Slater's Bridge, Tilberthwaite, Hodge Close Loop

Image by Paul Edney from Pixabay

This scenic and historical walk takes you to Slater's Bridge, an iconic feature in the area, a curious, ancient pedestrian crossing and packhorse bridge onto Cathedral Quarry & Cave, with an impressive 40 foot high chamber, then onto Hodge Quarry, named as one of Britain's most scariest Caves, that was featured in 'The Witcher' Film.

This walk can be shortened missing out Cathedral Quarry & Cave.

WALK DISTANCE: 3 MILES/4.8 KILOMETRES

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

WALK TIME: 2 HOURS - excluding time to explore the caves

MAP LINK

From Lowfield House, turn left onto Side Gates road. After approximately 11 minutes you will come to the Three Shires Inn on your right, continue up the road a further 3 minutes or so, then turn left down a tarmac lane, sign posted for Tilberthwaite.

After a short walk down the lane you will come to a gate with a wooden fingerpost on the right directing you across a field to Slater's Bridge. Walk gently uphill across the field and through a kissing gate, then head downhill via a well trodden path towards Slater's Bridge. Cross the bridge and follow a path to reach the gravel track on the other side.

A stunning part of the valley with Lingmoor Fell ahead of you.

The bridge, dating back to the 17th century, is in two parts that take advantage of a central large rock and a very long slate slab to cross the River Brathay on its way from Little Langdale Tarn to Elterwater. It is thought that the bridge was originally built by the quarrymen of Little Langdale to provide shorter access from their homes to the slate quarries on the other side of the river, one of which is the impressive Cathedral Quarry.

Slate quarrying was discontinued in the 1950s but the bridge became a Grade II listed building in 1967.

Cathedral Quarry is 400 metres on from Slater's Bridge. After having crossed the bridge, walk on the track with the slag heaps on your right towards the trees, until it is possible to take a path on the right up to Cathedral Quarry. 

The Quarry is a disused Slate Quarry dating back to the 16th century, and one of the many various quarries in the area. The quarry reached its prime during 19th century when Slate was extracted for housing. 

A super video of a visit to Cathedral Quarry and Hodge Close by Black Crag.

The Quarry was once owned by Beatrix Potter before she gifted it to the National Trust who continued to quarry under lease until the 1950s.

The main chamber reaching forty feet in height, is aptly nicknamed, today ‘The Cathedral’.  It is easy to spend an hour or so exploring the various tunnels, and marvelling at its scale.

Extend this walk by visiting Hodge Close Quarry, hailed one of Britain's scariest caves, which is approximately 25 minutes walk away from Cathedral Quarry.

From Cathedral Quarry, head back down to the main track and walk back in the direction of Slater's Bridge. Pass beneath the wall of slag and stay on the gravel track, passing through a collection of buildings. Make your way along the track uphill onto a hillside overlooking Little Langdale tarn. Keep going until you meet another track heading up the hillside (signposted to Tilberthwaite). Follow this track up quite a steep uphill to where it levels off.

You will see mounds of slate slag high up on your right, which symbolise the location of Runestone quarry. The track continues over small even land with stunning views back toward Blea Tarn and the Langdale Pikes before dropping downhill to a farm. Pass through the gate onto a tarmac road, which you can follow all the way down to a bridge over the river. From the car park at the bridge a path leads up into Tilberthwaite Quarry.

Return to the carpark area at Tilberthwaite. With parking behind you, follow the bank of the beck to your right, to a gate through a wall into woods. Follow a narrow, rough and slippery path through the woods that then drops down to a more substantial gravel track. Follow the track until it emerges onto a road. Take a left onto the road and follow it uphill - passing through woods then passing cottages, until you come to Hodge Close & Quarry, which is named as one of Britain's most scariest Caves, that was featured in 'The Witcher' Film.

The abandoned quarry, which is 70 metres deep from the surface and has a 20 metre deep lake, is riddled with underwater tunnels. The quarry was an open pit from the 19th century to the early 1960s which has now flooded over time.

Today, the spot is popular with divers and abseilers who are keen to climb the rock face, though access to the water involves wading through a 120 metre flooded tunnel and down a scaffolding ladder.

Take the homeward gravel track back to Lowfield House; that first leads through a small collection of buildings, then woodland. The track passes through a number of gates and then comes to a collection of buildings and a farm at Stang End. From Stang End, Little Langdale is signposted. Drop down a lane between two dry stone walls, over a footbridge, then up through a field by a white house to the main road before heading right down Side Gates Road to Lowfield House.