Ambleside

We had set off from Ambleside on a dry and improving morning after a night during which it had rained in bucketsful, intending to see a few waterfalls.

The plan was to follow the popular route to Stock Ghyll Force, not far from the centre of the busy tourist town, and from there head further up the ghyll for a while before cutting across to the valley further west and following Scandale Beck upstream past more rushing water to High Sweden Bridge before returning to Ambleside via Low Sweden Bridge and another waterfall said to be worth admiring.

With this in mind we walked up the narrow road out of the town in company with several other people who clearly had at least the first part of our outing in mind.

There was a spot of traffic-dodging on this early stretch, but soon we left the road and followed the path through woodland along the bank of the tumbling ghyll, hearing the thunder of the waterfall long before we were upon it.

When we arrived at a good vantage point, we decided it was well up to expectations.

After several nights (and a few days) of rain, it was magnificent, its white waters powering down through twin rocky clefts into the pool at the bottom.

Continuing upwards, we soon left the water behind and found ourselves following a narrow road (and two other walkers) north-eastwards into the valley.

They soon branched off, taking the steeply-climbing fields path to the east towards Troutbeck via Wansfell Pike, a walk we had done in the opposite direction some years ago when we discovered that bizarre condition which afflicts those who descend too quickly Fellwalker's Knee-tremble, main symptom of which is a weakness in the muscles just above the knee. It passes with a hot bath and rest, but it's a bit alarming at the time.

We continued to the point where we intended to cross the valley and head for the next one.

"What's that way?" asked Maureen, gesturing up the broad track the were on. "It looks interesting."

We agreed that whatever waterfalls we were likely to see would probably be no match for the one we had left behind, so we had a change of plan and continued along the soggy, lonely path above Stock Ghyll, climbing steadily.

We passed a couple of farms, at one of which an ancient dog greeted us with an amiable bark as we followed the right of way through the farmyard. And then we found ourselves walking through a field full of lambless sheep.

One of them bleated. Others joined in. A loud chorus of bleating was soon accompanying us as we strode and splashed along the track as one sheep after another got the message.

Clearly they were expecting something, probably a visit from a farmer bearing feed. Soon they were all heading in our direction as we plodded on at the front of an ever-growing mass of rowdy animals.

Through a gate, we left them behind with some relief. The sheep in the next field, perhaps belonging to a different farmer, were immune to this mass hysteria and grazed silently or lumbered away from the path as we passed.

Eventually we arrived at a stile leading on to tarmac. To our right was the steep stretch of road known as The Struggle, climbing via a few sharp bends to meet the main road from Windermere at the Kirkstone Pass and its welcoming pub.

We didn't go that way, even though it would have taken us less than a quarter of an hour to get there. Instead we turned left and followed this minor road back towards Ambleside.

As it threaded its way along the hillside, with the rugged crags on the right and the impressive tops dominated by Wansfell Pike on the left, we could see down in the valley bottom the track along which we had fairly recently been walking.

There wasn't a sheep in sight! Where had they gone, this bleating mob who thought we were the leaders of the gang?

We had to keep our ears open for traffic as we strolled along this undulating and eventually descending road, enjoying the ever-improving views across the head of Windermere to the western fells beyond. At weekends it might be a little busy with cars, but on a late-March Wednesday they were few and far between. And there always seemed to be a broad, green verge to step on to.

Before too long we crossed the route we would have taken had we gone ahead with our initial plan and briefly considered diverting on to it. But a late lunch in Ambleside proved a bigger attraction so we continued along the road back to civilisation after an outing which had taken us further and higher than we had originally intended.

Step by Step

1. In centre of Ambleside, walk eastwards in front of Salutation Hotel and go up street between Barclay's Bank and Market Hall. Follow sign "To the waterfalls" to left up road then go through gate which leads to footpath above ghyll. Follow this path up to waterfall and then, just above it, take path right (by seat) to "Revolving Gate".
2. Go through gate and walk ahead to narrow road. Turn left up this and follow it for a mile or so past a couple of farms (going through the yard of one of them) until it become a track. Keep ahead along this through a few fields, climbing steadily, until the track crosses Stock Ghyll and arrives at a road with Kirkstone Pass up hill to right.
3. Turn left and follow road back down to Ambleside. There's a diversion off the road toward the end if you prefer it. Take a footpath to the right about 200 yards beyond the point where the track from Roundhill Farm joins from the left, go through a wide gate into a walled track which passes above a house then swings right and then left to return to the top of the village.

Fact File

• Set-off point: Centre of Ambleside at the northern end of Windermere in the Lake District.
• Time for 6-mile walk: three hours.
• Going: steady.
• Map: OS Outdoor Leisure 7, English Lakes South Eastern area.
• Parking: pay-and-display in Ambleside (not cheap so take plenty of change).
• Refreshments: lots in Ambleside.
• Toilets: none along route but some at car park.