High Street

High Street

Route: High Street and Mardale Ill Bell

Area: Far Eastern Lake District   

Date of walk: 5th May 2017

Walkers: Andrew

Distance: 6.7 miles

Weather: Sunny, windy and cold wind on tops

I started today’s walk from the head of Haweswater. This is an evocative place – the lake is in fact a reservoir, built in 1929 to supply the needs of the north west urban conurbations. In order to do this the valley was flooded by the construction of a dam, and all the farms and houses of Mardale and Measland were pulled down. Coffins were removed from the graveyard and buried elsewhere. This understandably caused huge controversy at the time, and at times of drought the ruins of the old village can still be seen

After leaving the car park I joined the lakeside path leading to The Rigg, and then turned sharp left to start the long climb up the ridge leading up to High Street. The ridge is about 2 miles long and its course is as straight as an arrow. There are a few steepish sections which cannot be climbed with hands in pockets, but it’s a straightforward affair, and it would be impossible to get lost.

Eventually I arrived at the summit of High Street and followed the easy path to the next fell, Mardale Ill Bell. From here I descended to Nan Bield Pass and followed a delightful path back down to the start. It had been a wonderful time in this remote and often overlooked part of the Lake District

Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)

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