~Whinlatter~
8th February 2023
Molly on Whinlatter Top
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It's Wednesday and we've come up to The Lakes for a two-night stay with the hope of completing three simple walks onto fells which have so far eluded Molly's paws in her quest to complete "The Wainwrights". Whinlatter is surely in my bottom 10 of the 214. I don't like its walk routes and I can't find an obvious start point for a truly direct ascent. Furthermore it has two summits, one of which Wainwright nominated as his summit and another which is topographically higher.
The Gruffolo and Molly
We followed the green arrows of Seat How Route.... and found The Gruffolo. Soon enough, there is a track which leads to Point 55 and access to the fell.
To the Fell Access
Steep Climb
Summit Territory
Molly at Whinlatter Top 1,722ft asl (approx)
It has taken 37 minutes from the car in the Visitor Centre car park to the highest point of this fell. I'm not really sure if reaching the highest point of this fell counts as a "Wainwright" as he was using the maps of the day and settled on the other end of the summit territory; but with his own reservations regarding the accuracy of the mapwork.
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Brown How 1,696ft asl (Wainwright Summit) |
Graystones |
The "Wainwright Summit" is 10 minutes away in a westerly direction. It has the benefit of a small shelter and it was mighty cool up here in a strong breeze, so I took five and ate a small sandwich. Graystones is over there, further west.
Lord's Seat from Whinlatter
With time very much on our side, I decided to try and find a way to Lord's Seat. Wainwright does not offer a "Ridge Route" from Whinlatter to any other fell.
Whinlatter Wall
A wall runs up from Aiken Beck to the top of Whinlatter and I chose to follow it down into the valley. We had to get over a fence, evidence suggested we were not the first to do this.
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We safely descended to the track in the valley. There is no easy way into the marshy hinterland which might have led to an ascent of Lord's Seat, so reluctantly I elected for a walk up the forest track. Easy, safe monotonous walking.
Mountain Bikers
This was our first greeting of the walk.
To Lord's Seat
That's better, a well used path leads up to the higher reaches of Lord's Seat from a U-turn on the forest track. Easy to spot on the OS map.
Molly on top of Lord's Seat
She's been here before, this and the next one are just ways of occupying the time available.
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To Barf |
Molly on top of Barf |
It was rather boggy en route to Barf from Lord's Seat. We leave Barf on a clear path in a south-westerly direction, cross Beckstones Gill on a footbridge and enter Beckstones Plantation.
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Parking Charge
I much prefer this method of parking charging. Rather than guessing how long you might be, you pay per use. It's no doubt free to park on the roadside further up Whinlatter Pass.
Walkers: Me n' Molly
Time taken: 3hr 40mins over distance of about 6.5 miles.
Route: Whinlatter Visitor Centre, Seat How route to find the access point to the fell, up the wall. On to the fell and Whinlatter Top and hence Brown How. Back to the wall and down to Aiken Beck, up the forest track until a clear footpath leads up to Lord's Seat. Barf and back through Beckstones Plantation to the car park.
Weather and Conditions: Dull and cool, very breezy on the summits.
Greetings: Whinlatter was all ours; then the cyclists and later two other walkers on Lord's Seat who also followed us to Barf. One lady and her dog walked with us back to the car; she had a walk guide and I have the OS App, between us we picked the right paths and found our way back to the car park.
All photos copyright Richard Ratcliffe 2023 ©
Take me back to the start ....