Langdale

The Langdale Valley is my favourite area of Lakeland. Who could fail to be impressed by the magnificent Langdale Pikes? This used to be our first view of them as I drove north from Windermere to Ambleside. Near the head of the lake, the trees and shrubs at the side of the road ended, to give us this view across to Langdale.

Driving up the valley , our first stop was usually at Skelwith Bridge where there used to be a very nice tea shop, and also a shop selling local slate items. We used to drool over the beautiful slate fireplaces but alas, not at their prices. Meantime, my daughters and their friends, of course, spent hours playing on the rocks in the river.

From there it was a short walk through the slate works and along a path through the woods to Skelwith Force. In normal weather, the 15 foot waterfall is impressive; in full flood, it is awesome!

Continuing up the valley, the next full view of the Pikes came when we reached Elterwater Common.

Then we were heading into the valley, through the small village of Chapel Stile, and along the  valley road to the foot of the Pikes.

The two Pikes, Harrison Stickle (2,415ft) and Pike O’Stickle (2,326ft) look very different once you reach them. Pike O’Stickle is famous as the site of a New Stone Age axe ‘factory’ as many stone axe heads have been found there. My father was very proud of a stone he once discovered there which he was sure was a stone axe. It looked like any other stone to me!

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been to the top of Harrison Stickle. The first part of the climb was by the side of a tumbling beck (stream) called Stickle Ghyll. This led up to Stickle Tarn, a small lake beneath the rocky cliff called Pavey Ark.

It’s possible to reach the summit of Harrison Stickle by traversing Pavey Ark via a gully called Jack’s Rake, but that route was too steep for me! Instead we went up the slope to the plateau between the two pikes, and from there it was only a short distance to the summit of either of them. From the summit there was an amazing view, not just of the wide expanse of the Langdale Valley, but of all the other mountains which surround it.

The route back to the valley was a path down the southern side of Harrison Stickle. On one occasion, I took a wrong turn somewhere, and ended up, along with my two daughters and their friends, scrambling down rocks to the point at which I was starting to panic (slight understatement!). When we reached a sheer drop, I was sure we were stranded, unable to get up or down, and I had visions of the mountain rescue helicopter having to rescue us! I can still feel the enormous sense of relief I experienced when the end of a narrow ridge led us back to the main flank of the mountain and from there to the path we should have been using!

Another route into Langdale takes you directly down from Blea Tarn to the head of the valley via a very steep road, with hair pin bends. By the time you get to the bottom (having been in low gear the whole way), a sign warns you to ‘test your brakes’. In the days of drum brakes, you could smell the heat from your brakes as you came down that road!

Beautiful area, and a lot of amazing memories of many, many times in the Langdale Valley.

Oh, and did I mention the pub at the foot of the Langdale Pikes? One of my favourites!

Elterwater - Swans and Gunpowder

Elterwater is a small village in the Langdale Valley, about half a mile north-west of the small lake from which it gets its name. The name ‘elter’ is thought to derive from the Norse for swan, and swans are still a common sight on the lake.

At one time the inhabitants of the village were involved in farming and slate quarrying. Just outside the village, there was also a gunpowder factory, built on the site of a 17th century woollen mill. The Gunpowder Works opened in 1823 and remained in business for just over a century until the 1930’s depression and the development of more modern explosives like dynamite. Evidently it had a good safety record with only 4 fatal explosions in over 100 years. One story from that era is that the walls of the estate were full of money. The workers were paid in cash and hid money in the wall before they took their pay packets home, so that they could recover it later to spend in the pub!

The site of the works was developed and became known as the Langdale Estate. It had a hotel, several small cottages and some rustic sleeping cabins. Then, in the 80’s, it was converted into a luxury hotel and country club, with over 80 Scandinavian-type lodges which are now let out on a timeshare basis.

Today the most well-known building in the village itself is the Britannia Inn, which is over 400 years old and was a farmhouse before becoming a coaching inn. Now it’s a very popular pub which is usually crowded in the summer months.