Silver How, Spedding Crag and Dow Bank
Walk date – 19th September 2024
Distance – 4.5 miles
Weather – sunny and very warm, hazy, no breeze
Not a long walk today but a very interesting one and which comprised quite a lot of ups and downs. We had a slow start to our journey over to Elterwater and came to a crawl at a road works tail back when we drove up from Kemplay Foot at Eamont Bridge to the roundabout at the top of the hill. When we eventually got to the actual road works a road traffic accident was mixed up in it which was having to be dealt with. Ambulance and police cars in attendance, a man being loaded onto a stretcher, a car parked on the central reservation, and a motor cycle propped against the trees on the left hand side of the westbound carriageway. When we finally arrived in Elterwater it had turned eleven o’clock but with visitor numbers less now that the holiday season is coming to a close we were able to park up without difficulty. Unlike our last walk when we also started from the same parking area we had no need to walk through the village today as we were heading in the opposite direction to begin today’s walk.
Route
Elterwater (Walthwaite Bottom) – old corpse road (Chapel Stile/Grasmere) – Huntingstile Crag – east route below Dow Bank and Spedding Crag – Silver Howe – Spedding Crag – Dow Bank – old corpse road – Walthwaite Bottom
From the parking area down there in Walthwaite Bottom we followed the road which passes the car park and walked up the steep hill making our way towards the turn off for the old corpse road. It was warm work today so during a ‘get your breath back’ stop and when we were high enough I took the above shot taking a look back towards Elterwater with Wetherlam just behind it.
The old corpse road leads from Chapel Stile, passes below Huntingstile Crag, pictured above, and at the small col a little further begins to drop down towards Grasmere. When we reach the col we will turn off to our left and climb the path through the crags. Those men who carried coffins along this route must have been made of strong stuff because although this part of the route is quite short it is very steep. In today’s very warm conditions it wasn’t long before we were mopping our faces.
Having located the turn off path, which was made much easier by a walker coming in the opposite direction who turned onto it before we got there, we began the steepish climb along the narrow path through the bracken. Below us there was a multitude of paths and on the skyline (L to R) we had a view of Fairfield, Great Rigg, Heron Pike and Nab Scar. Behind them on the right is Red Screes.
Elter Mere appears below us.
This little tarn isn’t marked on today’s route map but can be seen on the OS map where it is marked by a small blue patch a little to the left of the words Hammerscar Plantation, just in case anyone wants to find out where we were in the above shot. The level area where the tarn is situated didn’t last long and …..
….. as we carried on from the level area we then began climbing through the next level of crags.
From the top of that section of the crags the path drops down and climbs through the crags of Dow Bank which is immediately ahead of us. We’ll be going over the top of Dow Bank on the return leg so at the path junction, hidden in the dip between here and Dow Bank, we’ll turn off to the right and skirt around both Dow Bank and Spedding Crag. Over on the left hand path there is a walker wearing a white shirt, the chap who turned up the Huntingstile Crag path before we reached it, he is followed by two runners who passed us a couple of minutes ago. How folk can run when it is so very warm and not a scrap of a breeze anywhere always baffles me, I’m having trouble just walking!
We crossed the wet area in the dip via the wobbly stepping stones, most of which had sunk below the waterline, walked a short distance up the Dow Bank path to a path junction where we turned right and followed the path round the eastern side of Dow Bank. The chap on the far left of the shot stood there for quite a while studying his map which had me thinking that he might have lost his way. As we progressed along the path and passed above the point where he was standing we noticed three other walkers coming up towards him. He gave them a shout to let them know where he was so at least he wasn’t lost, just waiting for the rest of his party. They were walking quite slowly and looked quite weary to me. I could sympathise with them on that score, it was far too warm to be climbing anything overly steep today.
We had a good view of the western section of the Fairfield Horseshoe from this path.
We came across this derelict building as we struggled through the bracken covering the northwestern end of Spedding Crag. It had a doorway and a couple of window apertures but there were no other clues as to what it was once used for. Believe it or not but we did manage to find a path up here although the dying bracken was doing its best to hide it. Not only was it tall enough to hide it but the dying off stems had also placed themselves across it as they fell. We defeated it in the end.
The derelict building from another angle as we continued up the slope …..
….. and a look down towards it as we reached the top of the slope.
A look across towards Silver How, criss-crossed by many paths, from the outcrops at the northern end of Spedding Crag. Silver How is a mass of humps and bumps, many of them of the short but steep variety and plotting a course, other than a vague one, from this distance was somewhat pointless. One thing was certain, I wasn’t going to use the scree filled gully over on the right, one step forward and two slithers back did not feature on my menu today, its far too warm for that sort of exercise.
What was on my menu was the thought of something to eat so, as its been a long time since breakfast, we decided to perch on the outcrops and take a lunch break. This was the view from our perch.
After our break we dropped down the short slope, once again managing to find a pathway down through the bracken, and made our way over to path running below Spedding Crag which leads over to Silver How. Distant views of the Coniston fells and the other southern fells appear on the skyline.
