over their heads, at the cheaper end of the scale there are youth hostels and affordable rooms available in most of the valleys around the national park (see Appendix A). For those to whom proximity to beer is a factor, all the runs in this guidebook start and end at one of the outstanding pubs of the region, and many of them offer accommodation too. Links to all their websites are at the end of this book in Appendix A. The amazing range of great locally brewed ales, and traditional pubs, are inextricably linked to fell running. Just take a look at the pump clip for Jennings Cumberland ale: you’ll see the silhouettes of two fell runners.
Swinside Inn at the start of Route 22
For more variety and more luxurious accommodation, visit Cumbria Tourism’s accommodation finder website (www.golakes.co.uk) where you can specify your requirements and see a list of current availability that can be booked online.
Booking ahead is always recommended – especially in the peak summer season from mid June to the end of August. Key peaks in tourist numbers occur around the school half-terms and summer holidays, as well as at weekends with day-trippers. For those seeking a quieter time, early to mid June and the autumn (apart from the half-term) are far less busy; you’ll have more accommodation options and you might also have the trails and fells to yourself.
Travelling to the Lake District
By air
The closest international airports to the Lake District are Manchester and Liverpool for the South Lakes, or Newcastle for the North Lakes. They’re well served by direct flights from all over Europe, both on national and budget carriers. To search for flights, try www.skyscanner.net. The easiest transport connections are from Manchester airport, where you can get a coach or taxi, or hire a car and drive to the Lakes, or you can take the train to change at Preston and Oxenholme, arriving in Windermere.
By rail
The only train line into the Lake District is the branch line to Windermere. Oxenholme Lake District station links the West Coast Mainline to the Lakes Line and train travel to the region is highly recommended. It takes an average of 3hr 10min to travel from London Euston to Windermere, and the first train in the morning arrives at 09.30am, so a weekend visit or even a day trip is possible, even from the south-east. Visit Trainline (www.thetrainline.com) to book tickets.
By bus
There’s a regular National Express (www.nationalexpress.com) coach service from London Victoria to the Lake District. For those flying to Manchester airport, there’s a regular coach service to the Lake District – although this is a lot slower than the train – as well as a range of private taxi companies.
By car
Driving to the Lake District couldn’t be simpler, as the M6 motorway cuts past the eastern fringe of the national park. Junction 36 is ideal for access to the South Lakes via the A590 and A591, and Junction 40 gives access to the A66 for entry into the North Lakes.
Signpost on path to Ard Crags
Travelling around the Lake District
You are strongly urged to travel by public transport where possible, to help reduce congestion and the impact on the Lake District’s unique environment, but if you choose to drive remember that parking in some of the valleys is limited, and ask permission first before using pub or hotel car parks. Also be careful parking on roads or in gateways, as it is essential not to block access, especially for the emergency services including Mountain Rescue.
The public transport links around the national park are relatively infrequent, and so some careful planning is required. The council provides online timetables for the region (www.cumbria.gov.uk/landing_page/roadsandtravel.asp), as does Cumbria Tourism (www.golakes.co.uk/travel). You can even hire a low-carbon electric car locally to travel around the area (www.co-wheels.org.uk). See Appendix A for contact details.
In the information box at the start of every route description, look for the Public transport and Parking entries, which detail the nearest transport and car parking options.
Weather and forecasts
The presence of the mountains has a far greater influence on the weather than many lowland runners may be used to. Despite the relatively lowly height of the fell tops, the region is a maritime climate, and the rapid uplift of humid air to nearly 1km above sea level is often enough to condense the air mass and cause rain. The hamlet of Seathwaite in the Borrowdale valley has the dubious accolade of being the wettest inhabited place in the UK, with an average of 3552mm of rain per year!
Perfect weather for a run on Wetherlam (Route 11)
Many postcards sold in the local shops make joking reference to the amount of rain that falls in the Lake District, and there are even Cumbrian dialect words for various types of rain, such as ‘mizzlin’ (drizzle) and ‘yal watter’ (heavy rain) – in much the same way as Eskimos have tens of words for different snow types. The floods of December 2015 did nothing to break the national perception that it rains, a lot, in Cumbria.
The first thing a runner should do each day is check the weather forecast (www.mwis.org.uk/english-welsh-forecast/LD or www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/mountain-forecasts/lake-district) to identify any highlighted risks such as thunder storms or a low freezing level that could result in ice on some of the fells. As ever, the runner needs to adapt their choice of route, as well as the equipment they plan to carry, to the prevailing weather. In the winter months the fell top assessors report from the summit of Helvellyn (www.lakedistrictweatherline.co.uk) on conditions underfoot and the weather.
As well as rain, we do (more often than you might think) get beautiful weather in the Lake District, and these days make every second of the wait worthwhile. It’s easy to get sunburnt and dehydrated on the fells, even on cloudy days, so runners need to study the forecasts carefully to decide what to wear, what to carry, and if they need any extra safety kit.
Maps
Each route description is accompanied by a 1:50,000-scale map blown up to 1:40,000 for ease of use, but runners should always carry a separate sheet map of the area in which they’re running. For the Lake District there are two key choices of map: Ordnance Survey (1:50,000 or 1:25,000-scale maps) or Harvey (1:40,000-scale map). For micro navigation specific to small areas, you can also get the excellent Yellow Publications (1:16,000-scale maps, www.yellowpublications.co.uk), which are ideal for runners as they fold up very small to fit into your hand or pack. The relevant sheet maps are listed at the start of each route description, and all the maps you’ll need are readily available on the internet from retailers such as Stanfords (www.stanfords.co.uk),
