Walks, Sights & History

Whether you are a seasoned walker, or simply wanting to take a leisurely amble through the valley, visit places of interest, or dive into some of the history the area has to offer, we trust that the following moderate walks, sights, history & folklore help you to make the most of your stay in this glorious part of Cumbria.

Image by Paul Edney from Pixabay

This scenic and historical circular walk takes you to Slater's Bridge, a curious, ancient pedestrian crossing and packhorse bridge, past Cathedral Quarry, and onto Tilberthwaite Quarry, then over to Hodge Quarry, named as one of Britain's scariest Caves, a popular Film & TV location, before returning to Lowfield House.

WALK DISTANCE: 3.2 MILES/5.1 KILOMETRES

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

WALK TIME: 1.5 HOURS

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

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

WALK DISTANCE: 5.94 MILES/9.54 KILOMETRES

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

WALK TIME: 2.5 HOURS

This easy-moderate walk will take you to the Skelwith and Colwith Forces, then onto a Slate Quarry. The trail is beautiful and comprises of tarns, rivers, woods, and long pastures.

During Springtime there are lots of wildflowers, and various waterfowl in the lakes and rivers.

WALK DISTANCE: 6.46 MILES/10.41 KILOMETRES

DIFFICULTY: EASY-MODERATE

WALK TIME: 3 HOURS

This moderate-challenging route takes you to some of Little Langdale Valley's historical features, such as Slater's Bridge, Cathedral Cave, both popular Film & TV locations, then off the 'beaten-track' to the quiet, rarely visited summit of Hull How [Great Intake] with stunning views of the Langdale Pikes.

This walk is based on Andy Beck's walk, that is beautifully illustrated in his video HERE

WALK DISTANCE: 4.5 MILES/7.3 KILOMETRES

DIFFICULTY: MODERATELY CHALLENGING IN PARTS

WALK TIME: 3 HOURS

This low-level, pretty walk takes you on a tour of some of Little Langdale Valley's historical features, with stunning views. Blea is a stunning and picturesque Tarn of the Lake District, with an impressive view across to the Langdale Pikes across its surface, and a popular Film & TV location.

On the whole, the path along the flank of Lingmoor undulates steeply and can be wet, so it is advisable to wear decent footwear, but the views from the Fell are glorious.

WALK DISTANCE: 6.8 MILES/10.96 KILOMETRES

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE

WALK TIME: 3.5HRS

We definitely recommend that you take the car to this location. 

This moderately challenging route takes in great views on a clear day as you make your way up the climb to Rydal Cave, a man-made cave which is the result of slate quarrying. The route then takes in Steps End Wood and returns back along the road. Take care along the rougher sections of this trail and if crossing the stepping stones at the cave. Clear, well maintained paths, although take care along road sections and at road crossings on this trail. Also, some sections can be slippery during wet weather.

WALK DISTANCE: 2.6 MILES/4.2 KILOMETRES

DIFFICULTY: MODERATE-CHALLENGING

WALK TIME: 1 HOUR 20 MINUTES - excluding time to explore the cave.

Greenburn Copper Mine site was known in the 19th century as New Coniston Mine and Great Coniston Mine. It was first mined for copper in the late 17th century. Its hay-day was in the middle of the 19th century.
 

The complex is well preserved and comprises ruined buildings, mine workings, tramways, water courses, and the remains of several pieces of equipment for processing the ore. The site is widely regarded as one of the best-preserved copper mines in the Lake District.

DIRECTIONS

With the Mines just over 1 mile from Lowfield House, you can soon explore this surprisingly well-preserved complex of ancient, ruined buildings, mine workings, tramways, and water courses, and more. Head out to Slater's Bridge via a path across the fields from the Three Shires Inn in the village and follow the ancient walled lane until you find the mines about halfway up the Greenburn valley. Alternatively, the Blea Tarn, Ting Mound, Greenburn Mines Circular Walk and the Ting Mound, Castle Howe & Greenburn Mines Walk include the Greenburn Mines.

Ting Mound in Little Langdale, also known as Ting Moot, situated at the rear of Fell Foot Farm is an archaeological relic of the Viking Age. Historians believe it to have been a meeting place for local government and administration, and for Vikings to converse.

The mound rectangular in shape with rounded corners with a flat top. It measures over 3 metres high with dimensions of over 50 x 40 metres. There are two terraces, each approximately 4 metres wide, these are located on the mounds north and east sides. There are three further terraces on the west side. The south side of the mound, where originally there were four terraces, has been truncated by construction of a concrete loading bay. 

It was a crossroads with trading routes, dating back to Roman Times. By the time the Vikings came along, it was an established highway.

LOCATION & DISTANCE

With Ting Mound 1.4 miles from Lowfield House, you can be at this archaeological site after a 19-minute walk or a 4-minute drive.

Local Farmer and Quarryman Lanty [Lancelot] Slee, masterminded night-time packhorse journeys of Moonshine to avoid harsh excise duties. He had stills dotted throughout the area so that if one was discovered by excise men, he could revert to another still.

Discover more through Phil Burrow's very interesting 18 minute video production via the link button, below.

LOCATION & DISTANCE

His birthplace 'Low Arnside Farm', near Little Langdale, can be seen by walking up the farm's driveway, near Skelwith Bridge to Coniston, approximately 2 miles from Lowfield House, which will take about 45 minutes to walk to via a beautiful scenic route. Directions via Google Maps.

At the summit of Wrynose Pass, a short drive west on the Wrynose Pass, stands a carved stone marking the traditional meeting place of the old counties of Lancashire, Cumberland, and Westmorland. It was cut and carved in 1816 for a gentleman by the name of William Field.

