Far Eastern Fells part 5

Mardale

Another bank holiday and a sunny one and it's the end of May 2018 and my new destination in the Lake District National Park is Haweswater Reservoir in Mardale, its 4 miles long with one road to the head of the valley and the car park I intended to use for the next couple of nights.
And with me to keep me company was Sam the dog

Mardale Horseshoe.  

I have done this fell once  as part of the Kentmere horseshoe walk so I am not going into much detail about the walk only that on this sunny morning starting from Mardale Head we climbed the Gatescarth track to the pass and from there to the summit with good all round views and a nice long break on the summit.

Mardale Ill Bell 

 and then it was down to the Nan Bield Pass and onto my next fell Mardale Ill Bell and then onto to the high point of the day High Street for my lunch spot I was not on my own but it was not busy, as usual I sat there there taking in the view, naming the fells while enjoying the sunshine.

High Street

The Roman Road from Penrith came this way heading for Ambleside over the summit of High Street, this being the highest summit in the Far Western Fells, Next was Rampsgill Head so  I took to the Roman road and started following a broken stone wall to the Straits of Riggindale where we left the wall and followed another path to Rampsgill Head and another rest point to take in the views especially Ramps Gill.

Rampsgill Head

I reached Kidsty Pike summit stopped to take some photos then went to find the path down to the shores of Haweswater Reservoir a steady decent.

 Kidsty Pike

It was a nice walk along the shore and back to the car park and the end of the walk.

High Street

Another  night in the car park and another lovely sunny morning  on the banks of Haweswater Reservoir while having my breakfast and planning my day. Today's mission was going to be much more a relaxed mission looking at the geology and flora'
As I walked the shoreline path to Riggindale I thought about the Haweswater Reservoir what was built to supply water to Manchester, pre 1929 this valley of Mardale was like all the other ribbon lakes in the Lake District a natural lake divided into almost two by land containing the villages of Mardale Green and Measand.
I started the climb of Riggindale a narrow ridge that ends at the shores of Haweswater, I get my first views of the Haweswater Reservoir as the views open out more the higher I climb.

Haweswater

My understanding of the Lake District geography in glaciated landforms of corries and there armchair  features as Blea Water comes into view, a large tarn or corrie, 200ft (61m) deep that was glacially excavated and is the deepest tarn in the Lake District. Blea Water was not the only tarn coming into view there was Small Water Tarn.

Small Water

Blea Water Tarn 

I came to the end of Riggindale and made my way to High Street summit again I stopped for short break then on I went passing over Mardale Ill Bell to Nan Bield Pass and my lunch break spot.

Riggindale

Small Water Tarn 

After lunch it was downhill to Small Water Tarn and on the way I found a plant to add to my list of Arctic-alpine plants Crytogramma crispa is it's latin name of the Parsley fern a rare plant.

Parsley fern

I passed Small Water Tarn and carried on to finish my walk.

High Raise and Rampsgill Head. 

This was my last day at  Mardale Head and another sunny day as I set out along a track near the shoreline of Haweswater to Bowderthwaite Bridge, I was aiming for  Castle Crag so had to leave the main path and start to climb with no path to follow it was not easy to reach Castle Crag and site of the Iron Age hillfort and a short break I had.

Castle Crag

Next was the steep climb up of climbing over different shelves and  lumpy tussocky grass made it difficult to reach Low Raise and I was ready for a rest when we reached the large cairn of Low Raise.

Sam

Low Raise

It was easy going now from Low Raise to High Raise with a good path to follow and then onto Rampsgill Head and another rest to take in the views of where the three ridges meet at Rampsgill Head.

High Raise

Rampsgill Head

From Rampsgill Head I headed for the summit of High Street but just before the summit I turned off and headed down Riggindale to finish my walk off on the shore of Haweswater.

Four Stones Hill

Having finished my exploration of the head Mardale I moved to the other end of Haweswater. to where they built the dam wall and the village of Burnbanks and started my 5 mile walk from there and I had good weather again. 

I followed a path just above the Haweswater for some distance and then pulled away  to start my climb following a stream uphill to a footbridge while enjoying the sites and sounds of nature on my way.

From the footbridge I followed a indistinct path to the Four Stones Hill and has you come to the hill and see only two remaining stones left of this Bronze Age settlement I stopped for a rest and to explore the area, I found a large pile of stones,Archaeologists believe to be a funeral cairn.

Funeral cairn

 At the top of the there is great views along the length of Haweswater with no rush this morning I sat and soaked in the atmosphere of the place on this sunny day.

This was also near the end of this small walk and it was all down hill back to Burnbanks and the end of this mornings walk.

 Knipescar Common 

This short walk in the afternoon was to finish my day off and then it was the drive home to Derbyshire, but for now this walk takes me to the outer edge of the Lake District to the limestone area just outside the village of Bampton where I found a parking spot on the side of the road. 

I could see Knipscar Common as I started my walk, I was looking up to it seeing an limestone escarpment and that was where I was heading. The hill side was covered in gorse shrubs with bright yellow flowers. 

This walk took from Wainwrights Outer Fells book, and this walk like so many others from the book gives you the chance to look back to fells in the distance to where I have been walking all week.

My first point of interest on this walk was a erratic in a grass field, this is a glacial-deposited rock differing from the type of rock native to the area in which it rests. 

I carried on with my walk and took a detour to look at some ruined lime kilns, these are small farm kilns which were used intermittently to  produce sufficient lime for the farmer's own needs. They were all based on the simple draw type kiln in which the fuel and limestone are placed in the kiln in alternate layers. As the fire moves up the kiln burnt lime is drawn out at the bottom. Most kilns in Cumbria date from the late eighteenth to mid nineteenth century.

I made it up onto the escarpment with wide open views to the west and limestone pavement in front of me, the landscape was covered in grasslands and large areas of bracken up hear somewhere is a stone circle dating back to the Bronze Age, so I went on my search for it.

Limestone pavement

What a disappointment   it was, what few stones there was broken and laid in the ground and I could not make out a circle. I left the circle and made my way to the edge of the escarpment and sat down to take in the views.

After my rest it was back down hill off the escarpment and back to the road and my car and end of this walk and the end to another Lake District mission and what great weather I have had all week, I was pleased with myself. .