| Name of walk | Woodland Fell |
| Date of walk | 2020-01-08 |
| Distance walked (miles) | 7 |
| Duration of walk | 4 hours 50 minutes |
| Weather | Some sunshine |
| Peaks on walk | Woodland Fell |
| Walked with | Belinda |
| Parking | Grass verge north of the church. |
On Wednesday I walked one of Wainwright’s Outlying Fell walks with Belinda. I’ve known Belinda since 1985, when we both played on the same pub pool team. We then went on to play for Barrow together, then for Cumbria, and both of us won through to trial for England. So two ladies, both with a misspent youth, together on a mountain, is a dangerous combination! We parked on the grass verge, as recommended by Wainwright. The walk would include Yew Bank and Wool Knott summits and the shores of Beacon Tarn. This is an unfrequented area of heather moorland south of Coniston, so I was glad of a companion. We would meet no one else on our walk.
The view ahead. We would return via the path on the right.
Easy navigation.
We go through a gate to a walled path, not towards Climb Stile.
Pink sheep!
We just continue on up. Yew Bank ahead.
At the top of the pass we then take a path that goes to the right and head up towards the summit of Yew Bank. View back to the pass.
Belinda had brought a painted pebble that she found on the beach to place on the summit cairn.
Belinda placing the pebble in its new temporary home....until someone else finds it!
Looking over to Caw and Stickle Pike.
View to the Coniston Hills.
Glad I'm not over on Dow Crag or Coniston Old Man today, it looks a bit wet!
We head off across unpathed terrain in the direction of Hodge Wife Gill, looking out for an ancient cairn (pile of stones), which we failed to locate. We then cross the gill.
Wainwright mentions that the gill is in a 'profound depression', and it is definitely steep to climb out of!
We locate a sheep trod and follow it up to the top of Tarn Riggs.
Top of Tarn Riggs. Ahead of us is Beacon Fell.
View back across the depression to where we had come from. Coniston Hills behind.
We head towards Beacon Fell.
We pass another ancient cairn.
First view of Beacon Tarn.
We continue on the good grassy track that will take us to the tarn.
The bracken looks good in the sunshine.
Looking north.
We are watched by the sheep.
Kiss-kiss!
They are very cute Herdwicks.
Beacon Tarn with our next summit, Wool Knott, on the right. We follow the path along its western shoreline.
We stop here for lunch.
The sun is out and it is quite warm out of the wind.
There was a group on the far shore who had just been in for a swim....in January.....without wetsuits!
No, it wasn't that warm! I've swam here in the summer, and it's very pleasant.
We head up towards Wool Knott.
View back to Beacon Tarn and Beacon Fell from Wool Knott.
The view complete with hills.
There is always something to spoil the view!
Wool Knott summit cairn.
View back to Wool Knott. When getting down from Wool Knott, take the path that goes right. (We took a little detour)
View down to Green Moor Farm, which we will walk through and then along the walled path.
The slate footbridge across Green Moor Beck.
Green Moor farm. The track continues through woods coming back out to where I took the first photo.
Although Wainwright says it is five miles. My GPS said it was 6.95 miles, but we did a few minor detours, either looking for cairns or chatting and not paying attention to the route, but not 2 miles worth! Thankfully the weather was kind and the bracken was low, so we made it in one piece in four hours and fifty minutes, but without rushing.
Jo.
