Rambling around Troutbeck and a visit to Orrest Head
Walk date – 28th May 2025
Distance – 7 miles
Weather – dry and mostly cloudy with some sunny spells, mild, light breeze
We decided on something a little different for today’s walk given that this, as far as we could tell, was the only day this week likely to be rain free. As cloud cover drifting around the fells was also in the forecast we decided to have a low level walk over in the Troutbeck area. We plotted a route starting at the Dubs road, where there is a small parking area on the Moorhowe road, walking up to the junction with the Garburn road and then doubling back on ourselves and walking down the Garburn road to its junction with the Longmire Road at the end of which we would cross the Moorhowe road and locate the path leading over to Far and Near Orrest farmsteads. We haven’t walked this particular path before so we were interested a) to see if it really existed, and b) to see what, if anything, we might see along the way. We also decided to have a walk up Orrest Head, a place we have never visited, as it was there during a walking holiday in Windermere with his cousin, that AW first set eyes on the Lake District fells which resulted in the publishing of his world famous guide books. In his book ‘The Outlying Fells of Lakeland’ he describes his visit to Orrest Head as “our first ascent in Lakeland, our first sight of mountains in tumultuous array across glittering waters, our awakening to beauty”. As it was, so to speak, the little hill where it all began for AW, we thought it was time that we too stood on the top of it and gazed at the view just as he did in 1930.
Route
Roadside parking on Moorhowe Road – Dubs Road – Garburn Road – Longmire Road – Moorhowe Road – Far Orrest – Near Orrest – Causeway Farm – Orrest Head – Moorhowe parking area
Ours was the first car to arrive at the small parking area at the bottom of the Dubs road which is just to the side of a bend in the Moorhowe road so we had no problems in that respect. It didn’t take us long to get our things together and, as the skies were gloomy and overcast, we wore our jackets just to keep the morning chill out. Once the car was locked and the gps switched on we set off up the Dubs road.
As we walked up we had a view of Sour Howes in the distance and also views of something we haven’t seen for quite some time, puddles, of which the Dubs road had plenty so we were constantly weaving from one side of the path to the other. Sometimes the puddles took up most of the track and, not knowing how deep they might be, we walked on the edge of them thus keeping boots dry but getting damp trouser legs when brushing against the wet bracken. They soon dried though in the mild morning air.
Further along the track we came across this mini reservoir being fed by a tiny stream further along to the right of the shot and trickling out at the far end via a small tiered stone arrangement acting as a dam. This was the best shot that could be managed as there were too many fallen branches and too much foliage to achieve anything better. As it was it was a crouch down crawl through all the undergrowth with J having to give me a hand back up onto the track afterwards.
Dubs reservoir where all the buildings were locked up and no-one was around. I looked for the preponderance of notices which used to be displayed all over the place but they too have vanished. We did wonder if this is scheduled for de-reservoiring treatment too. Not a ripple on the water but plenty of cloud drifting around above.
A look back at the reservoir as we move on up the track. We came across a notice beside the track to the effect that the park authority was aware of the damage to the track but as the notice was peeling away from the board it was attached to we realised that the notice must have been in place for quite a while and, although being ‘aware’ of the state of the track, nothing seemed to have been done about it as many deep grooves full of stones, pebbles and larger stones and rocks still remained. We haven’t walked this track for some years now but neither of us remembered it being as damaged as it was today.
A little hill, without a name, between the Dubs road and the Garburn road from the stop we made to remove our jackets. The cloud overhead might be grey and low but the morning is mild and, without a breeze to cool us down, the jackets just had to come off.
Backstone Barrow comes into view as we make our way up the track and …..
….. a little further along is this ladder stile coming up from the Garburn road track …..
….. and directly opposite it is the ladder stile which gives access to the Backstone Barrow route to the summit of Sour Howes. I made a mental note to take a shot of the stile leading up to this point when we come to it as we walk down the Garburn road. For once I remembered to do so and the shot of that stile will appear in due course.
