Bridge to Bowness

Distance: 12.5 miles
Ascent: 750m
Weather: cold, sunny
Going: icy

Hands trapped in gates: 1
Slippy slides: lots
Deer: 1
Pheasant: 1
Partridges: some, possibly 6
Cows in woods, jacobs sheep, honky geese

7:10am saw us getting on a bus to Newby Bridge, and we were dropped off in the dark just by the bridge at the side of a busy road. We turned off the road almost straight away up a lane, using headtorches in case of traffic - of which there wasn't any. The lane was very slippery so we kept to the edges and verges as much as possible.

The weather forecast for today was low clouds and mist, but we could see stars as our eyes adjusted to the dark, and as dawn broke the sky was clear. The valley below with Lake Windermere in was blanketed in low cloud and stayed like that all day.

The path took us through Chapel Plantation by Cop o' Cow Hill and over to Gummer's How, where we were overtaken by a very keen photographer. Thankfully he'd moved on by the time we reached the top and we had clear 360 degree views.

Picking our way down the icy path, there were impressive ice crystals in the bogs, we crossed a fence and headed passed a reservoir (unnamed) and into forestry.

Lunch was had on a grassy edge in the sunshine. Then we headed down into farmland, along what was heavily signed as a 'permissive' and 'alternate' path that actually followed the exact same route as the footpath marked on the map, and out onto a narrow lane. The signs are probably to discourage people from attempting to join a nearby track which is a more direct route, and although is a right of way, doesn't actually join up with the footpath.

So we went around the lane, sliding some more, and entered a new nature reserve with native trees and cows. And ice. I can't remember what it said on the information board but on the map it's marked as Birkett Houses Allotments.  Didn't see any sheds.

At Lindeth we briefly joined our route from Christmas Eve's walk but only very briefly.

From here we crossed a B road and headed up a lane which all of a sudden looked very familiar and we crossed the stone stile to Brant Fell. We followed the route to the farm and then went to the top. It was heaving and we joined the crowds walking back down into the misty gloom that had hung over Bowness and the lake all day.

Windermere Way - Day 2 Ferry House to Lakeside

Distance: 10 miles
Ascent: 500m
Weather: cold and sunny

Heron:1 Sunbathing cormorants: 3 Swans: 5

Tree attacks: 4

The first ferry crossing is at 9:50 on Sunday mornings and we got there in plenty of time. We attempted to look at the view from the viewpoint but it was fenced off. Then we had a look around a nature reserve,  where the nature included 'soil'.

The way goes along quiet lanes, some of which were quite slippy with ice and through woods and alongside the lakeshore, some of which was quite wet, especially when the boats went by.

We passed some fishermen who hadn't caught anything and then met a couple of hordes coming in the other direction.

We left the lakeshore to go up to Stott Park Heights where we had a bit of a clamber through the undergrowth and a look off the top of a ladder, before going around High Dam, where there were a lot of people and dogs, although on the main tracks rather than the less travelled paths we were following. We wandered off path slightly to have lunch in the trees at Bell Intake.

We crossed some grassy fields before entering a wood,  where they were in the process of replacing the trees with traffic cones and mud, before reaching the road down into Lakeside.

We caught the last steamer of the day back to Bowness, with a lovely sunset. It was blumming chuffing freezing.

Windermere Way - Part 1 Bowness to Ambleside

Distance: 10 miles
Ascent: 650m
Weather: cloudy, patchy sunshine, brief snow shower.
Things of interest: lost tourists, wren, lots of robins, heard buzzards, snow!

Today we began the Windermere Way, which is about 45 miles in length total and we've decided to do over four days - due to the amount of daylight this time of year and where the buses, ferries and steamers go to / from.

We set off from Bowness at about 10:30 along the lake road and on to the footpath by the shore from Rayrigg Hall to Millerground and up to Orrest Head. There were lots of people at the top and we left them there enjoying the views, and headed down (no bunnies today) gentle grassy fields to Near and then Far Orrest.

On the other side of Town End we had lunch on a bench which miraculously we arrived at just at lunchtime and then followed the track up to Hundreds Road (along with a lot of 4x4s) and up over Wansfell Pike. It was a bit snowy at the top and we had a short flurry, but there were fine views.

Coming down into Ambleside  along Stockghyll Force (pausing to have a word with a walker who was totally oblivious to the fact his dog had been chasing sheep) and back to the pier where we had time for a coffee before catching the last steamer of the day to Bowness in the twilight.

Christmas Eve - Bowness

Distance: 11 miles
Ascent :
Weather: chilly, mostly sunny

We had planned a walk around Windermere using the ferry, but due to the height of the water in the lake the ferries were not running today,  so we had a rethink. We decided to head out and around Undermillbeck Common to Knipe Tarn and back along the Dales Way,  with options on lanes if the footpaths were flooded.

There was a bit of wading, but on the whole it was fine and a lovely day.