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The Grasmere T-2-T

Date & start time: Sunday 25th April 2010, 12.30 pm start.

Location of Start : The Swan Hotel, Grasmere, Cumbria, Uk ( NY 340 082 )

Places visited : Grasmere (Butharlyp Howe) Sour Milk Gill, Easedale Tarn, Far Easedale, Lancrigg Hotel and back.

Walk details : 5.6 mls, 1100 ft, 4 hrs 15 mins including morning coffee, picnic lunch and afternoon tea !!!

Highest point : Easedale Tarn 975 ft - 300m

Walked with : Anne and Andrew, David and Jennifer, Ann and the dogs, Harry and Bethan.

Weather : Low cloud and grey but it only rained once for a short time.

( David's and Andrew's photos posted on the links above )

 

 The Grasmore T2T Walk

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A change in the weather forces a change of plans

as there is no point in venturing high into the clouds.

We're in Grasmere so an alternative plan is hatched over some early refreshments.

We had great plans to climb Seat Sandal today, maybe even venture out onto Fairfield and return via Stone Arthur

but as it was a non-working day and we had made plans to meet up with friends way in advance,

the chances of the weather being fine were very low . . . so we decided on Plan B over a cup of coffee at the Swan Inn, Grasmere.

. . . and very nice it was too !

You see the problem . . .

Helm Crag is missing it's Lion and Lamb and Seat Sandal was missing more than just it's laces !

Instead, we head into the village and take the path to Easedale Tarn in order to make the best of the day.

The sign to show that Grasmere still has a Blacksmiths.
We take the footpath bypassing the village centre.
   

Buthar was related to Earl Buthar who gave his name to Butharmere . . . or Buttermere as it is now known.

If you get the opportunity to read Nicholas Size's book "Secret Valley", all about Buttermere, the connection becomes clearer.

Single file over the bridge as we start the Easedale Valley path.
Yellow lines . . . no stopping between Easter and October.

The feint yellow lines were presumably the Footpath Fairies planning officer setting out the parameters of the required path repairs.

New Bridge, Easedale . . . the bridge to nowhere.

The bridge was re-built in 1997, with funds that included money from the "Friends of the Lake District" organisation. It sounded like a good idea at the time but it must be one of the least used bridges in the Lakes as it appears to serve no useful purpose except for the local farmer and his few sheep.

Brimmer Head Farm with Helm Crag behind.
Anne and Jennifer in jubilant mood and Ann beyond.

The small red dot below the farm in the first photo is David walking over to catch a photo of the bridge.

Grasmere's Sour Milk Gill . . . one of many Sour Milk Gills in the Lakes.

The recent dry weather meant that the river was low and the falls subdued compared to normal times.

Closer now and the extent of the waterfall becomes clearer.

There are several nice plunge pools but only one would be suitable for a dip in warmer weather.

Looking up I can see the three girls high above the falls.
Oh no . . . the bracken has already started to grow.

The extended cold winter seems to have made no difference to the bracken which doesn't bode well for the Bluebells at Rannerdale.

I wish someone would find a quick, easy, environmentally safe way of getting rid of this weed.

David climbs up from the sheepfold below.

I wonder what he has captured through the lens of his camera. (clue)

The clouds have lifted slightly as Andrew looks down on Easdale Tarn.

It was halfway through the walk so we decided to stop here and consume the sandwiches we brought for the summit of Seat Sandal.

The boulder was the site of the Victorian tearooms and a few foundations and an old seat can still be seen.

[ Wainwright offers an explanation on his guides and I posted a photographic hint on an previous walk here ]

No need for extra teas for us today though.

Click on the photo above for a larger panorama of Easedale Tarn

as seen from our lunch spot.

We drop down to the outflow and easily crossed the beck today.

We chose to return via the path to the Far Easedale Valley . . .

. . . which would take us back to Grasmere under the flanks of Helm Crag seen ahead.

A fading sign on the boulder directs you to 'Grasmere' to the left

but we walk across to view the split rock and the holly tree growing through it.

Had it been smaller you could imagine it could have been the inspiration for a Bonsai Garden.

Don't panic . . . she made it ok !

The footbridge over Far Easdale Gill replaces the old stepping stones, but Jennifer chose the latter, more complex option.

Did she make it unscathed ? [ Move your cursor over the photo to check her progress. ]

Several old barns and interesting fir trees stand alongside the track to Brimmer Farm.

Our group stops to look back at the route we've covered today.

Sour Milk Gill waterfalls can be seen once again, under Brinhowe Crag. Tarn Crag is still in cloud behind.

The Lancrigg Woods Sign . . .
. . . and positive encouragement to walk through the grounds.

One of several ornamental ponds in the grounds of Lancrigg House.

Artificial it may be, but the reflections are real enough.

This is Wordsworth Country so there must be daffodils.

Lancrigg was a much loved haunt of the romantic Lakes poets including Wordsworth, De Quincy and Coleridge.

We had only been in Grasmere four days when we discovered the terraced walk at Lancrigg, which long remained our favourite haunt
Dorothy Wordsworth.

Taking the high path through the woods . . .
. . . the leaves are just starting to show.
   

We passed a bronze plaque on a rock alongside the path :

My Latin is not good, but roughly translated it reads:

 

'Dorothy Wordsworth used to sit at this spot,

writing down the poems that her brother dictated as he walked nearby'.

 

The footpath continues on through the delightful woodlands

and ends up at the Lancrigg Hotel

It was advertising "Walkers Teas" . . . so why not ?

Suitably refreshed we continue on our way back to the village

passing the footbridge that we used at the start of our walk.

On the way back we made a point of walking into the village.

David is pictured outside Sam Read's bookshop . . . looking for books on sheep folds perhaps ?

Bright colours on a grey day.

That looks like our old dog . . . but he never made a postcard.

The radio today was suggesting that it will be a good year for Cherry Blossom.

If so, Grasmere will be well blessed in a few weeks with trees like this along the main street.

The open top bus doesn't attract many passengers today.
We've just been there . . . and are heading that way soon.

Back to the car at the Swan and after our goodbyes to the others

we make our way north over Dunmail Raise back via Keswick to Loweswater.

- - - o o o - - -

 

 

Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Canon 75 or my Canon G10 digital camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . tea and biscuits at the Swan or tea and cakes at Lancrigg . . . Mmmm ??

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Previous walk - 22nd April 2010 A Gasgale Gill Ramble

A previous time up here - 27th April 2006 The Easedale Fells and Sergeant Man ( incl. Easdale Tarn )

Next walk - 1st May 2010 Pike O'Blisco / Cold Fell