The Old Man of Coniston 14-03-2018

The Old Man of Coniston

14-03-2018

Decided while I am back in work tomorrow, I might as well make use of my final day off by going somewhere I haven't walked yet. The Lake District offers so much choice that it was difficult to pick a route, but I quickly decided on the Old Man of Coniston, mainly because its one of the southern peaks and relatively easy to get to, and also because it has a well defined tourist path. So after dropping the boy off at school, I hit the M6 northbound for the short 2 hour drive to Cumbria. I parked at Walna Scar car park, which surprised me as there is no ticket machine there, not for long apparently, as there are plans to reduce the parking spaces and install Pay and Display machines in the near future, but for now its completely free of charge. Im actually amazed I made it to the car park at all, as the road leading up to it was nearly vertical, or at least thats how it felt, I had to drop down into 1st gear at one point to get up to park up.

  

Coniston Water

After shutting the gate behind me I set about changing my shoes and checking my bag, thinking back to when I climbed Moel Sych a few weeks ago, I decided to lose some of the weight from my backpack, looking in the bottom of my bag, I didn't realise just how much I was carrying that I didn't need. So I left a few things behind, and set off up the path. In the distance I could see a group of people, but they were so far ahead I didn't think I would catch them up. For the start of the walk the path is nice and wide, obviously not natural, and has a mild gradient, by no means difficult, so I walked at a quick pace. I was catching the group in front of me, and I could see that they had turned and started their first ascent. As I reached the corner, which takes you out of sight of the car park and the start of the walk, I almost fell over a young girl, around 13, as apparently the group I was following had split up into 2 groups, each group 8-10 strong, mostly teenagers and a couple of adult guides. Its actually good to see kids outdoors, and seeing them genuinely excited about being there. Too many, including my boy spend way too much time on computers, and hardly any time climbing trees etc.

Anyway, I had a great idea, I have found that my starting pace when I go for a long walk is too quick, and I end up either tiring quickly or over heating, or both. So my great idea was to let the group go first, and once they were out of sight, I would follow, until they came into sight again, and I would stop until again they went out of sight. They wasn't the quickest walkers so this would reduce my pace, give me plenty of rest periods, and I wouldn't have to keep checking my map, as the guides obviously knew the route. Brilliant.

My plan worked well, I wasn't tiring and felt really good. Taking in lots of scenery during my waits.

Looking back down the path to the carpark.

Higher up now, looking back towards Coniston Water

As you get higher, you will begin to notice more and more slate. The path has pretty much all been slate, stood on its edge all the way from the car park nearly, but it starts to really become abundant. Not naturally rising out of the ground, but cut slate, dumped as spoil. Its only when you turn one of the many blind corners that you start to see mine workings, the first thing that you will come across is 2 massively thick wire ropes, at least 3 inches thick, crossing the path, you have to climb over it, or go under it, it weighs too much to move. Once you have navigated you way past the ropes, the path opens out to a flat area of land, with whats left of a couple of buildings and some mine track still in place. It reminded me of the slate mine at Cwmorthin in North Wales, especially when you see the tunnels leading in to the mountain. Apparently Coniston is famed for its Copper mines, but the mines on the Old Man were changed to mine for the local silver/grey volcanic slate that has formed here.

Whats left of one of the buildings of the Slate Quarry.

One of the tunnels

Once again the group of kids went out of sight and I followed, it was at this point I wondered what they thought about a grown man following these teenagers up the mountain, coming into view, peeping and then stopping, I actually began to feel a bit dodgy about my brilliant idea. I needn't have worried though, because once they reached Low Water Tarn they stopped for lunch, and I carried on passed them. The path was getting much steeper now, and there was snow still caught in the well of the footpath, I say snow, it was more like sheet ice, with a minimal spattering of snow on top. So hazardous that a new footpath was being walked on the edge of the usual path, out of the snow. This path made the ascent a little harder as the rocks were bigger so I had to take wider steps, which in turn affected my balance. I made it to the first turn in the path, as it starts zig zagging up the sheer face of the mountain, and turned round to look at Low Water, I hadn't stopped as I passed as I wanted to make some ground between myself and the group of teenagers, to avoid us crossing paths and getting in each others way. Low Water Tarn is stunning colour of blue, and it was partially covered in thick ice. I would imagine people have no issue going swimming in the lake on a hot summers day, but definitely not today.

Low Water

Low Water, with a Cumbrian Mountain Backdrop.

After taking these photo's, I decided to just make a hit for the top. The wind had gotten up, and the temperature had dropped, so I pulled my soft-shell jacket out of my rucksack, took a drink of water and headed upwards. The last 100-150 meters to the summit were tough, not because of the steepness, but because of the snow. Making your own path up the side of the snowed in track was hard work, but it wasn't long until the gradient began to decrease and then the impressive Cairn came in to view.

Standing at 803 meters, with Lake Windermere in the background

Not the best picture of the Trig Point, but I was standing on sheet ice.

Looking across towards Swirl How

Looking out over Coniston Water, with Morecambe Bay in the distance.

Lake Windermere in the distance.

The views from the top are stunning, its a shame it wasn't a clear day. I could make out Morecambe Bay, Lake Windermere and over towards Scafell Pike, but it was too misty to be absolutely sure. I took a seat and took out my sandwiches, and had my lunch. While eating my lunch, I could see a line of Cairns heading across the ridge, so after I had scoffed my butties, I decided to see where they led, so I followed the line of smaller cairns, and came to a fairly big one, which apparently marks Brim Fell summit at 796 meters. 

Looking back to the Old Man from Brim Fell

It was here when I realised just how windy it had got, I could only walk if I leant into the wind, and the gusts were really pushing me, so I decided to call it a day and make my way back to the car. I had planned to walk back down past Goats Water, but I couldn't find my map in my bag. I had made an extra effort this morning to remember it, and now I couldn't find it, so I made my way back down the way I had come up. This was made quite tricky by the fact you couldn't see the path, and without standing on the snow, heading down was much more slippy than going up, especially with the wind. It didn't take too long to get back to Low Water, and whilst nobody was about, and took a closer look.

The water is unbelievably clear, and it really is a lovely spot for a picnic

You can really see the colour of the slate in the last picture, the colour is what made Coniston Slate so popular. Heading further down I arrived at the quarry buildings, and I had a bit of an explore.

It still amazes me that they just leave things as they are, and let them deteriorate. I would imagine the building and the workings where still standing for many years after the quarry and mines closed, and they have just fallen into a state of disrepair, as nature has battered them over the years. No doubt some people have taken what they could also. 

Anyhow, I made my way back down to my car, where I found my map, and made my way home for a tea of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties, all before the rush hour started. 

The walk to the top took me roughly 2 and a half hours, and then an hour to get back down. Its not as difficult as I expected it to be, but there are some tough area's, especially near the top.