The plan for today was to walk High Seat via Watendlath and the
new high level pathway, a walk that I had reconnoitered two weeks
ago.
With stunning sunny weather that day, today's walk was never
going to be as good weather wise.
However I didn't expect "Storm Kathleen" to come crashing
through, bringing heavy rain yesterday and 50 mph winds today.
Time for a quick re-think . . . the same starting point but a
lower level walk was needed.
I know . . . a 'two for the price of one' waterfall walk . .
. at least there'll be lots of water in the rivers.

The view, the wind on the lake and the state of the pier
were all good reasons to stop at the Ashness Bridge road junction
for this quick photo before I met the rest of the group.

A select band of eight merry men and women
met up at the Trust car park at Ashness Bridge.
There was Dougal as well but he's out of sight
by my feet.

Pippa, Chris, Peter, John, Hugh, Ann and Judy
. . . plus myself to complete the group.
We're all from the Loweswater / Lorton part
of the Lakes and meet for walks under the pseudonym of the
Mockerkin Mob.

On the way up I noticed that the Bark House
building was open today, so we called in on the way past.

Inside there would be a warming fire later
today, but no teas and coffees, just shelter and a National
Trust chat if people wanted.
On the recent recce I set off up the hill towards Watendlath,
today I changed that and we all set off down the road.
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- - - o o o - - -
I had heard there was a Bob Graham Memorial around
here somewhere.

Today I found it . . .
about fifty yards down the road, close to the wall.
Bob Graham was famous in fell running circles
for having set
a real Cumbrian
Challenge . . . 42 peaks, 66 miles and 27,000
ft of ascent
. . . to be completed within 24 hours.
- - - o o o - - -
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Just a little further down the road from the
small cairn is a gate into the top of Barrow House Woods.

We entered and followed the river down, reaching
the first of our waterfalls for today.
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The top
cascade has a weir and draw-off pipe for hydro power. |
The rustic steps lead
us on down alongside the waterfalls. |
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A second
is an impressive twenty foot waterfall . . . |
. . . but the tallest
was the lower cascade (this photo by Peter). |
The falls were new to some of the group and
they were even more impressive today due to the amount of water
in the river.

Onward and downward, around the back of Barrow
House.

The foundation stone of Barrow House (then known
as Barrow Cascade House) was laid by Joseph Pocklington in 1787.
The building was home to the early
industrialist, then became a Guest
House and Hostel, latterly the Derwent
Water Independent Hostel

Sadly the hostel has had to close recently,
as "improvement to the building relating to additional
fire safety and to staff accommodation
were prohibitively expensive considering the
possible ending of the lease in the next year or so".

The House has commanding views of Derwent Water
and many of its islands.
We head down the driveway to the main road,
in order to cross to the lake.

The sheltered Barrow Bay, a real contrast to
the high winds and white horses out on the open lake.

A storm damaged tree frames a distant view of
Skiddaw, Carlside and Ullock Pike.

The water in Barrow Beck was running quite high
under the bridge, but didn't seem as copious as the waterfalls
had made it look.
The reason was clear. On the other side
of the bushes the upstream river had overflowed and formed a
tricky and wet flood plain to cross.

Safely over with wet boots but dry feet, the
path became a little more reasonable.
Across the lake the sun was breaking through,
the wind causing fast moving sunlight streaks and shadows on
Maiden Moor.
Note the white horses that had been whipped
up on the surface of the lake, caused by the same strong wind.

Around the corner and looking now towards the
head of Derwent Water.
We get our first view of the Lodore falls as
a white streak falling down the fellside, to the left of the
steep sided Shepherds Crag.

Great discussions seem to be held en route,
as we reach Kettlewell car park.

A gap in the Borrowdale traffic and we were
safely on the other side, where we could take the footpath through
the woods.

No room for a pavement, so the path follows
the road on the other side of the wall.

The path rejoins the road just at the point
when the Lodore path strikes off to the left.
As a result we can continue the walk without
the need to mix with the traffic.

A short walk through the woods brings us around
the back of the Lodore Hotel . . .

. . . and to the viewpoint of the equally impressive
Lodore Falls, the second big waterfall of the day.
Do check out the link to Southey's poem about
the falls, at the base of this page.

Reaching this far, safe and dry, calls for a
celebration today . . . well a coffee stop at least.
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After everyone
had a good look at the falls it was time to go . . .
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. . . the question now
was which way ? |
I had been here many years ago and remember
the faint footpath found on the map.
Not having walked this recently I had a quick
look around and decided the one we wanted was the easier looking
path that set off left up the slope.

The path settled down to a well worn track with
ever improving views out across the lake.
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It turned
as expected and I was more confident of the route. |
Views down now included
the hotel far below. |
The path turned again, on a route not shown
on the map.
I went to explore the short straight-on
path but it was a dead end. It did however provide me
with a fine viewpoint.

Back on the correct path and we kept climbing
up through the woods, sometimes under them too . . .
. . . into an area shown on the map as Hogs
Earth.
This was a delightful part of the climb, the
trees, rocks and walls were all covered in thick moss, a real
temperate rain forest location.
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Our path
followed the river, which was a beautiful peaty brown
colour. |
This made a rather nice
pool look like a pint of foaming Guinness ! |
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A slight
diversion brought us over to the bridge with the triangular
sign. |
Signs of Spring too,
in the form of bright new leaves on the larch saplings. |

The walk up through the woods had been a delight
and not at all stormy, despite the weather down by the lake.
I think the west facing slopes of the fell had
protected us from the worst of the winds.
The path ended its climb as we reached the valley
road, at the point I had departed from the road two weeks ago.

A walk downhill now . . . to that famous viewpoint.


Mob walks are usually a bit longer and so people
had brought refreshments for lunch.
We were only a few minutes from the car . .
. but even less from a nice view . . . so time to sit and enjoy
an early lunch.

Suitably over-indulged we headed off once more
. . . down the road past the field gate to Ashness Farm.

Chance for a better photo of Ashness Lodge as
I pass this time, a delightful re-build, completed just before
Covid.

The garden now boasts a wildlife pond, raised
beds for vegetables and a solar array to generate power.

The walk concluded back at the car park just
a short distance further on . . . which was handy for finding
the car of course !
I'll leave you to caption this photo with what
Pip was saying to John.
Not the planned walk for today but a nice one
nevertheless . . . and two waterfalls for the price of one .
. . can't be bad.