High Wray Castle

The first part of the walk was an out-and-back to High Wray Castle from Red Nab car park. It is only about an hour's round trip and has the advantage that you can pick up your rucksack on the return...unless you want it for impact protection if you happen to fall over.

The castle is quite impressive with its turrets and arrowslits. It has never seen a battle though since it was built in 1840 for a Liverpudlian surgeon.  It is now owned by the National Trust and open to the public. The castle is built next to the picturesque High Wray Bay. There were plenty of birds in the area including: Pied Wagtail, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Siskin and Robin.

Claife Viewing Station

On my return to Red Nab car park I continued straight on along the roadway that runs alongside Lake Windermere. There were trees either side of the track and it was difficult to get a good view of the lake. I could see that a lot of trees had blown down due to the recent Storm Arwen. There were plenty of people walking and cycling along the tack. The tourist ferry drops passengers off at different points along Lake Windermere and I guess that some people make use of this as part of their walk. 

Claife Viewing Station is near the ferry drop off point from Bowness. It is a stone building up on the hillside and has views over the lake. The first Lakeland tourists came here to admire the views. Up until this point the Lakes were thought to be an unattractive wilderness.  

In the 1830s and 40s, the building  was used for parties and dances.

Coloured glass was used to enhance the views for the tourists. Examples of these can be seen around the edges of a couple of the windows. The colours were supposed to represent different seasonal conditions. I guess red would be summer. I took a photo through one of the red panes. I suppose it did look summery...although it is summer now anyway.

Inspired by Claife Viewing Station I set off on the roadside path to Far Sawrey. The village turned out to be quite small and dominated by the Cuckoo Brow Inn. There was only one motorbike in the car park and so maybe post pandemic business wasn't that good.

Moss Eccles Tarn

From Far Sawrey, I followed a road and then a track that brought me to Moss Eccles Tarn. Beatrix Potter owned the tarn and was an inspiration for some of her stories. I can't tell you which ones since I've never read any of them.

It appears Wainwright wasn't a fan either and he stuck his oar in by saying that it's a reservoir and not a tarn. Either way it is quite pretty. A wildcamper was busy patching an airbed on its bank. I walked within two metres of him and said 'hello'. He didn't look up at me.

Just beyond the tarn I had to pass a group of cows and their calves. Luckily a bull was attempting to hump one of the cows and I think that distracted them from my presence. 

Latterbarrow

Latterbarrow is a hillock in the northeast of the woodland that fills the space between Hawkshead and Lake Windermere. The OS map says it has a monument on its summit and so, in my book, demands to be visited. I did eventually get to the monument, although the route was more challenging than I expected. At times the path was very muddy and rocky. Sometimes the branches of the pines encroached on the path. My exit on a different path took me to an area decimated by tree felling. I certainly wouldn't rate it as a pleasant path. I met ten people on the route in total and so it is obviously quite popular. In fairness the monument/cairn is well made and tall. The views across to Lake Windemere and the surrounding fells are very good. Maybe the other approach path from Hawkshead is better.

Despite my early morning acrobatics, the walk had been pleasant and interesting. Wray Castle and Claife Viewing Station are well worth a visit, and there's plenty of bird spotting for the bits in between. As for Latterbarrow; well, see it as a challenge.