Coniston Horseshoe

November 27, 2014 • Leave a Comment

Coniston Horseshoe

The day after my walk up Bowfell & Crinkle Crags, for the main walk of the weekend, we decided to climb the Old Man of Coniston. A quick look at the map revealed we could easily extend the well trodden route up the Old Man to make a circular walk by walking across Brim Fell to Swirl How, and then across to Wetherlam and down back into Coniston village - the Coniston Horseshoe.

It was a lovely day again and, after finding parking and buying lunch in Coniston village, we joined quite large numbers of people who had also decided to walk to the Old Man summit. The route takes you through lots of old slate mine workings with views of the Coniston fells. In this respect it is not as wild and untouched as some parts of the Lakes. This first image shows the view across to Wetherlam, including our eventual route down from the tops.

Low Water makes an ideal stopping point on route to the top. The weather was very calm, allowing for near perfect reflections.

The path continues upwards alongside Low Water, with increasingly good views of the water below and surrounding fells.

As you get higher still, Levers Water, which is a reservoir rather than a natural lake, also comes into view.

As you get near the summit, the view also opens out towards Coniston Water.

The summit is quite broad and easy to walk around. It was also teaming with people, making it actually quite difficult to snatch this picture of the summit cairn without anyone in it.

We sat and ate our lunch overlooking Dow Crags..

before continuing along the top towards Brim Fell. This view, including the Scafell range in the distance, is taken from near the Ordnance Survey column close to the Old Man summit cairn. It seemed that most people had decided to just climb the Old Man and then go back down the same route. As we moved on we soon lost the crowds that had shared our lunchtime picnic spot.

Brim Fell also provides some great views over Coniston Water.

And in the other direction, over Seathwaite Tarn (like Levers Water this is a reservoir).

Wetherlam comes more clearly into view as you approach the summit of Swirl How.

The summit cairn of Swirl How stands proud, with glorious views of the surrounding hills.

From here we took a steep descent down some rocky crags in the direction of Wetherlam.

The climb back up to Wetherlam summit was worth the effort as the views were again spectacular.

I was particularly pleased to zoom in on this view of Bowfell and Crinkle Crags. You can clearly make out my route from the previous day - right to left up The Band to the highest peak of Bowfell, then back across the Crinkle Crags (left), before descending down the hillside and down the valley beyond the tarn, just right of centre in the picture.

I love it when different walks bring you to points you have been before and you can see how everything is linked together. This is when the Lakes really come to life for me.

As we descended down from Wetherlam, the views ahead of us of Coniston Water made a great end to the day.

Another great walk in glorious weather!

For more images from this walk please go to the Coniston Horseshoe gallery here (48 images in total).

Keywords: coniston horseshoe, coniston water, lake district, old man of coniston, swirl how, wetherlam

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