Coast to Coast - Stage 2: Grasmere to Orton Scarside

(Written by Gordon, posted by Ab)

There is a comfort zone around this walk reflected in the easy repartee with locals about the cricket or the weather. A remarkable number of people have visited Australia and New Zealand or have relatives there. Even the topography is familiar through books and discussions. The level of shared culture is intriguing and changes the nature of this walk so that it is not a foreign experience but an interchange between siblings. Perhaps it means that, at least in Cumbria, the English have got over their post Imperial blues and that Australia has also come of age. One of the places we had dinner at Grasmere had a Kiwi/ Aussie chef and we shared breakfast this morning with a Glaswegian couple from NSW and their son who had returned to England.

Ullswater from St Sunday

 From Grasmere we climbed up Little Tongue Hill to the pass at about 500m then up over St Sunday Crag at 850M before dropping down with knee-shaking steepness to Patterdale and a pint of Cumberland Ale that hardly touched the sides. Stayed in a B&B run by a guide bringing up two young daughters and taking his responsibility to employ locals. The other two pubs in this beautiful valley use Poles or Spaniards during the season and lay them off in winter. Up early next morning to climb up to Angle Tarn, then up to the Knott about 750 M with a gentle rise up to Kidsty Pike. We passed several groups of teenagers doing their Duke of Edinburgh awards and toting huge packs. 

Angle Tarn blue tent on R

After an initially gentle fall from the Pike, again a ferocious descent and then a slog along the length of Haweswater to Burnbanks and another 3 km to our B&B at the Crown and Mitre Hotel. All three days were about 13½ miles. Today we were out of the high country and mostly across the moors with peaty bogs and limestone pavements, undulating about 1000 ft  (330M), graded moderate, but really just as long as the previous ‘strenuous’ days. This evening we dropped down to our B&B near a tiny village known for its very fine and expensive chocolates (closed when we got there!). A hot bath was very good for the joints!

 

Limestone country Shap

Up above Grasmere we heard shepherds whistling to their dogs high above us. In the old days the farmers used to burn off the long grass (presumably when they found a few dry days in autumn) so that the sheep could graze on the young regrowth. However, sheep farming is too labour intensive so the tops went back to long grass – to the annoyance of the hill walkers and tourists. So the framers are now paid to keep sheep on the tops and not to farm them. They use Hedderwicks which are black with a white face mask when young, becoming a white – honey brown colour when they mature a bit more and finally become black when adults. They are a tough breed. On this occasion, we saw the sheep cascading down the steep slopes, kept in control by a shepherd running down the slopes and controlling four dogs. Wonderful athleticism!