Brown How, Whinlatter Top and Ullister Hill
Walk date – 10th January 2026
Distance – 6.5 miles
Weather – dry with sunny spells, occasional light southerly breeze, slightly warmer than recent days
Although we’ve taken several walks in the Whinlatter area over the years to walk over Lord’s Seat, Broom Fell and Graystones we haven’t visited Whinlatter Top since 2014. Following our disappointing visit to Binsey a couple of days ago we were more or less sure that the snow covered tops of the higher fells in the area would more than compensate for the lack of snowy views on that occasion. The strong north westerly winds we’ve been having recently have disappeared and their replacement by a southerly air current promised a day of calmer and slightly warmer conditions. Our optimism was dashed at the sight of several ‘Road Closed’ signs as we reached Braithwaite village, which indicated that the road was closed beyond the Whinlatter Visitor Centre. We carried on past the Centre and hoped for the best, eventually reaching the turn off leading to the parking area at Darling How without coming across any reason at all as to why the road closed signs were in place. The parking areas along the Whinlatter Pass road were busy and even after we had turned off several cars behind us carried on over towards Lorton, so we could see no apparent reason for the notices unless no work was taking place over the weekend. In contrast there were, for the second weekend in a row, quite a few actual road closures in the Penrith area in connection with the installation of a new bridge across the M6 in the Clifton area. To avoid the closures we had to go via Pooley Bridge to access the A66 at the Rheged roundabout which added extra time to our journey westward, on the plus side there was hardly any traffic between there and Keswick. Swings and roundabouts came to mind.
Route
Darling How parking area – forest track to first junction – path to Brown How – Whinlatter Top – Tarbarrel Moss – Ullister Hill – Lord’s Seat path – descent via forest trail – forest track back to Darling How parking area
Just a couple of vehicles were already parked at the Darling How parking area so we had no difficulty in finding a spot. As we were preparing to set out we heard the crunch of wheels on gravel and thought someone else was also going to arrive but it turned out to be nothing more than a Royal Mail van delivering mail to the house in the shot above.
We set off along the forest track under cloudy skies and with a little chill in the air but we could see large patches of blue sky following on behind the cloud so we were optimistic that they would soon be above us. The above shot shows Widow Hause and the extensive tree felling which has taken place over the years.
Another shot of more extensive felling on the slopes of the nameless fell between Widow Hause and Broom Fell. We walked through the felling area as felling was taking place on 4th Sept 2023 and today we noticed that the DANGER notices were still around but we saw no felling machinery so there seems to be no forestry activity taking place anywhere in the area at present.
The next fell to come into view is Broom Fell. Although I can’t remember exactly where it was situated, somewhere along here we noticed that a new path going down into the valley had been created together with a new signpost and new footbridge across Aiken beck. I seem to remember there used to be an ‘unofficial’ track down into the valley so perhaps the park authority decided to upgrade it and make it an official one.
A look back at Graystones from the first turn off we arrived at. We diverted from the main forest track at this point and followed it up to the point where a small dirt track appeared on our left …..
….. at which point we left the engineered path and began the climb up to Brown How. We still have cloud overhead so J keeps his jacket hood up. I’m already overheating so mine isn’t.
The view upwards from the path which was still hard frozen today although we didn’t need to put our spikes on since there was no ice around.
J appears to be concentrating on something as I took a shot looking back down the path. Graystones appearing behind the tree plantation.
J now minus hood and woolly cap as we continue on up the path.
Another look back as I noticed that sunshine had landed on the fells to the western side of Loweswater. Blake Fell is the most prominent, although it could be Carling Knott, hard to tell at this distance and from this angle.
Continuing the climb with another look over to Graystones …..
….. and a little further to the right for a better view of Widow Hause.
A look back to Graystones and Widow Hause after crossing the broken wall and stile. The cloud has moved and they are in full sunlight. We aren’t, at the moment, as the sun isn’t high enough to release us from the shadow of Brown How.
The sunlight also lights up the nameless summit (on the left) and Broom Fell across the valley. The cloud which has been hanging around is to the right of the shot and is now moving northwards at last.
The little hump to the left of centre is Lord’s Seat. We continue on up the path still in the shadow of Brown How.
The long sweep of open land between Broom Fell and Lord’s Seat.
Another look back towards Graystones and Widow Hause as we crest a rise. Taking any shots looking ahead of us wouldn’t have been worthwhile, or interesting, as we were in deep shade and were only looking at a dark brown hillside, as the following shot shows.
From the dark brown heather swathed slopes of Brown How a look across Whinlatter Pass to the snow capped fells on the other side. From L to R we can see Hobcarton Crags, Hopegill Head, Ladyside Pike, possibly a little bit of Grasmoor, as its difficult to be certain, and Whiteside. No view of Grisedale Pike from this angle.
