Great Dodd


I had attempted this walk before and had turned back on reaching the summit of Great Dodd in thick cloud. The cloud showed no sign of shifting. This time I hoped for better.

I started the walk early on Sunday, 2nd October parking my car in the small lay-by alongside Aira Beck at 07:45. It only took a few steps to cross the bridge over the beck and reach the Royal Hotel. This was a coaching inn in bygone days and the road beside it was the Old Coach Road to Keswick, climbing to over a thousand feet around Clough Head to avoid the quagmire conditions in the valleys below.

The tarmac surface quickly changed to a dirt track. Going became very slow. It was supposed to be the best place for photographing Blencathra just across the valley but perhaps not today. 		  Royal Hotel, Dockray 07:57 Royal Hotel, Dockray


Hall and Doddick Fells on Blencathra 09:17 Hall and Doddick Fells on Blencathra   The Old Coach Road was badly rutted and flooded in several places making for very slow progress. I continued until I reached Mariel Bridge where a footpath was signed to Calfhow Pike. I decided to take this footpath and leave Clough Head for another day.

This path was also very wet and initially followed the course of Mosedale Beck. Later Rowantree Beck came in from the left, which I should have crossed. The path was clearly little used and all trace of it quickly disappeared. I was left trying to cross numerous water courses coming in from the left. Eventually I struck off across Matterdale Common in an effort to gain a proper footpath.

As soon as I gained the footpath, used on a previous walk, I took a photograph of Great Dodd now lying ahead of me.


Rowan Tree 09:44 Rowan Tree   Great Dodd Great Dodd


Great Dodd summit 12:21 Great Dodd summit cairn 858m (2,807ft)   I was horrified. It had taken over four and a half hours to reach Great Dodd summit; far too long! Taking the Old Coach Road as far as Mariel Bridge had added several miles and the conditions underfoot had been truly awful.

I took a few photographs and ate a sandwich before proceeding to Watson's Dodd and then Stybarrow Dodd.

My only consolation was that the remainder of the walk was generally downhill and should be much easier. The weather had also been improving from first thing in the morning and was now pretty continuous sunshine in very light wind.

The first photograph, on the left, was looking back at Bassenthwaite with the Skiddaw range to the right of the cairn.


Keswick from Great Dodd 12:22 High Rigg and Keswick from Watson's Dodd   Watson's Dodd summit cairn 12:49 Stybarrow Dodd summit cairn


Passing Stybarrow Dodd, 846m, the path descended towards Sticks Pass with the path climbing again beyond the pass towards Raise, 884m.

Sticks Pass is the highest pass in the Lake District and used to be marked with sticks to show the way when covered with snow. That appears to be a thing of the past for I could not see any sticks on my walk.

Once down at the level of the pass I turned left and headed further downhill towards the spoil heaps of the disused Gilgowers Mine.

In the midst of the spoil heaps, I had to find the one path that would take me along the northern side of Glencoynedale. 		  Sticks Pass from Stybarrow Dodd 12:55 Sticks Pass taken on the descent from Stybarrow Dodd


Sticks Pass 12:58 Sticks Pass   Raise and Sticks Pass from from Gilgowers Mine 14:03 Looking back at Raise and Sticks Pass from Gilgowers Mine


Glencoynedale and Ullswater 15:00 Glencoynedale with Ullswater beyond   The photograph on the left shows Glencoynedale and the slope on the right, in partial shade, leads up to Sheffield Pike, 675m. I will save that for another day but it is the best spot for viewing Ullswater. Instead I followed a narrow path around the left hand side of the dale. The path is high on the hillside and can just be seen if you know where to look.

Two routes lead from that path, I hesitate to call them paths. The first goes to Dowthwaitehead and the second goes to Dockray over Watermillock Common passing just south-east of Common Fell, 553m. All very wet over difficult terrain.

I took one more photograph of Ullswater from the Brown Hills before tackling Watermillock. I was back in Dockray at 17:00.


Ullswater seen from Brown Hills 16:14 Ullswater seen from Brown Hills

Editor: Peter J. Cosker   peter@the2coskers.com   other Lake District walks   Updated: 01/01/2017