Buttermere - The Secret Valley

Tucked away in the north-eastern corner of the English Lake District lies a miniscule village and one of the most picturesque valleys to be found in the British Isles.

Due to strict planning regulations the village has avoided the fate suffered by other lakeland villages and is still free of the tourist traps and over-population by tourists which is slowly taking over the southern lakes. The village itself consists of a church, about 7 cottages, four farms, 2 small hotels, a café - run by one of the farmers wives and a youth hostel.

Access to the village

There are only three roads leading into the village, and two of these are guaranteed to be closed for some of the winter months. All three routes start from the infamous A66 and are not to be taken lightly.

The easiest route is to drive into the valley from Cockermouth, to the north. This road is relatively flat and avoids the mountain passes that surround the valley, thus ensuring it stays open the whole year round. However, it should be noted that this is the direct route from the valley to the local sheep market, so don't be surprised if, coming round a blind bend, you find yourself face to face with a battered Landrover, towing a trailer and doing 70 miles per hour in the opposite direction.

The second, and possibly the most beautiful route, is from Keswick, to the East... Follow the B5289 south, following the side of Derwentwater then on through the Borrowdale valley (statistically one of the wettest locations in the British Isles). This route eventually leads you to the foot of Honister Pass, with its 1 in 4 gradients it's no place for the weak of heart and dodgy brakes... At the head of the pass sits a lonely looking Youth Hostel and an old abandoned slate quarry. Then, it's stand on the brakes, first gear and slowly down the other side. A much lamented loss was the removal, several years ago, of the series of warning signs place at the top of the pass. One of the few occasions where someone in the government department responsible for road signs has actually managed to make their sense of humour shine through into their work. The signs started normally enough. 'Slow', 'Engage low gear', '1:4 gradient ahead' and 'cyclists dismount', but were capped by the wonderful sign, located just before the steepest descent 'YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!' (Complete with multiple exclamation marks).
The downside of this, the most popular route, is traffic. Do not expect to make rapid progress, the road through Borrowdale is jammed with cars, coaches and the local bus service for most of the summer.

The third and final way of getting into the valley by car is via Newlands Pass, after a gentle climb through the forest from Keswick the road becomes very narrow, and at one particular point, you find yourself going round a hairpin bend to be faced with one of the oddest looking buildings in the Lake District, a bright purple wooden house. For some obscure reason the house seems to have escaped the normally draconian planning regulations laid down for buildings within a National Park, but it certainly stands out and lets you know you are indeed still on the right road. Reaching the top of the pass you are in for another surprise. Turning right at the summit of the pass a driver undergoes the surprising (and frightening) experience of seeing the road, and the mountain, disappear from in front of him and finding himself confronted with several hundred feet of vertical drop in front of his vehicle. In actuality, the road turns sharp left at this point and descends the side of a steep valley. The road itself is not particularly difficult to drive but the sight of hundreds of feet of nothingness, just feet from the right wheels of the vehicle, can be disconcerting at times.

One point to take note of when thinking of using this particular route is that as it is the quickest and shortest way in and out of the valley, it is the road taken by most of the local inhabitants. Thus, if one sees the aforementioned battered old Landrover approaching at high speed. The best thing to do is to pull over to the side of the road and let it go past. Whilst farmers may be quite happy to pass the time with you in the pub, when on the road they are working, and generally in a hurry.

When approaching the valley from any direction, sooner or later you will drive over a cattle grid. Beware, once you are past the grids the normal rules of traffic no longer apply. Sheep have priority over cars on the road, and as sheep are not quite as stupid as most people would believe, they've discovered that it's far warmer to lie on nice warm, dry tarmac than it is to sleep on wet grass, so pay extra attention when driving at night.

So why go there?

There is only one reason for visiting the valley, and that is to walk. There are no museums, no other tourist attractions, just the mountains and the lake. There are literally hundreds of different routes one can take from the village, a few of the most common are listed here.

This guide is for information only and should not be used without the backup of an up to date set of maps and the knowledge of how to use them.

A wander around the lake (X miles, Y hours)

This is probably the easiest of walks within the valley, circumnavigating Buttermere itself.

The conventional route is anti-clockwise around the lake, starting at the village. From the village, head off down the lane to the left hand side of the Fish Hotel, which will take you across the flood plain to the north-eastern corner of the lake. From here one can take in the magnificent view across the lake towards Honister Crag, from there the first kilometre runs through woodland along the lake shore. The path then leaves the trees and traverses the open fell to the foot of the lake. Cross the foot of the lake along the narrow lane to Gatesgarth farm, where, in summer, an Ice-cream van plies its trade. Leaving Gatesgarth, one is forced to follow the road for the first couple of hundred metres until the path once again drops down to the lake's edge and crosses a series of open fields, with pebble beaches, inviting the walker to take off his boots and go for a paddle. Half way back up the lake the path takes you round a headland and into a wood. Careful here, tree roots lie in wait across the path, playing havoc with the ankles of unwary hikers. Then comes the biggest surprise of the walk, wandering through the woods, the path suddenly disappears into a gaping black hole - a 30 metre tunnel, cut into solid rock. Word has it that in the 19th Century, the owner of the large country house above the headland "Hassness" had his labourers cut the tunnel by hand to give them something to do in the long winter months. After the tunnel, the path says goodbye to the woods, eventually leading away from the lake back into the village, via a couple of farmyards.
This walk takes around 3 hours (without stopping to paddle) and is suitable for virtually any age and ability of walker.