A view of Skiddaw Little Man (C), to its left is a clouded view of Skiddaw, and to its right are Lonscale Fell and Blencathra.
Another view of sunny Lord’s Seat from near the top of Brown How …..
….. and suddenly we are in sunlight too. Meanwhile the snowcapped fells across Whinlatter have clouded over and have lost some of their sparkle. We get the sunshine they get the shadow, another example of losing on the roundabout but gaining on the swings. Its an old saying which has its origin in the poem ‘Roundabouts and Swings’ by Patrick R Chalmers, which can be found here
https://allpoetry.com/Patrick-R-Chalmers
The wind shelter on Brown How, not needed today as there was no wind just an occasional and very light breeze, with the Loweswater fells behind it. We had a short break here before heading across to Whinlatter Top.
Spikes had to be used from here for obvious reasons. The distance between Brown How and Whinlatter Top isn’t long but it does have watery sections which have become frozen solid.
As we walked over to Whinlatter Top we were treated to a sunlit view of the snowy tops of Skiddaw Lesser & Little Man (R) and the Skiddaw plateau. Below them is the largely snow free Ullock Pike/Long Side/Carl Side ridge.
Crossing the broken down wall between Whinlatter Top (pictured) and Brown How where we have just greeted a couple of walkers out walking their dog.
Looking back to Brown How as we approach Whinlatter Top.
J on Whinlatter Top with cloud now obscuring the snowy tops of Skiddaw. Two young runners were approaching from the right so J mentioned the icy state of the path between here and Brown How to let them know about the conditions ahead of them. A bit more chat and then we went our separate ways.
Looking back to Brown How from Whinlatter Top. Nice to be in the sun and wind free again.
We began making our way down the path over to Tarbarrel Moss with a distant view of Clough Head, The Dodds and the Helvellyn range and I wondered how the fell top assessors were getting on over on Helvellyn. I read their report last night which said they had slightly stronger winds than we experienced, although they were much reduced from previous days, and that Helvellyn was busy with walkers, climbers and skiers. There’s hardly anybody around here, by way of contrast.
Still heading over to Tarbarrel Moss with only the Ullock Pike ridge visible now, the rest of the Skiddaw group being hidden in the cloud.
The two Mell Fells in the distance sandwiched between Blencathra and Clough Head …..
….. and a longer view of them which shows the type of terrain we were crossing over. When we reached Tarbarrel Moss the walk through the tree plantations was very dark so I didn’t take any more photos until we were back on one of the forest trails again.
The forest trails alternated between frosted snow …..
….. or dark and gloomy so there was no point in taking any more.
Once we were out in the open again and crossing the Ullister Hill area the camera came out again. This is the view we had of Lord’s Seat from the Ullister Hill area as we crossed over. Lots of frozen areas of water to deal with across here so the spikes are still on.
The shape of Binsey appeared on the skyline as we made our way back to the forest track below Lord’s Seat.
We left the Ullister Hill path leading across to Lord’s Seat and turned down the forest path leading back down to the forest track. The swamp, my name for the usual soggy mess at the start of our descent via the forest path, was frozen solid so no muddy clag had to be waded through, although there was plenty of potential for sprained ankles if you weren’t careful. Part way down was this uprooted tree plate the branches of which proved to be rather a nuisance as they had spread across the path.
Almost down to the forest track now so I took a look back up at our descent path. Its a decent route to use apart from the messy ‘swamp’ at the Lord’s Seat end, and any fallen trees which occasionally might have to be dealt with.
Back on the engineered forest track and a shot showing the start of the path up through the forest which we have just walked down. The engineered forest track continues uphill for a short distance, then sweeps round to the right and eventually leads walkers back to Tarbarrel Moss or back down to the Whinlatter Visitor Centre, depending on their destination. From this point we had an uneventful longish walk back to the car at Darling How. The following photos were taken during the walk back …..
….. trackside rocks glinting in the sunlight …..
….. approaching the Aiken beck crossing …..
….. a very dull looking Graystones ….
….. followed by a much brighter one further along as we reach the turn off track which we used at the start of our walk …..
….. a look back at Lord’s Seat …..
….. and now we are in the sunshine again a look over towards Widow Hause and the nameless summit beside it …..
….. and the final shot of the day shows a sunny Broom Fell. At the top of this small rise the parking area came back into view so we didn’t have much further to walk. Back at the car we offloaded the rucksacks, walking poles, spikes, gaiters together with all the other stuff you have to carry during the winter months, ate our sandwiches plus a couple of cups of coffee to wash them down with before setting off on our return journey. Returning along the Lorton road along Whinlatter which, despite the Road Closed notices, still had traffic travelling along it, we kept reminding ourselves to take the road down to Pooley Bridge when we reached the Rheged roundabout in order to avoid the definite road closures at the Penrith roundabouts in the M6 area.