|
|---|
|
Coniston Old Man and Dow Crag Difficulty: Hard Coniston Village is the start of the trek. The village has excellent public transport routes provided by local bus services from Ambleside and Ulveston. There are a few major Car Parks that are your best bet in the summer months, in quieter parts of the year roadside parking away from the main road is possible. From the centre of the village follow the main road over the bridge then take a road that leads up from the village in a north west then westerly direction, passing the Sun Hotel & Inn. This small hamlet above Coniston is called Dixon Ground, from here a well signed footpath leads off to the right behind a few small cottages and through a farm yard. Following this wide track from the farm you will cross a small bridge over a stream and then steadily climb the cobbled track as it eventually joins the valley of Church Beck with its fast waters and waterfalls in the valley below to the right. After a while you will reach a point where the path splits one way leading over the gorgeous little stone bridge known locally as Miners Bridge, however we carry on ascending the path in a north west direction as it edges the Coppermines Valley. As the path climbs above the valley the remotely located Coniston Coppermines Youth Hostel will come into view and the full aspect of this side of the Coniston Fells will open up ahead, with the cliffs of Swirl How becoming apparent. Continue ascending the obvious path as it rises above the valley and heads towards the obvious direction of The Old Man Of Coniston. The path passes through two walls and continues on another 400 metres until it turns left then joins the track that comes from the south. Follow the track leading up hill as it gets rougher all the time and snakes up past Crowberry Haws until it eventually reaches the lower mine ruin. There are some fascinating tunnels here and many relics of Coniston's industrial past. The path continues its ascent through an old mine runway with the huge steel cables known as 'blondin' still present today. The upper mine ruin is reached and its complexity and state will fascinate absolutely anyone. The main engine room building is still in a pretty good state considering just how long ago it was shut down and the engine case itself is still standing, there are many existing rail lines from the old mine trucks and probably the most iconic feature is the huge blondin support that stands firm on the side of the hill. The Coniston fells were mined for Copper in the middle of the 19th century. The veins of copper hidden thousands of feet below the fells surfaces contained a copper ore by the name of Chalcopyrite, a mix of Copper, Iron and Sulphate. As the veins were so deep down the miners worked extremely hard in horrendous conditions, often using huge unstable wooden ladders to reach there workplaces. Getting the ore from those huge heights up to the tramways was one hell of a task. The mines went into decline in the late 19th century and were then abandoned. The tough machinery and buildings lie in derelict today but are an amazing feature of this landscape and hold a thousand stories and gave birth to a beautiful village and gave hundreds of men and there families a living, Coniston owes its existence to the copper mines. After taking in the old mines the path continues its ascent reaching Low Water surrounded by the Old Man's huge walls. The path skirts past Low Water and then the path gets very steep as it attempts to climb the shoulder of The Old Man Of Coniston. The views on a clear day from the shoulder of Coniston pan out over the full length of Coniston Water and out to Morcambe Bay. The path reaches the summit sooner than you'd think. The summit of The Old Man Of Coniston 803M/2633FT has a standard trig point and also an impressive stone cairn on a large platform. The views include the Scafell's and stunning views out to Morcambe Bay and the Irish Sea, on clear days the Isle Of Man looks closer than it is. To the west you will spot an impressive shape of water way down below and on the other side of it rising in its grandeur is Dow Crag, the next objective. From the summit follow the obvious path that heads north following the ridge line. After only around 300 metres a smaller path leads off to the left in a north west direction, follow this path as it leads down into Goat's Hawse, the col between the ridge and Dow Crag. At Goat's Hawse the footpath to Goat's Water slips off down the hill, this can be used as an escape route or short cut option as it leads to the Walna Scar Road. The path now heads towards Dow Crag, the climb up gets a little difficult as it gets closer to the summit and in bad weather staying away from the edge on the left would be recommended. The summit of Dow Crag 778M/2552FT. It is a huge and gradual point of large boulders, it is quite difficult to get to and not at all human friendly. Unlike the flat and often populated summit of The Old Man Of Coniston, Dow Crag feels isolated and has no trig point or cairn or any sign of human interaction what so ever, rare and brilliant. Standing on this summit makes you feel like you’re on a proper mountain, especially when you happen to look down the daunting drop to Goat's Water. Leaving the summit the path now descends south down the ridge passing over the two bumps of Buck Pike 744M/2441FT and Brown Pike 682M/2237FT. The path leads south west off Brown Pike on a steep descent onto the Walna Scar Road. The route is now very obvious as Walna Scar Road skirts the south side of The Old Man Of Coniston and leads east back towards Coniston Village. At the end of the Walna Scar Road simply follow the minor roads downhill back into Dixon Range and then back into the village centre. |
|---|
|
|---|
© Trekking World |
|---|