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Image reproduced with permission from the Ordnance Survey Get-a-map service
Walks: The Kentmere Round
Description A classic Lake District horseshoe, exploring the lesser known ring of fells that overlook the Kentmere Reservoir. Summary Kentmere - Shipman Knotts - Kentmere Pike - Harter Fell - Mardale Ill Bell - Thornthwaite Crag - Froswick - Ill Bell - Yoke - Kentmere Maps The walk can be found on Ordnance Survey Explorer Map 7 (and 5 is also useful). You will also find it on Ridge Map 2 on our maps page. Distance, Height and Time The walk is approximately 12 miles long and involves 3,700 feet of ascent. In good weather, the walk should take you approximately 7 hours.
Details Parking is difficult in Kentmere, but there are a few places next to St. Cuthbert’s Church (grid reference NY456041), so arriving early is therefore a good idea. From the church, follow the road back out of the village until you come to the bridge across the River Kent. Immediately over the bridge, take the road to the left and you will soon reach a footpath heading off to the right. Take this path across a field to yet another road where you should turn left and then shortly right at some farm buildings, picking up the the path to Sadgill. Follow this path north-east to where it joins the track coming up from Stile End. The fell rising directly above you is your first objective, Shipman Knotts and is reached by following the stone wall up the hillside to the summit cairn. From Shipman Knotts, follow the wall and then the fence along the ridge to the north. Where the fence makes a notable turn to the left, a brief detour over it leads to Goat Scar, with dramatic views down into Longsleddale. Return to the fence and continue to follow it until it becomes a wall once more, leading directly to the summit of Kentmere Pike. The combination of fence and wall continues and you should follow it, across somewhat boggy ground in places, to reach the third summit of the day on Harter Crag. Here, as Wainwright remarked, a ‘mild shock’ awaits the walker, for the summit cairn is stuffed full of ancient fence posts which, in poor weather, loom out of the mist like the twisted creation of a mad sculptor. From Harter Fell, strike out to the west following the well-cairned path to the top of the Nan Bield Pass, at which point the track descends steeply down to the head of the pass. Stop to admire the spectacular views of Kentmere in one direction (and to duck into the stone shelter, if the wind is roaring through here like a banshee). Then continue straight ahead and climb out of the pass up to Mardale Ill Bell, with views opening up of Haweswater as you get higher. The summit of Mardale Ill Bell is wide and broad and its grassy turf offers a good platform for a reclining and enjoying the views across to High Street. When you are ready, follow the well-defined track out to the west, eventually meeting the track from High Street. Carry straight on to the summit of Thornthwaite Crag, recognisable for miles around due to the fourteen-foot high column of stones that adorns its summit. You have now reached the last stretch of the walk which consists of following the path south over the undulating peaks of Froswick, Ill Bell and Yoke. On a clear day, there are beautiful views of Windermere and, beyond, the distant coastline. From Yoke the path begins to descend, eventually reaching a wall and a ladder-stile. Here you have two options: the more straightforward is to cross the stile and then follow the wall ahead to the top of the Garburn Pass road that runs from Kentmere to Troutbeck. Turn left onto this track and follow it back to Kentmere and your start point. For the more adventurous, don’t cross the wall at the ladder style but keep to the left-hand side, soon passing a sheep-pen and crossing a broken wall. Continue downhill to the south-east, eventually becoming closed in by two intake walls. Finally you will emerge on the Garburn Road just outside Kentmere; turn left and follow it back to your start point.. For a detailed map of this route, see ‘Yoke 6’ in Wainwright’s The Far Eastern Fells. |
