Coniston Old Man

A great day today on the Coniston Fells.

We set off from Coniston at 10am and climbed by Church Beck into the Coppermines Valley and followed the main path up by the slate mines to Low Water. The weather was near perfect, bright and clear with barely a breeze and the views were a little clearer than yesterday.

From Low Water we climbed up to the summit of  Coniston Old Man, as we reached the summit we were rewarded with the view of a few paragliders taking off a short distance away along the ridge towards Brim Fell.

After a short break at the summit we pressed on crossing the grassy summit of Brim Fell before crossing Levers Hawse and climbing to Great How Crags, the perfect place for a lunch stop.

After lunch we pressed on up to the summit of Swirl How before dropping down the Prison Band to Swirl Hawse. After a quick show of hands it was decided to finish the day off with Wetherlam so we climbed up by Red Dell Moss and onto the summit of Wetherlam. The views were wonderful, after a short break and a few photos we were off again, following the path down by Hole Rake and down to the Coppermine Cottages, following the track back above Church Beck back to Coniston.

A great day today climbing the Old Man of Coniston.

We set off from Coniston just after 10am and climbed by Church Beck into the Coppermines Valley, following the track up through the slate mines to Low Water. We took our time and had plenty of stops to enjoy the views.

The Cloud kept on clearing from the summit of The Old Man, but as we reached Low Water it blew in over the summit. We climbed the final zig zags up to the windswept summit of The Old Man of Coniston where we sat and enjoyed our lunch.

After lunch we continued along the ridge, crossing to the summit of Brim Fell and descending to Levers Hawse where we gained some good views once more.

We we back on the ascent and climbed to the summit of Swirl How before descending the Prison Band and dropping down to Levers Water. We followed the mine tracks back down to the Coppermines Valley and then back into Coniston.

A windy day today climbing the Old Man of Coniston.

We set off from Coniston just after 10am and climbed by Church Beck into the Coppermines Valley, following the track up through the slate mines to Low Water.

As we approached Low Water we reached the cloud base restricting our views for the rest of the day. Turning the corner to the summit of  The Old Man of Coniston the wind got really strong, we took a short stop on the summit before continuing along the ridge, crossing to the summit of Brim Fell and descending to Levers Hawse, dropping down a little on the eastern side of the ridge to get some shelter from the wind to eat our lunches.

After lunch we continued along the ridge climbing to the summit of Swirl How before descending the Prison Band and dropping down to Levers Water, by now the weather had deteriorated, it was raining quite heavily but as we dropped down to Levers Water we dropped back out of the cloud. We followed the mine tracks back down to the Coppermines Valley and followed Church Beck back to Coniston.

A glorious day above Coniston today climbing The Old Man of Coniston and following the ridge around to Wetherlam.

we set off from Coniston just after 9.30am and climbed by Coppermines Valley and the mines track to the summit of The Old Man of Coniston, via a short stop at Low Water.

The views today were better than the previous few days and we could see across Morecambe Bay and down to the Yorkshire Dales.

From the summit of The Old Man we followed the ridge, crossing Brim Fell and climbing to Great How Crags, stopping for lunch out of the quite strong winds behind the summit rocks.

After lunch we crossed to the summit of Swirl How and descended the Prison Band climbing again, for the last time today to the wonderful summit of Wetherlam.

From Wetherlam we dropped down quite quickly, descending down to Hole Rake and back by the Coppermine Valley back to Coniston, just in time for the Launch!

A fun day climbing the classic Old Man of Coniston and its surrounding fells.

I met Anne and Julie outside the Coniston Tourist Information Office and shortly before 10:30 we got on our way. After a short walk through town we joined the public footpath that leads up the Coppermines Valley. At this point there was some cloud in the sky, but it was fairly clear. We walked alongside a busy Church Beck to the Miners Bridge, from which we started to climb up the fellside on a good track. The path joined another large track and we zig-zagged our way through the old mine workings to the shores of Low Water. At this point the cloud came in and unfortunately sat just on top of the summit. The track steepened once more, but soon enough we were on the windswept summit of The Old Man of Coniston. After a couple of summit snaps we took shelter behind the summit platform and enjoyed a spot of lunch. We soon cooled down so we decided we would get on our way.

Just as we set off it started to rain, and with the wind whipping up from the south the conditions seemed very different. A short walk from the summit took us to the slightly lower summit of Brim Fell. We continued over this summit and headed for Levers Hause. As we descended a bit into the col we got under the cloud and had great views down to Levers Water, and also to Seathwaite Tarn. A nice gradual ascent brought us up onto the rocky summit of Swirl How.

From Swirl How we turned to the east and descended down the narrow ridge known as the Prison Band. We picked a good line through the rocky outcrops down to Swirl Hause where again we had some more great views. The rain had eased for a little bit up to this point, but as we ascended up to our final summit of the day, Wetherlam, it started again. The shower was just brief and by the time we got to the summit, we had views! We soaked up our first summit views of the day, which stretched across to Windermere, and Coniston below.

We turned to the south and descended down the large grassy spur past Hen Crags. We joined the good track that led us past the YHA and back to the Miners Bridge. A short walk from here brought us back into Coniston. A fab day out!

A perfect day on The Old Man of Coniston today.

We set off from Coniston at 10am and climbed by Coppermines Valley and up by the slate mines to the summit of Coniston Old Man.

The weather was near perfect and the views from the summit were magnificent from the summit of the Old Man, after a short break at the summit we continued crossing Brim Fell and climbed to Great How Crags where we stopped for lunch with a magnificent view over Levers Water before continuing to the summit of Swirl How.

From Swirl How we descended the Prison Band and climbed to the summit of Wetherlam with probably the best views of the day before descending by Hole Rake and back down to the Coppermines Valley and Coniston.

A slightly damp and cloudy day on the Old Man of Coniston today.

We set off from Coniston at 10am in pretty persistent drizzle, this drizzle continued for much of the day . We climbed by the Coppermine Valley up the mines path to Low Water and then to the summit of The Old Man of Coniston, there was very little to see once we were on the summit so we pressed on, crossing Brim Fell and following the ridge to the summit of Swirl How.

We stopped below the summit rocks of Swirl How to eat our packed lunches before descending the Prison Band and climbing to the summit of Wetherlam.

Although still pretty damp we enjoyed the descent back to the Coppermine Valley and back to Coniston, a good day although with very little to see!