We’ve reached the junction of the two paths so we stopped for a minute or two while I took a few shots of the views from this point. Down in the middle of the Troutbeck valley is Troutbeck Tongue, where a vague hint of sunlight has landed on the valley floor, and the fells on the greyed out skyline are Caudale Moor and Stony Cove Pike (L), Threshthwaite Mouth (C) and Thornthwaite Crag (R).
The white walled houses of Troutbeck village are across the valley beneath the lumpy ridge line of Wansfell above which is the darker shape of Red Screes over on the right.
The glimmer of sunlight is still lighting up the Troutbeck valley …..
….. and is also illuminating the western section of the Kentmere Horseshoe the fells on view being, from front to back, Yoke, Ill Bell and Froswick.
The view looking towards the junction of the two tracks. Dubs road on the left, which we’ve just been walking, and the Garburn road on the right which we are just about to walk down.
As we descend the Garburn road below us are the lodges of Limefitt Holiday Park and the white walled houses of Troutbeck village.
The stile from the Garburn road leading up to the two stiles on the Dubs road mentioned earlier. The mental note to take a shot of it that I made earlier kicked in and I remembered to take one. Miracles can happen sometimes!
Further down the Garburn road we arrive at another junction where the one on the left is the Longmire road which will lead us back to Moorhowe road.
This shot is looking back along the Longmire road which, according to our walks diaries, we last walked in July 2015 although neither of us can remember it. However that’s not too surprising as one stony track is very much like another and there was nothing out of the ordinary along the way to bring any memories of it to mind. It was a very pleasant walk along it though and we were even fortunate enough to experience a few sunny spells along the way,
The sunlight has even managed to land on parts of the Coniston group of fells. This was our first clear view of them as low cloud had been drifting around them whenever they were in our view.
A look over to Sour Howes from the Longmire road where the notice on the gate indicating that it was PRIVATE land and there was NO PUBLIC ACCESS.
A pleasant view of Windermere from the Longmire road although we couldn’t work out whether the smoke was coming from a garden bonfire or one of the ‘steamboats’ which ply their trade up and down the lake.
The Longmire road surface turns from stony/pebbly to tarmac as we reach the driveway leading to Whinny Howe which we assumed was a private residence although the upward curve of the driveway prevented us from seeing any buildings.
As we walked the remainder of the Longmire road I suddenly noticed the view of Crinkle Crags, Bowfell and the Langdale Pikes on the skyline over on my right. The clouds are preventing any light landing on them so they are a bit greyed out but it was lovely to see them in the distance.
We’re approaching the end of the Longmire road at its junction with the Moorhowe road at this point …..
….. so when we reached the end of it I took this look back along it.
We turned right from the Longmire/Moorhowe junction, walking down the road while keeping a lookout for anything on the opposite side of the road which looked like a path. I was dubious to begin with as we have been misled too many times by OS maps showing paths which didn’t exist on the ground but, not only did the path exist there was even a signpost pointing the way.
We passed a group of ewes and their lambs along the way, some of the lambs had grown in confidence and weren’t alarmed by our presence while others weren’t quite so sure and scurried off to their mothers for protection.
Another look over towards the Langdale Pikes with Lingmoor Fell just below it. The Crinkles and Bowfell are no longer clearly defined now that the cloud has returned.
We’ve reached Far Orrest farm where this signpost came in handy as we’re heading over to Near Orrest farm before going over to Orrest Head.
The path led us around the back of the buildings at Far Orrest farm …..
….. and then to these two gates with a lonning between the two of them. We’ve just passed through the gate on the left and are about to go through the one on the right. Both gates had the usual yellow arrow signs attached to them so it was easy to follow the route.
A peaceful countryside scene as we cross the field heading towards the next gate. Mums and their calves were sitting quietly beneath the trees and were not in the least upset by our presence. We passed through the gate in this field and made our way across the next field …..
….. to this slab bridge across just a trickle of a stream and the step stile over into the next field. The leaning signpost pointing out the way we should go.
A view of Orrest Head as we crossed the very large field over to …..
….. the next step stile where yet another signpost pointed us in the right direction …..
