After our mostly unsuccessful walk up Hallin Fell the day before, we’d resigned ourselves to walks of no more than half an hour for the rest of the week. No walk is more important than the dogs’ wellbeing. And then, I managed an excellent direct hit when administering Coal’s eye drops that evening – you can check my last post for more about why he needed them. Getting eye drops in a dog’s eyes is hard! So hard in fact that I think my first two attempts mostly missed. The next morning, we couldn’t believe the improvement from just one successful dose. Thus we abandoned our plans for a very very short walk and upgraded to a short walk. Hurrah!
Sam chose a route taking in Falcon Crag and Ashness Bridge on Andrews Walks. It’s a 3.7 mile circular starting from the Great Wood car park, climbing most of the way up Walla Crag. Near the top, it diverts off along the top of Falcon Crag, before gradually descending to Ashness Bridge.
Visiting the Lakes in April was such a pleasure. Not only did we get lovely spring sunshine perfect for walking, but we escaped that perpetual Lake District issue: parking. We arrived at Great Wood at 9am to find it mostly empty (who’d believe it – I’m sure that won’t stay the same over the summer months). Parking is free for National Trust members or £7.50 for up to 4 hours (£9 all day). If you’re not a National Trust member, it’s worth it for the parking alone!
Into the woods
As we set off the light coming through the trees was very pretty – my photos don’t do it justice. The path is rocky and uneven, becoming increasingly steep as you climb, with the odd scrambly section here and there. I was starting to regret not looking more closely at the route Sam had shared with me! Right about when my face reached peak tomato, I was gratified to hear a lady in a couple passing us voice similar thoughts to my own. Namely, ‘you said this was an easy walk!’.
The good news is that once you emerge from the trees, the gradient lessens significantly. From here, the rest of the walk probably does fall into the ‘easy’ category. Looking at the map I could see that we were only a few minutes away from the summit of Walla Crag: a Wainwright we’d already bagged in December 2021. Walla Crag remains high on my list of favourites, with fantastic views over Keswick and Derwentwater and across to the neighbouring fells. It was an easy choice to detour to the summit to enjoy the views once more. Skiddaw is especially prominent, looming massively over Keswick, as well as the fells of the Coledale and Newlands Horseshoes.
It’s always sunny in…the Lake District?
It feels a bit sacrilegious to say this, but it was almost too sunny. Last time we climbed Walla Crag it was winter, and the fells had a beautiful lingering mist clinging to them. This time, in full sunshine, they didn’t look nearly as evocative and mystical. There’s a side by side comparison before – let me know which one your prefer in the comments. I’ll caveat this statement by saying that this weather preference applies to the view from Walla Crag only – some walks like the Mosedale Horseshoe and High Stile Ridge really are best saved for these cracking weather days!
Back on track – Falcon Crag
Back tracking to the original route, it’s a much gentler walk along the top of Falcon Crag. I felt like the view of Derwentwater got better and better, perhaps because I hadn’t seen it from this angle before. As we neared Ashness Bridge I recognised the path we ended up on as the one I’d intended to use to return to Ashness Bridge from Bleaberry Fell. ‘Intended’ to use because the OS map had the footpaths completely wrong and I ended up free-styling my way back to the car. As I said at the time – ‘the less said about this, the better!’. My sentiments haven’t changed at all and I did not look upon the scene of my route planning failure with fondness.
Ashness Bridge is a pretty stone bridge where the route turns back towards the start. It’s a popular stop for photos and we paused here to let the dogs have a paddle and a drink before carrying on. From here, the path re-enters the fringes of the wood, and while it’s a bit rocky, it’s nothing too troublesome at all. Until, that is, you arrive at the extremely short but reasonably steep climb at the very end. Tired legs can’t cope with anything other than completely flat paths! Although really at less than four miles altogether I shouldn’t confess to having achey legs by the end.
Dog friendly rating: Falcon Crag and Ashness Bridge
Dog friendly rating: 4/5. The woodland sections are great to give dogs a chance to enjoy some off lead time, and there are a few streams where they can have a paddle and a drink. The route is stile free, unless you do what we did and detour to Walla Crag. There’s a stile to cross if you want to bag the Wainwright, but it does have a dog gate which most Labrador sized dogs should be able to fit through. Once you’re on the fell, expect to see sheep at any time.
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