Date: 25-Oct-2010
Map: Landranger 90
Weather: Perfect
From the road near Troutbeck up Nanny
Lane, across pasture to the summit.Walk north west and then
back down to Nanny Lane :
a gentle 4.2 miles as measured on memory map.
I walked
over in Longsleddale before this walk and it was such a
lovely day that I extended it. I drove over to Troutbeck
after lunch to walk up to Wansfell - another one of my lone
Wainwrights to tick off. I'm gradually picking off these
solo hills and enjoy it, as you always have to make the
effort to get up there, and nearly always rewarded with fine
views. I managed to park just above Troutbeck quite close to
Nanny Lane, a quieter route up to Wansfell but still
popular. The one from Ambleside is much busier, but because
it was the school holidays there were a lot of people out
and about enjoying the fine weather. Into the afternoon sun
it was steadily up Nanny Lane - a walled thoroughfare
presumably to make it easier to get the sheep down from 'The
Hundreds'. Blue skies dominated and behind me were good
views to the western side of the Kentmere horseshoe. It's an
easy ascent, with occasionally steeper parts, but mostly
well trodden with the odd bit of rock here and there. Along
the flank of the hillside are neatly walled fields as far as
the eye can see, and across the valley lies Sallows and Sour
Howes sloping gently down to the Windermere.
looking down to Troutbeck
Sour Howes is across the valley
the view over to the left side of the Kentmere Horseshoe
- Yoke, Froswick, Ill Bell
off the nanny lane and up towards Wansfell
the summit of Wansfell looking towards the Langdale
Pikes, and Scafells
the view down over Windermere
Red Screes and High Hartsopp Dodd
A way up the lane the path to the left is obvious, and
I could see it snaking across the rough pasture as it winds
it's way up to the summit of Wansfell. As I got higher
Windermere came into view, strongly lit by the sunshine, and
further away was now hazy - I couldn't see as far as this
morning. I soon got up to the summit as it's only 2 miles
from the road, and up on top it's a well trodden area
indicating it's popularity to many who stay in Ambleside
over the weekend. I took some time to enjoy the grand vista
from up here, with especially good views up to Caudale Moor,
Kentmere, and Red Screes. Further around Ambleside sits in a
bowl of hills backed by views to the Langdale Pikes and the
Scafells beyond. There was a long stream of visitors
plugging their way up the hillside path from Ambleside - a
long plod for some, but rewarding. Instead of walking back
down to the lane I headed off to the north west, alongside a
long snaking wall the Romans would have been proud of. It
went up and over everything in it's way, a bit like the
drystone walls of Kentmere. The ups and downs reminded me a
bit of the Hadrians Wall walk, but on a smaller scale and
the views are a lot different. I had a tough time of it with
my shadow in the pictures, as the sun was a lot lower now. I
said a lot more hello's and then the crowds faded away for a
nice spell of solitude with these views to enjoy. The cloud
started to roll in from the west, casting the big hills
beyond Grasmere into shadow. I reached a marker cairn on a
small knoll which took me at 90deg down the hill, and back
down to Nanny Lane. I wandered slowly down to close the loop
and rejoin the lane where I had left it. A very pleasant
walk in the evening sun back to the car ensued, and a
relaxing drive home - good old Alf - I'm enjoying his lone
Wainwrights.
the tourist path up from Ambleside
an almost roman wall goes over all it meets
another shot of Ambleside
very photogenic is that wall
the great wall of Wansfell
I turned at 90deg here back down to the lane
Nanny Lane once more
lovely late
afternoon sun again
autumn colours down in the valley
almost back down to Troutbeck
Where now:
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