….. eventually taking us around the back of the buildings at Near Orrest farm. We didn’t know it at the time but if we had walked round to the front of the farm we would have been able to use another step stile to get us onto the road we needed to be on. There seemed to be no obvious way through the various buildings so …..
….. J had a scout around and found this gate with the familiar yellow arrow sign attached to it so we used this route which eventually brought us to the back of what turned out to be …..
….. Causeway Farm. The map had to be referred to at this point, because this farm wasn’t named on the gps, in order for us to know which direction to take along the road. Turned out that we should have walked around to the front of Near Orrest farm and reached the road via that route. In view and clear to see opposite this farm was Orrest Head but attached to the gate directly across the road was a notice saying the path was closed to allow the land to recover, although it didn’t say what it was recovering from. In a moment of levity measles, chicken pox and other childhood ailments sprang to mind. After consulting the map we saw that the route to Orrest Head was between this farm and the Near Orrest farm so we walked back along the lane keeping a lookout for the path over to it. We came to a firmly padlocked double metal gate beside which was another step stile beyond which was the path to Orrest Head. We climbed the step stile and took to the path …..
….. up to Orrest Head with a look back to Causeway Farm along the way.
Looking ahead along the various pathways up to Orrest Head …..
….. and from just below the top of Orrest Head a look across Windermere towards the Langdale Pikes and their neighbouring fells.
The top of Orrest Head was packed with visitors and there was barely room enough to stand never mind sit down on one of the many benches provided, all of them full, which we had thought might be the case. There is a ‘miles without stiles’ route up Orrest Head directly opposite Windermere railway station on the A591 where a large sign attached to a wall points to the start of the route up. As it is a short and trouble free route it naturally attracts the many visitors to Windermere and can become very crowded, which it was today. We just stayed long enough to take a few shots from the top before making our way back down. The above shot is looking south along Lake Windermere.
This shot looks in the opposite direction towards Crinkle Crags, Bowfell and the Pikes.
The view northwards towards the Troutbeck valley above which are Stony Cove Pike, Threshthwaite Mouth and Thornthwaite Crag. The views from Orrest Head are spectacular and it wasn’t difficult to understand the effect that they had on a young man from Blackburn which, in 1930, was a busy industrial mill town. It must have seemed like a completely different world to the one he was familiar with. We had similar words spoken to us a few years ago when we were sitting by the village pond in Caldbeck when a Mum and Dad and their couple of youngsters walked past us. Dad was looking at the scenery around him and said to us “Its another world isn’t it?”
After the photos had been taken there wasn’t much point in staying longer so we made our way back down to the step stile and followed the path …..
….. back to the step stile by the side of the padlocked gate, back onto the narrow lane where we turned right heading back to the Moorhowe road.
Along the way we passed the front of Near Orrest farm where just out of shot to the left, as you look at the photo, was the step stile we were planning to take initially. It turned out to be six of one and half a dozen of the other in the end as we ended up getting to where we had intended to be even though we took a slightly different route to get there. From Near Orrest farm we walked along the lane to the crossroads where we turned left and headed back to the Moorhowe road.
The view from the Moorhowe road just before we reached the Dubs road parking area. I thought this might be a more suitable end of walk photo than the sight of fourteen cars, excluding ours, crammed into every conceivable space with one being parked on the Dubs road itself. The fourteenth car arrived as we were having our lunch break in the comfort of the car before driving back home. The driver of the car pulled up, asked us if we were leaving to which we replied no, whereupon the car was driven a little way further along the Moorhowe road and was parked into a tiny space beside the grassy verge which was only just big enough to accommodate it. Its a good job it wasn’t a bigger car or a good part of it would have been sticking out into the road. By the time we were back on the road the cloud had broken up to a large extent, more blue bits began appearing and the sunny spells became more frequent. By the time we were home it had turned into a very sunny afternoon. In contrast, today (Thursday) we’ve got the showery rain again so the garden won’t need watering tonight. There’s usually a silver lining somewhere if you look for one. A different walk for us today and a very pleasant one and it looks as though we did it in the best weather day of the week after all.