9:10am Friday 2nd April 2010
By Mary Welsh
I AM ALWAYS looking for new routes, new approach lanes or paths. But week after week I begin realise there are probably more left to discover than I have found in my many years of rambling. I have walked beside Devoke Water several times, climbed the surrounding slopes and visited Barnscar, and I have written them up for the Westmorland Gazette. This week I strode the little lane that leaves, west, off the Birker Fell road, leading to Woodend farm, a new pleasing approach for me – albeit a wet one in parts.
Park in one of the several laybys, grid ref 175974, on the east side of the fell road, choosing a spot about half way between the little turning to Woodend and the track on the east side that leads down to High Ground and Birkerthwaite.
1 After enjoying the superb view into the heart of the Lake District and the Scafells, walk south, using grassy verges for most of the way, to take the lane on your right. Continue over pleasing Woodend Bridge across Woodend Pool and continue along the lane as it winds towards the tiny hamlet, originally a 16th Century Quaker settlement. Once 17 families lived here. Go past some cottages and then a sturdy barn to reach the outbuildings of Woodend farm. Just before a gate across the road, take the steps on the left, up the banking and signed with a rather tired ‘path’ notice.
2 Beyond the gate at the top, turn right and walk a path beside a fence on the left. Look ahead for the next sign directing you above some farm machinery. Follow the way to a gate on to open moorland. Bear right to a gate over a track on your right. This emerges from the farm and is the end of road by which you approached the farm. With your back to the gate, head over the rolling moorland on, at first, a fairly good track. It continues for quite a way and then becomes more difficult to follow and is muddy. Soon you can see Devoke Water in its large hollow, surrounded by high slopes, which lean back from the water. Continue ahead as well as you can, heading for the shoreline, dodging muddy patches and wet pools.
3 Turn left and walk towards the foot of the tarn. After a long dry spell the path is pleasing to walk but for some of the year it can be wet. Look for small diversions into the grassy surrounds, where other visitors have walked. Sheep have also made some good paths through the drier areas. Notice the tiny island offshore, which is covered with willows and pines, safe from sheep and deer. Trees would have covered all the moorland around, several thousand years ago, but first the Vikings cleared some of the land and then Bronze Age man needed open land to grow his crops and cleared it some more.
4 Follow the small paths leading round the foot of the tarn. Step across several tiny streams hurrying towards the pool. Cross a larger one on convenient stones – walking poles could help here. Carry on to the side of Linbeck Gill, a wider and deeper steam. It can be fast–flowing after heavy rain and you may have to turn back. Don’t attempt to jump across unless you have very long legs, but move a short way downstream to where there is a row of small boulders across a shallow part and more through a boggy patch. At the far side, turn right and walk upstream on a good path to the side of the tarn 5 From now on head along the other side of the large dark stretch of water. Sometimes the paths beside the water are good but they occasionally disappear into wet areas. Keep looking ahead to find the best way. Pause to look across to the fell on the far side beneath which you walked earlier. From here you also have a good view of a ruined two-storied boathouse, stable and room for the staff who looked after Muncaster Castle’s house parties. About halfway along the path improves and then climbs the fell slope for a short way, avoiding the marshy area at the head of the tarn. Once above this, bear right to join a wide reinforced track. If you wish to visit the boathouse, turn right, otherwise walk left. Pass through a gate and enjoy, as you go, the Scafells stretching along the skyline – one of Lakeland’s finest views. Just before you reach the fell road, take a wide trod climbing right, parallel with the road. Continue until this winds right and then turn left along a sheep trod to the road. Carry on from here to where you have parked.
Information Distance: 5 miles Time: 4 hours Terrain: The fell road and the lane are a delight. Beyond the farm, the track can be muddy in parts and then boggy. The paths around the tarn are also wet in parts, but strong boots make this an interesting, very quiet, pleasant walk.
Map: OS Explorer OL 6 NB: Restrictions on space mean that this article provides a general summary of the route. It is advisable for anyone who plans to follow the walk to take a copy of the relevant Ordnance Survey map.
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