A look back to Spedding Crag as we made our way over to Silver How. The outcrop over on the extreme left was where we took our lunch break.
J leads the way as we thread our way through, and also up, over and down, the various humps and bumps comprising the approach to Silver Howe.
A long stretch of Windermere was in view as I took a look back towards Spedding Crag.
A close up view of Elterwater Quarry far below us. The quarry owners, Burlington slate Ltd, in conjunction with Zip World put in a planning application some time ago to establish a ‘visitor attraction’ at the quarry which they wanted to develop as the quarry was not allowed, under national park rules, to undertake any further quarrying at its existing site in Elterwater. The initial proposal received tens of thousands of objections and was subsequently rejected. A revised proposal was then submitted, which again received tens of thousands of objections and the campaign was spear-headed by the charity, Friends of The Lake District. Despite the overwhelming amount of objections the revised proposal was approved and the charity has since submitted, and has been granted, a Judicial Review on the grounds that the views of the 90,000 people who objected to the revised proposal had not only been properly addressed but also that they had not been lawfully addressed. A Judicial Review asks the High Court to review the lawfulness of a decision and it seems that the Park Authority omitted to obtain a binding regulation prior to giving its approval to the revised application. The binding regulation in question, S106, has since been obtained but was put into place four weeks after approval had been granted but such obligations are required to be in place before permission is given. We await the outcome of the judicial review.
More height gained and time for another breather and a face mopping so I took a look back down to Dow Bank, Spedding Crag, Windermere and Elter Mere. It is early afternoon now, very warm with not a hint of a breeze to cool us down a little.
Eventually the ground levels out and we made our way over to the top of Silver How. There was even a very slight breeze although it wasn’t enough to even ruffle our hair. Nevertheless it was more than welcome after the stifling walk up here.
As usual I wandered around the top area while J sat and enjoyed the sunshine, the slight breeze and the scenery . From the higgledy piggledy cairn here’s a view of the Helvellyn range and Seat Sandal …..
….. a closer look at Helm Crag just below them …..
….. Grasmere water with Rydal Water just behind it …..
….. Grasmere village amongst the fields below …..
….. on the left skyline is Ullscarf and Steel Fell, below which is the Helm Crag, Gibson Knott, Pike of Carrs and Calf Crag ridge …..
….. the Langdale Pike and Sergeant Man …..
….. Bowfell and the Langdale Pikes …..
….. Crinkle Crags and Bowfell …..
….. Cold Pike, Pike O’Blisco and Crinkle Crags …..
….. and finally, Wetherlam and the other Coniston Fells beneath which is Lingmoor Fell, which we visited on our last walk. After taking the summit shots I rejoined J and we sat for quite a while just talking and enjoying the experience. A lady was sitting a short distance away reading a book and apart from her there was no-one else around. It was so warm and peaceful that it was hard to leave but leave we must, so after about half an hour we got back on our feet and began the return journey.
After threading our way through Silver How’s humps and bumps again we’re back at the viewpoint/marker cairn once again, now with a view of Loughrigg together with a slice of Windermere. We’re back to stifling warmth now because the light breeze we enjoyed up on Silver How has completely disappeared,
The view from further down the path. I did mention that there are a lot of ups and downs on this walk.
One of the ups and downs comes next, the walk over Spedding Crag. Both paths lead to the cairn at the top.
Looking back at Silver How from the path up Spedding Crag and …..
….. another look back to it and the Pikes from Spedding Crag’s cairn.
The next down and up is Dow Bank which is only a short distance from Spedding Crag, it also has a summit cairn.
The Langdale Pikes and Dow Bank’s summit cairn. From the cairn there was no smooth grassy sward to descend over, just a very narrow and loose path, twisting and turning in all directions, with bits and pieces of rock sticking up at frequent intervals just to keep walkers focussed on where they were putting their feet.
Safely down from the descent of Dow Bank and another wet area to cross, I think we crossed about three of these altogether.
Another look back, this time to Dow Bank plus Silver How.
Back at the little tarn where we will pick up the path down Huntingstile Crag and eventually re-join the old corpse road.
Back on the road leading down to Walthwaite Bottom where I took a look back at the section of the old corpse road that we had been walking. There is a footpath signpost but should that fall down the lone silver birch tree, very visible against the blue sky today, would always be a reliable indicator. Unless, of course, that falls down too!
All we have to do now is stroll back down the road to the car park below and stow our stuff. We’ve already decided to stop at the corner cafe opposite the Britannia Inn and buy a can of some very cold liquid, anything will do just as long as its been sitting in a ‘fridge for hours, we’re not fussy. We have plenty of water with us but by now it has turned warm and is doing nothing to quench our thirst. Apart from ‘trendy’ beverages made with some unlikely combinations of flavours which didn’t appeal, and cost a small fortune, the only thing they had was Coca-Cola. It went down a treat!