Whittle Wanderers

Wetherlam, Swirl How, Great Carrs, Cumbria. Wed 15 Sep 2004
It was clear and calm as we arrived at Tilberthwaite. To our right was one of the wonderfully rebuilt dry stone sheepfolds by Andy Goldsworthy. His own website of other constructions is well worth a visit. We followed the path up the Gill and marvelled at the extent of the old slate quarry workings, Soon we joined the main miner's track up to further workings then on to the NE approach to Wetherlam.
	Trees at Dry Cove Bottom.
The path winds in and out and up as it follows Wetherlam Edge. The last time I tried this route I was almost blown off and had to retreat down to the relative calm of the valley. Today we had excellent conditions and the views opened up as we gained height. On Wetherlam summit there seemed to be no decent cairn to mark the highest point. We found an excuse for a cairn and did a group photo of two. Familiar peaks were all around, to the north the picturesque panorama of the Langdales and SW to Coniston Old Man. We continued to the west and followed the path across Red Dell Head Moss and on to Swirl Hawse. A large pile of stones marks the spot and I suppose it could be called a cairn, but it's a lot wider than it is tall. I think Swirl Hawse is a wonderful name, as is the next part of our walk, up Prison Band and on to Swirl How. On Swirl How we arrived at what can be called a proper cairn. Since Eric and myself attended a dry-stone walling course and rebuilding project 2 years ago we always cast a critical eye on stone structures and make our own half-baked comments. The Swirl How cairn is "a good 'un" The views were now exceptional and this was an obvious place to stop for lunch. Just a little wind meant we had to wrap up a bit but once settled it was delightful. It's always nice to chat to people we meet on the fells and while we were there a lone walker came up clutching a 'Pub to Pub' guidebook. He'd being just that. Walking around Cumbria using recommended Pubs as lodging places on the way. Sounds like a very good way to travel to me.
Some wreckage of the crashed Halifax Bomber LL505
Our way down was to be via Great Carrs but on the way there we came across the pile of aircraft wreckage that is the memorial to the crashed Halifax Bomber LL505 that hit the mountain in thick cloud in 1944, all it's crew of seven Canadians and one Britain died. More information on the crash can be found at:
http://www.allenby.info/aircraft/greatcarrs.html
	The crash site and memorial cross on Great Carrs

Greenburn Copper Mine.
Instead of following the main footpath down to Greenburn we wanted to have a look at the old Greenburn Mine site. A steep descent of the fell side took us down to the Greenburn Beck but getting across would need some acrobatics. We had to cross as the mine is on the other side. I stopped to take some photos and Eric shot off down the valley and out of site, unfortunately on the wrong side of the beck. I managed to find a point narrow enough to launch myself into space and land on the opposite bank. Eric didn't have such luck. When he joined me nearer the mine it was with very wet feet. Copper was mined here and the 1840's to 60's saw it's heyday. English Heritage has done a lot of stabilisation work on the buildings and much is still to be seen. We were now on the old miner's track and the going was firm and easy. Just after Bridge End we took the very stony track over to the right and south back to Tilberthwaite. It brought us out at High Tilberthwaite Farm and from there it was a short walk back to the car.