Whittle Wanderers

Whittle Wanderers. Wed 7 July 2004
Seathwaite, Cumbria. As Eric (sorry Eric, no longer "your honour") has finished his tour of duty as the Mayor of Chorley (2003 - 4) he has a bit more time available but no longer can get the Mayor's staff to put info about his Cumbrian wanderings on the Mayor's website. So here we are with a report of our walk on a site that I hope will be linked to the official Whittle-le-Woods website, Eric's home village. Wed 7 July 2004 was forecast as horrendous rain and storm force gales. But the Met. Office think that London is the centre of the universe and only give forecasts of any detail for there. Fortunately Cumbria was on it's own weather forecast and we had a fine day for our walk. I'd been dipping into Wainwright (guide books) again and found reference to a steep route up from Stockley Bridge on to the summit of Seathwaite Fell. I drove us from Whittle to Seathwaite for 8am and we set off up via Stockley Bridge to Styhead Gill. The route wasn't too difficult to find as all I did was follow Wainwright's instructions. Though no sign of a path existed it was a straightforward way to the top. The high area of Seathwaite Fell is worth a visit due the exceptional views of Borrowdale and Derwentwater to the north.
	Boyd and Eric at the first coffee stop, just below the summit of Seathwaite Fell.

Eric and Boyd on the summit of Seathwaite Fell

Then we headed south to Sprinkling Tarn and the main track up to Esk Hause. Several people were camping in the area and had good weather for it. Over Allen Crags we headed north and followed the winding track towards Glaramara. This was my third time on this path and the first with any visibility. It's not very nice in thick cloud and snow! We stopped for our sandwiches just before Glaramara summit and took in the wonderful views. We must have met 4 or 5 people on this length of path, which was quite a lot for a minor route, mid-week.
	Heading for Glaramara this is the view you get of the Langdales

The descent from Glaramara summit was not so nice as it is steep all the way down to Hind Gill and Seathwaite. Approaching the bottom we met a group of 'ard men coming up, with full packs. Obviously back-packing and intending camping out on the fell. The weather held out and just as we got back to the car a bit of light rain started.