The walk starts at the totally free car park in Powter How by the beautiful Powterhow Wood. The quiet hamlet of Power How is situated on the minor road that runs parallel to the main A66 trunk road by Bassenthwaite Lake near Thornthwaite. The car park is a great place to view the huge crags above on the impressive western side of Barf. Paddock Crag and Slape Crag being the most prominent. From the car park turn left onto the minor road, the Swan Hotel will be on your left as a track heads off the road to the right, follow the track and after a short walk down the track before you reach the gill cross the stile on the right clearly signed as a footpath.
Barf from Powter How |
Bassenthwaite Lake |
This path heads through the wood and ascends slowly reaching the obvious white painted standing stone known as The Clerk. The Clerk is the smaller of the two white painted monoliths on Barf. The Clerk indicates the start of the scree ridden ascent path to The Bishop rock. Look up from The Clerk and you will see a bizarre white painted boulder on the hillside known as The Bishop. Legend has it that the rock marks the spot where the Bishop of Derry was killed when he fell from his horse in 1783. The Bishop of Derry was apparently drunk and was bet that he couldn't ride up Barf on horse back. The rock is often re painted by the Swan Hotel staff.
The Clerk lower down the hill is said to be the burial place of both The Bishop and his horse. The rock being painted bright white on a dark hillside has prompted many questions from drivers passing on the main A66 Keswick to Cockermouth trunk road, often mistaken for a patch of snow in winter months. If you want to explore The Bishop rock you can ascend the steep scree path though I wouldn't recommend it myself. From The Clerk rock head west on the same path uphill keeping the Beckstones Gill on the left. Eventually the path will turn left and cross the Beckstones Gill.
The Clerk & Bishop above |
Beckstones Gill path |
After crossing Beckstones Gill you need to turn right and start the extremely steep ascent up through the forest on the left side of Beckstones Gill. This path is a lovely path through beautiful woodland with woodland flowers and pine needles creating a natural carpet on the forest floor. The path is however extremely steep. The first three hundred metres will really get your calfs burning. Luckily the carpet of pine needles create a nice abrasive surface over the otherwise slippery mud. After the main steep section the path reaches a tricky rocky section as it passes over then round the end of Birch Crag. The paths direction is unclear but basically just head up and over the rock, there is also a few wooden stumps with directional arrows.
After crossing the tricky section the path opens up onto open land near the plantations and heads uphill still into another plantation. On the right before you get to this point you will see the southern face of Barf and a few small waterfalls at the top of Beckstones Gill. The path enters another plantation and reaches a forestry road. Turn right onto the road and ascend it for only about twenty metres then turn right onto a path heading towards Barf that heads down first and crosses Beckstones Gill before heading up the ascent of Barf along a slightly zig zagged dry path through purple heather. Look out here for lizards!
Beckstones Plantations |
Northern Fells |
The path eventually tops out on Barf. The views from this proud little mountain are fantastic, I could have sat here for days watching the hills and lakes. Directly opposite Barf over Bassenthwaite Lake is of course the mighty Skiddaw and below it the smaller tops of Ullock Pike, Carl Side and Dodd. You can see the whole length of the waters of Bassenthwaite Lake from here. Directly behind Barf to the west is the highest top here of the Lord's Seat. To reach the Lord's Seat head directly west on the fairly obvious path. This is the only really bad boggy section of the walk unfortunately, in wet conditions you may find yourself having to avoid some fairly horrible patches of peat bog. Rounding them you will eventually find yourself heading up the eastern side of Lord's Seat.
Zig Zag to Barf summit |
Derwentwater from Barf |
Lord's Seat is a grassy bump with no cairn and just a few iron rods on its small summit. From here you can see the topography of this small range. North of the Whinlatter Pass the only fells are those on this small range of hills, Lord's Seat being the highest at only five hundred and fifty two metres above sea level. The other hills include the Wainwright's of Graystones, Broom Fell, Whinlatter and Barf. The other hills on the range include Seat How and Ullister Hill. You can see all these hills from Lord's Seat and see how they are all connected together by one long and star shaped ridge. From Lord's Seat you can choose your own routes to any of these hills. Probably the easiest is Broom Fell. From Lord's Seat simply head in a north west direction across the grassy ridge of Todd Fell to reach the huge stone cairn on Broom Fell.
Broom Fell summit |
Derwent Fells |
From Broom Fell on a clear day you should be able to see the Isle of Man floating out in the Irish Sea and to the north the hills of Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland across the Solway Firth. After enjoying Broom Fell follow the path back across Todd Fell back to Lord's Seat, on the return journey enjoying the views to the right of the pointy topped Derwent Fells including Grisedale Pike. Back on Lord's Seat now take the path that heads off south then south east towards Ullister Hill. The path will come off the open moorland and head into a dry heather area. Follow the path for a while and then before it starts to ascend to Ullister Hill the path will split, head left descending through a mix of heather and pine woodland.
Grisedale Pike |
Barf & Skiddaw |
After bending to the right the path turns into a forestry track heading downhill in a south easterly direction. Turn down the second switch back forestry road heading off left and downhill now heading north west with a fantastic panorama including Barf, Bassenthwaite Lake and Skiddaw. Eventually this road will reach the point earlier where the steep Beckstones Gill path met a forestry road. Here turn right heading down the path you ascended earlier and follow the same route back down to Powter How.
|
Duration
: 4.5 Hrs