Its summit, at 393m (1281 feet), is reached by the winding Wrynose Road, heading west from Little Langdale, after passing the village's pub, The Three Shires Inn.

LOCATION & DISTANCE

With Three Shires Stone 3 miles from Lowfield House, you can be at its site after a 1 hour walk, or a 12-minute drive.

 It is believed that the Drunken Duck Inn, formerly a farmhouse, was converted into a pub around 300 years ago. 

Legend has it that, in the 19th Century, its landlady discovered her ducks lying on the road. She assumed they had died, so she began plucking them with the intention of cooking them, but they came around. The ducks were drunk after drinking beer that seeped into the feeding area from a fallen barrel. The landlady was so full of remorse that she knitted them all woollen waistcoats to keep them warm.

LOCATION & DISTANCE

With the Drunken Duck Inn just over 3 miles from Lowfield House, you can be at its site in just over an hour's scenic walk, or a 14-minute drive. Directions via Google Maps.

On the evening of 24 October 1944, the southern fells were covered in a thick black cloud. Halifax LL505, nicknamed ‘S for Sugar’, were on a night navigation training flight from RAF base at Topcliffe near Thirsk. The Canadian crew were lost, circling slowly and continually, hoping for a break in the cloud which would provide them with a chance of getting a fix on their position.
 

Sadly, as they made their decent, they thundered into the ridge known as Top of Broad Slack which lies between the summits of Swirl How and Great Carrs, high above the Little Langdale valley.
 

With the Halifax Bomber Crash Site less than 4 miles from Lowfield House, you can be at the crash site in just over 2 hours on foot, a 57-minute bike ride, or a 14-minute drive. Directions via  Google Maps.

Windermere has, over the years, been a centre for seaplane activity. Between 1942 and 1945 the Sunderland Flying boat, created by the Short Brothers, were built, serviced, and converted in the Short Brothers factory at White Cross Bay, Windermere. In 1936, when business boomed, the Short Brothers partnered with shipbuilders Harland and Wolff to form Short and Harland in Belfast, and eventually in Rochester.

At the outbreak of the Second World War both factories worked flat out to produce the Short Sunderland and the RAF’s first four-engine heavy bomber, the Short Stirling. 2,371 of these large bombers would be produced along with 749 Sunderland's at the two factories plus several satellite units around the country.

The Sunderland was one of the Royal Air Force’s great wartime flying boats. In 1943 the company was nationalised by the UK government. A Sunderland flew at Windermere in 1990 but none remain airworthy today.

Winderemere is less than 4 miles by foot from Lowfield House when visiting it via the Brathay Trust location. Google maps.

A gloriously nostalgic, and elegant pleasure boat on Coniston Water North Lake.

The steam Yacht Gondola cruise provides a rare sailing experience. It steams through landscape that has delighted tourists since the late 18th century.

With the Steam Yacht Gondola Cruise location just over 5 miles from Lowfield House, you can be at the site after a 1 hour 38-minute walk, a 30-minute bike ride, or a 16-minute drive. Directions via Google Maps.

Explore the historical home of William Wordsworth’s, and take in the breathtaking views of Windermere, and Rydal Water.

With Rydal Mount & Gardens 6 miles from Lowfield House, you can be at Rydal Mount after a 1 hour 43-minute walk, a 38-minute bike ride, or a 16-minute drive. Directions via Google Maps.

This far-reaching outpost of the Roman Empire guarded the pass on the road from Ravenglass to Ambleside. It was built in the second century during Hadrian's reign and stationed by troops from the eastern Adriatic, who policed the area and defended the frontier.

With Hardknott Roman Fort 7 miles from Lowfield House, you can be at this spectacular location after a 2-hour 42-minute walk, a 1 hour 14-minute bike ride, or a 27-minute drive. Directions via  Google Maps

Brantwood, on the shores of Coniston Water, was the home of John Ruskin, a poet, an artist, a critic, a social revolutionary, and a conservationist. One of the nicest ways to approach Brantwood is from the water on the National Trust’s Steam Yacht Gondola from Coniston Pier.

Its extensive 20-acre gardens, originally laid out by Ruskin from 1871 onwards, comprise dramatic features in natural woodland with cascading streams among rocky outcrops.

With Brantwood 7 miles from Lowfield House, you can be at this stunning location within a 2 hour walk, a 37-minute bike ride, or a 19-minute drive. Directions via Google Maps.

There is evidence of Mining as early as the 12th Century in the Lake District. Slate mining still takes place today at the head of Honister Mine in the centre of the Lake District, at the top of Honister Pass, whereby, world famous Westmorland Green Slate, a beautiful, functional 450 million year of material.

You can also partake in abseiling and cliff camping on mine tours and canyoning.

The centre is just 1 hour's drive, 13.5 miles from Lowfield House. Google Maps.

Whether you are a Steam Engine Enthusiast, or just fancy sitting back and enjoying picturesque scenery, the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Train Ride in the Leven Valley, at the southern end of Lake Windermere, is a wonderful experience for all ages.

With the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway just over 18 miles away from Lowfield House, you can be taking on the sights in an historic steam train in 40 minutes or so by car. Directions via  Google Maps.

Castlerigg Stone Circle, with spectacular panoramic views, is the oldest in Britain with an estimated date of 3000BC. It was built as part of a megalithic tradition from 3,300 to 900 BC, during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Ages.
 

With Castlerigg Stone Circle 21 miles from Lowfield House, you can be at this historic site after a 40-minute drive, or a 2-hour bike ride. Directions via  Google Maps.