The Coniston Six

I was looking for a respectable fell worthy of the title 100th Wainwright summit for my next Lake District outing.

The Old Man Of Coniston was an obvious choice. Mainly because back in February 2017, I'd set out to do the Coniston seven, a Lakeland classic, which includes The Old Man Of Coniston, Dow Crag, Brim Fell, Swirl How, Great Carrs, Grey Friar, and finally Wetherlam, But unfortunately the snow and ice that day was hard going as I attempted to do this in reverse, coupled with sub zero temperatures and developing cramp, meant I could only manage to summit 'Wetherlam' before returning home via Levers Water.

So I was keen to return and finish this classic route, and visit the remaining six peaks.

The planned route

The weather forecast for my day was a few light showers early morning then clearing by lunchtime giving clear and sunny skies for the afternoon.

I'd normally be concerned about arriving early enough to get a parking space in the usual tiny car parks and pull in’s around the Lake District, but in Coniston I have found a little spot on Tilberthwaite Ave where you can almost always get a spot for free, rather than pay the £8 charge for over 4 hours in the tourist car park.

As I drove the last few miles into the village, the rain was coming down in buckets, standing water everywhere and I was thinking this is more than a light shower, there was no sign of it letting up. It just looked set in for the day.

I parked up in the village looking out at torrential rain absolutely bouncing off the road. Two guys parked in front of me were sat doing the same. I'd guess we were all thinking the same, we'll wait a while and pray the rain eases off.

But time was ticking by and a time comes when you need to make the decision to go or not as it was now getting on for 10am.

I decided to put my faith in the forecasters and ride out the early wet weather.

I was trying out a new purchase today, a new ‘Kilpi’ shell jacket from Finland and thought this would be a good test.

Once suited and booted with waterproofs on, I finally left the warm dry comfort of my car, and headed out through the village and up the side road passing the Sun Hotel, following Church Beck to the bridge, passing the impressive waterfall.

The path divides here, last time I was here, I crossed the bridge and headed for Wetherlam through the Coppermines Valley and up by the Irish Row cottages. This time I was staying on the west side of the beck and heading straight up the main east route of the Old Man passing Low Water.

The rain was still just as heavy and the air was cool as I started the initial climb.

Understandably there were very few walkers to be seen in the cloudy wet conditions, but as I climbed at a slow but steady pace passing derelict buildings, crossing abandoned rusty steel cables, steel frames from the old aerial tramway towers and having passed Low Water, I caught up with two guys from Merseyside, “Jude, as in Jude Law” said one and “Steven as in Steven Gerard” hmm two very humerus lads whom made the last section of a long climb a little easier as we chatted all the way to the summit.

That all important summit shot to mark my 100th Wainwright peak

With the rain now easing off but wind now picking up, the two guys gave me a handshake and took a photo to mark my 100th fell, and continued their adventure on another route to mine. 

It was now 12pm and I decided to take shelter from the now breezy summit of the Old Man Of Coniston to grab a bite to eat and drink behind rocks as a large party of walkers had occupied the main summit base out of the wind.

With high wind and low cloud, I wasn’t going to hang around too long as it wasn’t the most pleasant of spots to enjoy a sit down and snack, so I was quickly packed up and plotted my next course towards ‘Dow Crag’ but at least the rain had now finally stopped.

I was still dry, but my new shell looked wetted out and it also felt heavier so I was thinking possibly not the best purchase I’ve made online.

The view of Goat's Water as I made my way to Dow Crag

The cloud was showing signs of lifting as I could now see Goats Water below to my left having dropped to the col then a short easy climb to this very rocky peak to reach my 101st Wainwright. But I was amazed just how slippery the Rhyolite rock was when wet, as I made a careful but simple scramble to the true rock summit. A quick check of the altimeter on my gps confirmed the summit as there isn’t a cairn to mark the summit here.

