Low and behold from The Lakeland Pathfinder
This second Ride & Stride expedition is a significant departure from the established pattern of Park & Stride. Being basically a low-level excursion concentrating on the relationship of dale and lake, though the latter is strictly a reservoir.
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At the precise time of writing this piece in April/08, half the walk is closed due to tree-felling operations. The permissive forest path will open again in early May giving access from the dam to Station Coppice. Even in truncated form, the walk makes the ideal starter stroll for anyone considering venturing out upon The Lakeland Pathfinder bus (or one of its fellow cohort of buses) on the 555 Lakeslink service. The walk along the western foot of the northern extension of the Helvellyn range keeping in harmony with the intake wall is a scenic delight of the highest order (see left) every step of the way. One gets that "He'll be coming round the mountain when he comes" sensation on a path bestowed of many subtle turns, dips and rises. A firm path and lovely views north to Skiddaw and Blencathra beyond Great How ensure a cheery stride. In view from The Swirls is a valley clearly distinct from that of Thirlmere, the eyes training through the narrowing St John's Vale between High Rigg and Castle Rock of Triermain to Blencathra. Cute water catchment engineers sought to claim all the flow of water from the Helvellyn range they could, hence the course of Raise Beck to Dunmail Raise was simply turned north rather than south. More ingeniously, the string of streams spilling from the range from Ladknott Gill to Helvellyn Gill were intercepted by an open concrete leat or aqueduct channel. The effect an illusionary uphill flow of water heading south tumbling into Thirlmere below Station Coppice. The name Station Coppice is intriguing, there being now railway or bus depot near to hand obviously! The explanation being the knoll above the car park was a 'Picturesque' observatory, one of Thomas West's set of Lakeland outlooks from where the awful heights could be observed in true proportion and scenic balance, framed through a Claude Glass. Horse-drawn coaches brought ladies and gentlemen to marvel at the view across the small lake of Leathes Water, to the cascades of Launchy Gill backed by Bell Crags and Fisher Gill backed by High Seat. Such a device has its modern equivalent in the digital camera! How the scene has changed. The great flooding of water and conifers effecting a radical transformation. That the conifers have been felled and the resultant shoreline landscaped is due to a court case in the 1980's where a lady brought to task the owners of the recent past North West Water. The Act of Parliament passed to permit the building of the reservoir in 1879 decreed that the shoreline be landscaped only with native trees. This correction is now nearing fruition, enhancing the view and bio-diversity considerably. Further south from Station Coppice this has brought the extra benefit of taking out mature trees threatening traffic on the A591.
The Route
While the south-bound bus stop is beside the entrance to The Swirls car park (from where just walk in). The north-bound bus stop is beside the Station Coppice lay-by. In this latter case carefully cross the main road to the hand-gate and follow the footpath signed 'Public Footpath Helvellyn'. This leads through the car park to a plank footbridge over Helvellyn Gill.
This is an excerpt from Mark's original article. To see the full article, you will need to download the PDF using the link below
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© Mark Richards 2008
