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The railway line from Barrow in Furness to Carlisle hugs the coast most of the way, and has marvellous scenery of the Lake District mountains. The whole journey take two and half hours but you can get of at any of the 25 stations , some are request stops . On the train you tell the conductor , at a request station to get on you signal driver with your hand like you stop a bus. The second picture shows train route green and bus route red
South Cumbria has a rail link with more major parts of the country, the Furness Line. This is from Lancaster to Barrow-in-Furness and from Barrow connections can be made to head north up the Cumbria coast as far as Carlisle.From Lancaster to Barrow the railway crosses the sands of Morecambe Bay twice by viaduct, firstly at Arnside and secondly from Cark to Ulverston. It's a picturesque route with vast expanses of sand and sea. Herons galore can be spotted as well as other sea birds. Recently, the rail service was cancelled for a few months while vital repair work was carried out on the Ulverston viaduct. A bus service operated in it's place. Thankfully, things are back to normal now.The Cumbria Coastal route is a slow one!! and doesn't run beyond Millom on Sundays. I seem to remember it took about 2 hours to get to Carlisle, if not more. Again, this is a scenic route and the line crosses...
One thing that you Can say about Lakeland weather and that is “Changeable” !!We say, you can get 3 seasons all in one day and this walk proved to be no exception to that rule !!It pored down on the summit of Great Gable, Then faired up again but the cloud didn’t lift so that left us with poor visibility.Never-the less we found our way Safely back down to Styhead pass and from there back down the zigzags to Wasdale Head.If you look at the photos from the beginning of the day and then the ones from the end of the day then you probably wouldn’t think that they had been taken in the same month – let alone the same day – But they were !!
As we approached the summit of Great Gable the weather started to close in – rapidly, these next shots were taken within the space of 5 minutes !!The morale is, Always be prepared for BAD weather when walking the Lakeland fells !!
Climbers Traverse path, This is further down than you think !!Then continue following the path around the front of Great Gable until you get to Beck Head, from here you have several choices1) Go down the path back to Wasdale head (As in The Assent on Great Gable)2) Walk along the back Climbers Traverse to Arron Slack3) Walk up to the summit of Great Gable (This is what we did)4) Walk over Kirkfell
The Dress Circle is The place to get your Classic Photos, If you climb a little above it you get the Best view of Napes Needle, Just make sure you have plenty of film and batteries as it’s a Long way down to get more ;-)
From the Gully below Napes Needle you have to choices, either you can scramble around to “The Dress Circle” or drop back down to the Front Climbers Traverse path and either continue along to Beck Head or make the easier scramble back up to “The Dress Circle” from around the next corner,The views from to “The Dress Circle” are among the Best in Wasdale – Hence the name ;-)This is the ideal lunch stop, have a break and take in these awesome Views !!
Once on the Front Climbers Traverse path, simply follow it around the front of Great Gable, When you have crossed the scree bed of Great Hells Gate you will notice above you The Sphinx Rock and shortly after this Napes Needle comes into view, Napes Needle is actually before The Sphinx Rock but tucked away to the left so you need to keep an eye looking upwards, especially if it is your intention to “Thread the Needle”Once past Napes Needle you need to leave the path and scramble up the gully to get a better view of it, or if you have decided to Thread the Needle it is best done form the Styhead side as the climb up isn’t as steep and the drop back into the gully is more manageable
From footbridge at the bottom of Great Gable continue ahead up the well defined path that angles fairly steeply across the scree beds as you head towards the Styehead pass. However before you get to the summit you need to leave this path at lower Cairn Knots Crags, This is a identifiable as the past climbs steeply up a watercourse at the side of the crag and there is a large level grassy area on the top of it, Just head straight up the side of Great Gable at this point and after about 15 minutes you will come across is the Front Climbers Traverse path going left to right in front of you, Turn left and follow this path.If you happen to turn then head for the top of the pass and then dogleg left, My suggestion is a shortcut and will save you the dogleg !!
The first mile or so of this route is the same as The Assent on Great Gable, Start off from the Green at Wasdale Head, take the lane to the right of the Green, past St Olav’s church and through Burnthwaie farm and follow the good path along the valley bottom, but this time where the path splits you must take the left hand fork up the Scree towards Styehead pass. (Don't turn left off the path at The footbridge at the bottom of Great Gable but keep going straight on)
Lodore Falls Hotel Keswick
1 Review and 384 Opinions Stayed there for a wedding. On leaving they added an extra GBP 100 to my bill for damage to some...
Glenville House Windermere
1 Review and 144 Opinions Spent a night at Glenville house in July of 2010. Booked the room on the net with alot of...
The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel Barrow in Furness
83 Opinions
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Q: We are just about to book with Lakelovers. The coach house at Grasmere. would love to hear from anybody that has stayed here in...
A: The company you are thinking of booking with ticks all the right boxes as far as accreditation with tourist organisations like Visit Britain & Enjoy England are concerned...
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