The Buttermere Trio

The three peaks overlooking the western side of the lake are, from north to south, Red Pike, High Stile and High Crag, they form an unbroken ridge and make an excellent days walking for someone of medium levels of experience.

Setting off from the village, cross the valley floor to the foot of 'Sour Milk Ghyll' - a small stream/waterfall falling nearly 1,000 feet down the side of Red Pike.

From the foot of this stream there are two possible routes to the summit of Red Pike.

The first, and more direct takes you up the front face of the mountain, through the woods on the southern shores of the lake and then up to Bleaberry Tarn(NOTE: Check name). From there, it's a steep climb to the summit.
The major disadvantage of this route is that for years it has been heavily used, hence the lower sections of the path have been 'renovated' by the National Trust. Meaning that they have been transformed into an ankle-breaking 700 foot staircase. Whilst the upper sections are still heavily eroded, making the final ascent a little like climbing the side of a clay pit.

The alternative route, whilst a little longer, has the advantage of being less steep, less highly populated and hence much less eroded.

From the village the route sets off in the same direction. On entering the wood at the edge of the lake, instead of heading directly up Red Pike, turn right and follow the path along the valley floor towards Crummock Water.

The path crosses several streams before turning southwestward, away from the lake, towards 'Scale Force', a small, but extremely picturesque waterfall to the north east of Red Pike.

Above the waterfall the path turns away from the stream you've been following and heads directly up a long, grassy slope to the summit of Red Pike.

The major advantage of this route is that it the climb is much gentler and the fellside much quieter. It does however add a couple of kilometres to your overall distance.

The two routes meet at the summit of Red Pike, from there, in good weather, the rest of the walk is easy...

Follow the ridge along to the south east, first crossing the highest of the three peaks - High Stile, then dropping slightly to the third and final peak - High Crag.

Once the final summit has been reached the path virtually disappears and you must descend, via a scree slope, to the top of 'Scarth Gap', the pass running between Gatesgarth at the southern end of Buttermere to Black Sail, at the head of the Enerdale valley.

Follow the path down Scarth Gap to the lakeshore and from there, take your pick... either the shorter route along the western shore of the lake or cross the valley to the eastern shores to add a circumnavigation of the lake itself to your day's walking.

Attention

In bad weather this walk can be treacherous!

If visibility decreases it is essential that you are capable of navigating using a map and compass. Once on the summit of Red Pike, the ridge path is undefined in places. Whilst drifting off to the right of the path is rarely dangerous (The major problem being that you would find yourself in the Enerdale valley with an awfully long walk home), drifting to the left rapidly takes you over the edge of the crags overlooking Buttermere, with an 800 metre drop to the lake shore.

Pillar from Buttermere village.

Suicidal insanity... I know, I invented the d**m route!!!

From the village, follow the route as described above for the lakeside walk...

About 2/3 of the way down the western shore of the lake a path leads off up the fellside towards a gap in the mountains between Haystacks and High Crag. Follow this path up to the summit of the pass and continue down the other side, skirting to the left of the forestry commission land*.

The path will eventually lead you down to the very head of the Ennerdale valley, and a remote hut. This hut is actually one of the most remote youth hostels in the UK... Black Sail hut. To give you an idea of the loneliness of this particular youth hostel, the Youth Hostel Association's website proudly announces. 'Black Sail now has electrical supply (but no electrical sockets)'. It is also one of the few hostels completely inaccessible by road - the only way to get there is on shanks's pony!.

Leaving the hostel behind you, and sparing a thought for the possible reasons why anyone would actually choose to work there all year round, the path then climbs back up the other side of the Ennerdale valley to the summit of Black Sail Pass.

From there, you turn right and start the long slog up Pillar, one of the highest mountains in the Lake District, and one with a magnificent view not only over the rest of Lakeland but also of the Cumbrian coast in the distance and that picturesque landmark... The Sellafield Nuclear Reprocessing Centre.

Eventually reaching the top of Pillar, you then head off following a treacherous path down towards the northwest, back into the Ennerdale valley. The path first leads you across terrain that could best be described as 'ankle-breaking'... A mixture of boulders and loose scree, before finally dropping down into the forestry commissions land, complete with its Pines, standing to attention in military precision.

When you finally get down into the valley, don't congratulate yourself just yet. You've still another 800 metre mountain between you and home. Unfortunately, whilst the mountain is right in front of you, there is a slight problem of the river that runs down the centre of the valley. You now have two alternative routes.

First, you could walk back up the valley approximately one mile to a bridge, or, alternatively, off with the boots and socks and straight across, saving yourself at least an hour*.

From there, it's a long climb up the grassy southern face of Red Pike. Over the summit and back down to the village, either by the direct route, via Bleaberry Tarn, or, as described in the Buttermere Trio section, down to the north, via Scale Force.

Back in the village now? Head straight for the nearest Pub, you're not only going to need liquid refreshment after such a walk, you've also earned it, along with the knowledge you've completed an extremely difficult walk with nearly 2000 metres of ascent in a single day.

Haystacks

History

• Nicholas Size
• Battle of Rannerdale Knotts
• The Maid of Buttermere
• Amenities
• Fishing
• Links
• Anything else I've forgotten?