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The Fellwalker by Peter John Farnworth
WALK 26 SUNDAY OCTOBER 21st 1984Coniston Old Man. I think most fell walkers know of this place, and also those who have never put on a pair of fell boots know about it, because it's that popular and since it is so popular I think hardly a day goes by without someone on the summit. So we decided to keep well away from the main route where most walkers go, via the quarry road past the copper mines.
If you decide to follow this route to the Old Man, don't walk up from Coniston (village), drive up the Walna Scar road (this is very steep so why walk when you can drive up!) In doing this, you can save your energy for the real walking later on. As you drive up, keep to the left of the road till it levels off on open ground. The route from here to the summit is a winner! When leaving the starting point follow a green-way (path) to Cove Bridge and sit a while to take in all the magnificent scenery of the surrounding mountains and, of course, the wonderful views across Morecambe Bay (they say you can see Blackpool Tower on a clear day from here. I must admit, I don't know if that’s with binoculars or without! As the green-way steadily climbs further up the fell-side to the head, the path takes a right up the fell-side to the summit of Brown Pike and from here on in it is easy walking over the other summit. When you reach Dow Crag it drops down to Goats Water, then it's straight to the other side to the summit of Coniston Old Man. From here, it is a high-level walk over the other summits. Follow the ridge from Swirl How across Prison Band to Wetherlam. From here you can see which way to go back to the starting point. I also think this is a classic winter or summer walk with splendid views from all the summits. Mountains walked that day: Dow Crag 47 Coniston Old Man 32 Brim Fell 36 Swirl How 33 Wetherlam 55 [[]] Diagram & Stats
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