Thirlmere wanderings
Thirlmere, a reservoir created in the late 1800s to provide water to the city of Manchester, is, obviously, one of those slightly unnatural places in the Lake District, but still has some amazing places to walk nearby and some terrific waterfalls feeding into it.
I don't currently have any walks in the area so, on a recent free day, headed out to remind myself of the options and see if I could link a few falls together. Recent rock falls have also meant that the road to the west of Thirlmere is currently closed so meet points are also compromised.
As well as some general "wandering" I had three falls on my radar;
In summary, I'm not convinced I can bring these various walks to falls into one great all-day mountain waterfall walk that encompasses more than just one of them... but I'll keep trying.
Andy
I don't currently have any walks in the area so, on a recent free day, headed out to remind myself of the options and see if I could link a few falls together. Recent rock falls have also meant that the road to the west of Thirlmere is currently closed so meet points are also compromised.
As well as some general "wandering" I had three falls on my radar;
- Dobs Gill and Harrop Tarn - a terrific woodland walk, and some great falls to find, but the falls are really difficult to easily see and get close to and, based on the forestry walks being moved and fencing works that I found in progress, harder to see than the last time I visited and not about to get any easier either. The main picture is Dobs Gill but it took quite an effort (over fence works, through thick woodland etc) to get that close!!
- Fisherplace Gill - a small part of these falls are an Instagram favourite (a lovely little "infinity pool" if you're looking the right way) and they're easy to get to. I passed these recently on a wonderful walk on this east side of Thirlmere which included the summit of Helvellyn (and more) but are they enough on their own to justify a place in one of my "Waterfall Walks"? I'm not sure.
- Raise Beck (below) - my favourite of the day, heading up from Dunmail Raise (the high point in between Thirlmere and Grasmere) towards Grisedale Tarn (but not flowing from it). I particularly love the rocky "engineering" as the water flow reaches the valley, where most of the flow gets pushed north towards Thirlmere (and therefore ultimately south to Manchester) rather than it's clear original course heading south towards Grasmere and then onto Rydal Water and Windermere.
In summary, I'm not convinced I can bring these various walks to falls into one great all-day mountain waterfall walk that encompasses more than just one of them... but I'll keep trying.
Andy