Lake District hikes from a train station

700 feet of ascent is not much.

You could go to Penrith, then the half hourly bus to Threlkeld, 900 feet of ascent up Latrigg, then descending to Keswick for the bus back. That is 5.5 miles.

Or train to Windermere, then out of the station to do School Knott- 5 miles round trip, 700 feet of ascent- Wainwright Outlying Fells pp 30-33. A modest elevation, not well known, but great views.

Or a Barrow in Furness train as far as Grange over Sands. Then the wonderful Hampsfell up to the Hospice- 7 miles, 700 feet of ascent- Outlying Fells pp 58-65

Or a Barrow train to Ulverston for Hoad Hill and the 'lighthouse'- that is as easy as it gets but on a good day the views over Lakeland are superlative- https://www.alltrails.com/trail/england/cumbria/flan-hill-and-hoad-monument-circular

And Ulverston is a great town to explore (not least for it's Stan Laurel- Laurel and Hardy- connections), and the shortest canal in England.

You would even have time for Humphrey Head (where the last wolf in England is reputed to have been killed)- 4 miles, 200 feet, from Kents Bank Station. Outlying Fells pp 66 to 69

Those are the ones that spring to mind straight away.

Hi TravelProne -

I’d echo Stuart’s (isn31c) recommendation of the walk to the Hospice on Hampsfell from Grange over Sands too and technically, while it isn’t strictly within the Lake District, there is excellent walking in the Arnside (station at Arnside) and Silverdale region. The view from the relatively easily gained Arnside Knott on a clear day is exceptional. As is the view of the Lyth Valley and wider Lake District from Scout Scar which is best walked from Kendal, although you’ll have to ascend 1000 feet as opposed to 700. And close by Windermere is Orrest Head which is where Alfred Wainwright was first entranced by the Lake District.

Speaking of which, the ‘Outlying Fells’ book by Alfred Wainwright mentioned above is an invaluable source of information and provides extensive walks for those of us less sound in wind and limb than we used to be - its dedication is to ‘The Old-Timers On The Fells’!

There’s lots to go at - have a great trip!

Ian

Unfortunately, Amazon says that book is currently unavailable.

It's just not being sold by Amazon for whatever reason. A local bookseller like Michael Moon or Sam Read or Bookends in Keswick may be able to help- in fact I can see that Bookends have Chris Jesty's updated version on international mail order currently.

And, if push came to shove one of us I'm sure would give you photographs of the relevant pages.

Ian and I can't be the only ones on here to have a copy of the book. Mine has lots of annotations in the back of when I first did each of the walks so is a precious object to me. All the others I have of the Wainwright series are actually my late Dad's so are pretty early ones.

The Otlying Fells book is currently available on Amazon UK, both new and used.

Also available from online shop, in the updated third impression, from The Wainwright Society.

(My copy is the original 1974 version!).

Ian

Just another thought for you. I've just been told tonight that one of Wainwright's lesser known publications- Walks from Ratty has been updated and republished.

Ratty being the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway- preserved steam railway.

Several, if not all of those walks match your specification to a T.

There is a walking festival this week to mark the publication of the new book.

Take a train from Manchester to Barrow, change for Ravenglass. You can buy a through fare onto the Ratty (at a good discount) from any Northern Station

Twice in September there will also be a unique walk-
Boot Postman’s Walk – A guided walk with Alan Cleaver.
Sat 7th Sept and Sun 15th Sept. Meet at Dalegarth Station 11:30. To use the Ravenglass & Eskdale Railway, catch the 10:25 train from Ravenglass, which will arrive at Dalegarth Station for 11:10. When booking your return ticket from Dalegarth, please book the 14.10 train, to allow adequate time for the walk. For queries about this walk, please contact Alan Cleaver: [email protected]

That should be very interesting.

I know Alan (his wife works at Cumbria Archives where I am most Wednesdays to Fridays)- he has done a series of very well researched publications on walking the corpse roads and the lonnings [lanes] of Cumbria. So that should be a good walk.

Apparently there should be more detail about the route of the walk at an exhibition at the Railway Museum which started this week and runs for the rest of July.