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Mardale Head car park is the start of this walk. Of
all the popular car parks in the Lake District this
is possibly one of the most remote and therefore one
of the hardest to reach. The easiest way to find Mardale
Head is to get off the M6 motorway at junction thirty
nine for Shap and follow the main A6 road and signs
towards the village of Shap. Once you are in Shap drive
through the village and before you get to the bridge
over the railway there is a small road that leads off
left signposted to various places including Bampton.
Follow this road for several miles through lush green
limestone countryside until it reaches the picturesque
village of Bampton Grange. A left turn almost straight
after the small hump back bridge over the Haweswater
Beck is signposted to Haweswater. Follow this small
road now and after a mile or two you'll come alongside
the Haweswater Reservoir. The road now follows the south
side of Haweswater Reservoir for a few miles until you
reach the end at Mardale Head where there is a large
car park.
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The Rigg at Haweswater |
Sunrise from Mardale
Ill Bell
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Just before you reach the car park looking across the
reservoir you will see what appears at first to be a
distinctive wooded island but is in fact The Rigg, a
continuation of the East Ridge of High Street which
has always looked unique at Mardale Head covered completely
in woodland. The Haweswater Reservoir was built in the
1930's after planning permission was given to the Manchester
Corporation in 1929 to build the dam and flood the valley
to raise the water levels of the current lakes, known
locally as High Water and Low Water, by over twenty
nine metres. The reservoir is now one of the largest
in Britain and supplies water using huge and long pipelines
to the large and expanding towns and cities of North
West England.
Haweswater Reservoir was a controversial scheme. Mainly
due to the flooding of such a beautiful valley and the
inevitable loss of the picturesque village of Mardale
Green which deep below the waters can be seen at times
of drought situated close to the small wooded island
that sits in the reservoir not far from the end of The
Rigg. The villages of Measand and Mardale Green are
gone forever is the picturesque village church and centuries
old Dun Bull Inn. Alfred Wainwright once wrote "If
we can accept as absolutely necessary the conversion
of Haweswater, then it must be conceded that Manchester
have done the job as unobtrusively as possible. Mardale
is still a noble valley. But man works with such clumsy
hands. Gone forever are the quiet wooded bays and shingle
shores that nature had fashioned so sweetly in the Haweswater
of old, how aggressively ugly is the tidemark of the
new Haweswater." However do not be fooled as this
is still a beautiful place, as with most reservoir valleys
they are well looked after and with time blend better
by year into there surroundings.
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Small Water Beck path |
Small Water Crags
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From the car park at Mardale Head go through the wooded
gate heading out in the direction of Gatescarth Pass.
Turn almost immediately right after going through the
gate and then head not right towards the beck and the
other side of the reservoir instead go straight on heading
in a south west direction on an obvious path towards
the source of the beck Small Water. After just over
a kilometre of steady ascent you'll meet up with Small
Water Beck and then follow its banks to its source at
Small Water. Small Water is an incredible setting, it
is a typical glacial lake surrounded by steep cliffs
around the majority of its back wall and then soft and
level at the other end where its small beck exits. After
taking in the amphitheatre of grandeur and silence at
Small Water head to the right around its shores, passing
on your way round the odd slate stone shelters. Once
on the opposite side of the lake go up the obvious but
rough path which is known as the Nan Bield Pass which
heads steep straight up onto the ridge between Harter
Fell on the left and Mardale Ill Bell on the right above.
Once on top of the ridge there is a three sided stone
shelter. From here turn right and head towards Mardale
Ill Bell. The path is obvious and heading north to north
west you'll be surprised how quickly you get to the
summit. If you go only about a hundred metres north
of the summit of Mardale Ill Bell you'll be at the top
of Blea Water Crags. From here you can look down into
Blea Water itself and see what I personally think is
the most incredible looking lake in England. This tear
shaped wonder is the best example of a glacial lake
I have ever seen. Most of its sides are flanked with
crumbling mountainside until its small beck leaves its
eastern weakness. On a clear sunny day with blue skies
this view is truly awesome.
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Mardale Ill Bell Summit |
Blea Water Crag |
From the summit area of Mardale Ill Bell head in a
north west and then northerly direction following the
ever widening path towards the bulk of High Street.
High Street has a wall going straight across its summit
ridge so basically once you see the wall just head right
along side it until you get to the highest point where
there is the usual trig point pillar. On a clear day
you can see most of the Lake District fells from here
including Skiddaw and Blencathra to the north and Helvellyn
to the west. You can also see the Howgills, Yorkshire
Dales and the Northern Pennines from High Street.
High Street is a bizarre name for a mountain but it
does actually make sense when you know why it gets its
name. The mountain is given its popular name because
an ancient roman road that crosses it from north to
south or visa versa. The road was built to connect the
two roman forts of Brocavum at Penrith and Galava at
Ambleside. At the time the romans built the road the
valleys in this part of the Lake District were fairly
impassible and if used they carried a risk of being
ambushed so the gentle sloping fells around the High
Street range seemed an ideal and safe route. High Streets
flat summit was also used by people in the last two
centuries as a place for holding fairs during the summer
months. Among the festivities were sports including
horse racing along the roman road which gives the mountains
summit area its other well known name of Racecourse
Hill.
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High Street Summit |
High Street descent |
From the summit of High Street head west for about
two hundred metres until you reach the roman road itself
and then turn right heading down north off High Street
and down into the col known as the Straits of Riggindale.
At the lowest point cross the wall which is now on your
right, there are now two paths from here, both head
in a north westerly direction. One path stays to the
right and heads straight across to Kidsty Pike. Take
the other path that goes slightly to the left of the
other and heads instead over to the cairns at the summit
of Rampsgill Head. It is worth taking this route not
only to bag this hill but also for the fantastic views
down Ramps Gill. Once you have enjoyed the views into
Ramps Gill head back east towards the other path and
towards Kidsty Pike which can be seen just a few hundred
metres from Rampsgill Head.
By now either by looking down into Ramps Gill or by
peering over the cliffs into Riggindale to the south
of Kidsty Pike you will no doubt have seen Red Deer.
Unlike Scotland where Red Deer roam every part of the
Highlands, in the Lake District they are quite scarce
unless you are in this particular area as there is only
one herd in the Lake District. The Martindale Herd as
they are known are the oldest in the country, widely
accepted as the country's only pure bred Red Deer herd.
So they may not be as widespread as in other parts of
Britain but they are most certainly special.
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Ramps Gill Valley |
Riggindale Valley |
Probably the reason most wildlife enthusiasts are drawn
to this area however is the enigmatic Golden Eagle.
It is the only Golden Eagle in England. A pair have
been nesting in the valleys here for over five decades,
with fairly negative breeding success, unfortunately
the female hasn't been seen for a few years now but
the lonely bachelor male remains. If you are lucky enough
to see what is probably the most amazing bird on planet
earth then you will see it dwarfing the huge ravens
as it soars above the ridges of Rough Crag and Riggindale.
I've never seen it myself but have seen pictures of
it taken by others and it is a huge and impressive spectacle.
From Kidsty Pike follow a path that heads east and
downhill towards Kidsty Howes. The valley to the left
below High Raise and Low Raise can often be a good place
for spotting the deer. From Kidsty Howes a rough path,
not actually on most maps strangely, descends quickly
down hill in a south easterly direction towards the
point where the two becks enter the reservoir at Bowderthwaite
Bridge. From Bowderthwaite Bridge and obvious path heads
past the back of the woodland on The Rigg and then heads
all the way back to the car park from where the walk
started.
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Duration
: 4.5 Hrs
