Ting Mound, Castle Howe, Greenburn Mines Circular

This low-level, pretty walk takes you on a tour of some of Little Langdale Valley's historical features.

On the whole, the tracks, the path along the flank of Lingmoor undulates quite steeply and can be wet, so it advisable to wear decent footwear.

WALK DISTANCE: 5.94 MILES/9.54 KILOMETRES

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

WALK TIME: 2.5 HOURS

MAP LINK

MAP PDF & QR SCAN

From Lowfield House, turn left onto Side Gates road. After approximately 16 minutes after having passed the Three Shires Inn on your right, come out of the village, and turn right onto a lane marked 'unsuitable for motor vehicles' [blue sign]. Follow this past Dale End farm where it turns into a gravel track, then onto a path leading up to a gate to the left, go through the gate and continue following the path beyond as it makes its way up the fellside. 

At a wall and gate as the path zig-zags uphill, take a path next to the wall on the left. This path continues alongside the wall below scree slopes with pleasant views into Little Langdale and across Little Langdale Tarn. Keep on the path until it eventually emerges onto the road. Go downhill and turn right to follow the road towards Fell Foot farm. 

As you walk down the road you will see an elevated lump of ground overlooking the farm. This is Castle Howe, thought to be the site of a hill fort from the Iron Age or possibly earlier. 

Great Langdale was home to a number of stone axe factories, it is thought the route via Wrynose Pass out to the coast, built by the Romans, was important for trade. 

If you continue walking up the lane you will come across a small mound next to Fell Foot farm. Ting Mound or Ting Moot, as it is known, is the remnants of a Viking meeting place, with a number of terraces constructed around it.

Make your way back down the road to a gate and signpost to Tilberthwaite. Cross a small bridge to go through the gate and follow a track across a field that then heads uphill. This meets another track heading up the valley into Greenburn. Follow this to a gate and then continue heading up the valley until you reach the old mine workings in Greenburn. 

Mining is thought to have begun here in the late 1600s, reached a peak in the mid-19th century and eventually ended in 1940. The remains of the buildings where the copper ore was processed, the miners’ accommodation, storage sheds, and spoil heaps, as well as the site of a waterwheel and the remains of a tramway are still visible.

However, the mine shafts and levels are blocked up now, but the shaft entrances can be identified by the mounds of spoil on the hillside below them.

Retrace your steps down the path out of Greenburn, and as you pass the track back down to Fell Foot, keep on going until the path splits, with one strand heading steeply uphill, signposted for Tiberthwaite. Ignore this and continue heading downhill to the collection of buildings at Low Hall Garth. The path drops down through the buildings and swings around below slag heaps. Here you’ll see a gate on the left leading to Slater’s Bridge. The 17th century bridge is thought to have been built by workers at the various mines nearby. Built from slate and incorporating a boulder in the River Brathay it’s so wonderfully uneven and worn it almost seems to be a natural part of the landscape itself. 

After the bridge head slightly right uphill and then through a couple of gates and a field until you reach the lane heading back down towards Three Shires Inn on your left, then eventually returning to Lowfield House on your right.