The rocky Dow Crag

Looking south on Dow Crag

The sun pops out briefly, a look back at Dow Crag as I return to the col

As the cloud continued to lift I was hoping that forecast I saw of sunshine the night before was finally on it’s way as I left ‘Dow Crag’ to retrace my steps back onto the Coniston ridge, and now aiming for ‘Brim Fell’ 

The walk over Brim Fell along the ridge is easy, a mere hump hardly a mountain yet a Wainwright so now three summits passed and three still to visit.

Looking at my route to come, the path on the right taking me up to Brim Fell. Then walking the ridge from right to left, Swirl How, and Great Carrs, far left is Grey Friar

As I continued the ridge walk leaving Brim Fell behind, I was able to strip the waterproofs off as the day improved with lifting clouds. It suddenly became really busy with walkers. Where had they all come from? Did they all start in that rain like myself?

View of the Coppermines Valley, and Coniston from Brim Fell

It was now feeling warm, a pleasant September Saturday afternoon was developing, as I picked my way over ‘Little and Great How Crags’ by the time I reached Swirl How around 2.45pm the sun was well and truly out.

Swirl How summit, and I was happier than I looked

Looking out north from Swirl How fantastic views of the surrounding fells to the north could be seen, and none more so than of Pike of Blisco and the Langdales where I was just a couple of months earlier.

Someone called this mountain ‘Pile of Biscuits’ and it just sticks in my head when I see it now.

It was just about a 20 minute walk to ‘Great Carrs’ the 5th summit of the day.

But a visit to the nearby memorial south of the summit is a must, where eight airmen were killed in October 1944 while lost when their Halifax bomber crashed in low cloud. A memorial stone in a cairn, plus parts of the undercarriage and a cross marks the spot. I removed my cap and stood reading the inscription for a short time. Respect to those brave men.

The memorial and Grey Friar beyond

My final peak of the day was ‘Grey Friar’ about 6.5 miles into the walk. Again another short easy walk from Great Carrs on a less well established path, definitely one only travelled on if you are bagging Wainwrights. But once there, some closer superb views of the Scafells can be seen.

Arriving on the final summit, the mountain has two cairns, and having visited both, felt the southern cairn was the true summit according to my gps.

The two summit cairns

It was now 3.40pm and I was about the furthest from the car in Coniston that I’d been all day, so I knew I’d be late back but I felt good, weather was great and I was now on 105 Wainwright’s.

As I made my way back to Swirl How then down the rocky ‘Prison Band’ heading for Levers Water my new shell coat was still drying out hours after the sun had come out, but still damp in the lower half of the arms and waist. Future dog walking coat? I think it was designed for cold but dry conditions as in Scandinavia, not the wet wet weather of Lakeland.

At the foot of Prison Band, I looked back up at the route I’d just descend and remembered the last time I was at this spot back in February, there was deep snow and ice, low cloud, sub zero temperatures and poor visibility.

I was thinking of continuing on to Swirl How at the time but it was mid afternoon I was tired had cramp and with only a couple of hours of daylight left, having not done this route before, I decided to leave it for another day.

I now know it was a good call to make, so with a satisfying smile on my face I made my way down to the tranquil Levers Water.

The path down to the water is one of those that just disappears into boggy wetlands, then reappears on another level, eventually picking it back up again for it to disappear again, so a lot of bog hopping and dodging.

Once by the waters edge there is a good solid dry path on the east side which takes you the length of Levers Water.

From here I continued back into Coppermines Valley following Church Beck passed the YHA.

As I made my way down, I could spot several parties of walkers descending the Old Man like an army of ants all homeward bound. 

The track of the day

I arrived back at the car at 6.15pm. Time to change, and something to eat and drink before heading home, 130 miles away.

Cheeks glowing and a feel good factor of 10 out of 10. An excellent day was had.

11 miles and 4,500ft of ascent in 8 hours, I’m not a fast walker and I believe in a steady pace, I also like to look around at the views often. I’ll forgive the weatherman this time because although the rain was heavy, it did indeed brighten up in the afternoon and I got my reward for that trust.

I hope you enjoyed reading my trip report, and thank you for any comments you might want to make.