intended route and return time, rather than leave a note on the dashboard of your car as an open invitation to a thief.
Following the simple and common-sense advice below will help ensure that you get the best out of the day.
Timings
Plan your walk in advance, bearing in mind your own and your companions’ capabilities and the anticipated weather conditions for the day. The times given in the box at the start of each walk are based on distance (2½ miles per hour) and height gain (1 minute per 10m of ascent), but make no allowance for rest or photographic stops along the way. They are provided merely as a guide, and in practice your own time may significantly differ, depending upon your level of fitness, ability to cope with the terrain and other factors such as weather.
Heading towards Arant Haw in the Howgills under glowering skies (Walk 15)
Gradient, poor conditions underfoot and lousy weather can add considerably to both time and effort. If you are new to walking, begin with some of the shorter or less demanding walks to gain a measure of your performance.
Footpaths and tracks
The network of public footpaths and tracks in the area is extensive, and signposts and waymarks are generally well positioned to confirm the route. On the upper moors, and indeed across many of the valley meadows, the actual line of the path is not always distinct, but the way is often discernible along a ‘trod’. Defined as a ‘mark made by treading’, a trod, by its nature, becomes increasingly obvious the more it is walked, and indeed may develop over time as a path. But on the upper slopes it is a less tangible thing – a slight flattening of the grass punctuated by an occasional boot print. A trod may differ from a sheep track only in that it has purposeful direction, and an element of concentration is often required to stay on the right course.
Clothing and footwear
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear and carry a comfortable rucksack. The variability of British weather can pack all four seasons into a single day – sun, rain, wind and snow, with the temperature bobbing up and down like a yo-yo. All this makes deciding what to wear potentially difficult, but the best advice is to be prepared for everything, and with today’s technical fabrics this is not as hard as it may seem.
Lightweight jackets and trousers can be both windproof and waterproof, without being too cumbersome should the weather improve. Efficient underlayers of manmade fabric wick away the damp to keep you warm and dry, and throwing in an extra fleece takes up little extra room. Good quality socks will help keep feet comfortable and warm, and don’t forget gloves and a hat. In summer, a sun hat and lotion offer protection against UV, and shorts aren’t always a good idea, particularly where there are nettles and brambles.
Whether you choose leather or fabric boots is a matter of personal preference, but ensure that they are waterproof rather than merely water-resistant. Boots should, of course, be comfortable and offer both good ankle support and grip.
Food and drink
A number of walks pass a pub or a café at some stage, but if you are intending to rely on them check in advance that they will be open. Even so, it is always a good idea to carry extra ’emergency rations’ in case of the unforeseen. Ensure, too, that you carry plenty to drink, particularly when the weather is warmer, as dehydration can be a significant problem.
Using this guide
This collection of walks includes something for everyone, from novices to experienced ramblers, and the routes range in distance from 3 to 11 miles (4.8 to 17.7km). While the lengthier walks require an appropriate degree of physical fitness, none demands scrambling or climbing ability. The area is hilly rather than mountainous, and gradients are generally moderate, with any steep sections usually brief.
All the walks are either circular or there-and-back walks, and so return to the starting point. They are arranged geographically in the guide, starting with the walks in the north of the region and gradually following the river southwards to the sea.
Each route description begins with a box that provides essential information about the walk, including the distance and time, as well as details of useful facilities such as refreshments, toilets and parking. In the route description, key navigational places and features are shown in bold.
Three appendixes provide a route summary table (Appendix A), a description of a longer route from one end of the Lune Valley to the other (Appendix B), and a list of contact details (Appendix C).
Enjoying a walk beside the Lancaster Canal (Walk 37)
WALK 1
Weasdale and Randygill Top
| Start | Wath (NY 685 050) |
| Distance | 8 miles (12.9km) |
| Time | 4¼hr |
| Terrain | Rough tracks and upland trods |
| Height gain | 560m (1837ft) |
| Maps | Explorer OL19 – Howgill Fells and Upper Eden Valley |
| Refreshments | Lune Spring Garden Centre café at Newbiggin-on-Lune |
| Toilets | None |
| Parking | Roadside parking at start |
| Note | The route is not recommended for inexperienced walkers in poor visibility, when map and compass are essential. |
All but one of the Howgills’ major streams find their way into the Lune, although the one credited as being the river’s source, on the basis that it has the longest passage to the sea, is Dale Gill. It seeps out of the rock below the summit of Green Bell and flows down to join the rivulets bubbling from Newbiggin’s springs. Aficionados determined to walk the river in its entirety will follow the course of the peaty stream off the hill. However, more satisfying for those appreciative of striking landscape (and a drier path) is this more circuitous route, which ascends the eastern ridge defining Bowderdale and returns from Green Bell along its northern snout.
Leave the corner of the southbound slip road by its junction with the A685 at Wath, following a narrow lane signed as a Public Way. The tarmac ends at the entrance to The Gars, but the way continues through a gate ahead as an intermittently indistinct track across rough pasture. Eventually reaching the restored farmhouse at Cow Bank, it resumes as a lane. Descend towards the Weasdale Beck valley, but after 100m turn sharp right to double back across rough grazing, meeting a wall.
Follow the wall right, in time passing through a gate out of the intake. Where the wall later swings to the left, pick up a trod that rises across the eastern flank of Hooksey above Weasdale. Gaining height, the vista opens across to the Northern Pennines, while the buttress of West Grain divides the deepening valley ahead.
As the trod fades, maintain an upward slant, soon joining a more distinct quad track. Continue along the rising crest, the views revealing
