Walkweb

We arrived at St Bees via train from Carlisle. It’s a rather sleepy little village and there isn’t a huge choice of places to eat – we ended up at ‘Platform 9’ next to the train station.

The next morning after a big breakfast at our accommodation at Stonehouse Farm we started towards the beach via the old church, which is well worth a visit.

The walk ‘officially’ starts under the sea wall at the beach. We began with the two traditional coast to coast rites – walking out to the Irish Sea to dip our boots in (a long way as tide was out..!) and collecting a pebble to carry to Robin Hoods Bay and drop on the sea shore there.

After the obligatory photo at the Coast to Coast start sign we started the walk proper. The initial path is a nice walk around the coastline before turning inland to Cleator. We stopped for lunch at the Three Tuns in Cleator, the first pub we came across – following the track by the cricket fields leads straight to the front door. A sign outside welcomed c2c ‘ers and pets (but no sheep, cows or pigs!) and inside we received a friendly welcome from Rena at the bar. They didn’t serve food but Rena was happy for us to buy sandwiches from a shop up the road and eat at the pub with our beers.

Immediately after lunch the first major hill, Dent, is reached. There were great 360 degree views from the summit – to the west the coast and Isle of Man and to the east the fells of the lakes beckoned.

After a steep descent through the Uldale plantation there was an attractive path through Nannycatch Beck before the final stretch along a lovely county lane into Ennerdale Bridge. We arrived slightly weary at the Shepherd’s Arms Hotel but soon felt better after a beer and a good meal.

(Total distance approx. 14 miles)

Coast to Coast Summary

I recently completed this tremendous long distance path. Devised by Alfred Wainwright in the early 1970s, it traverses some beautiful parts of northern England. Traditionally completed from west to east, it stretches for around 190 miles from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay and takes in the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North Yorkshire National Parks.

Wainwright described it as ‘A’ Coast to Coast walk, rather than ‘The’ as he wanted to encourage other walkers to devise their own cross country routes. Nonetheless, the trail today follows Wainwright’s original pretty closely, and walking it you can see why – he created a very attractive route. For what such things are worth, it was voted second best long distance walk in a survey carried out by Country Walking magazine.

We started on a Friday, so I’m going to start posting a trip report from tomorrow.

I was fortunate enough recently to do this walk again. Weather started out somewhat unpromising, but it ended up being a beautiful afternoon. The walk confirmed my view that this is one of the most enjoyable day walks in the Lakes.

More detailed notes from a previous visit can be found here. For a gallery of photos for the walk, see here (note this link requires up-to-date browser software and a broadband connection).

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More updates to this site will be made soon, including a full trip report for Wainwright’s “A Coast-to-Coast” walk in England, which I recently completed, and some gear reviews.

This last suggested walk is a short trip up to and around Reichenbach Falls near Meiringen, probably most famous as the setting for what was supposed to be the final Sherlock Holmes story “The Final Problem”. Access to Meiringen from Grindelwald is via bus and post-bus (via Grosse Scheidegg) or via train from Interlaken Ost.

The walk commences at the Reichbachfall-Bahn funicular station at the base of the falls (operates between mid-May and mid-October, 08:15 to 11.45 and 13:15 to 17:45). The station is just outside Meiringen (about 20 mins or so walk from the town centre).

After riding on the funicular and arriving at the top station walk out to the viewing area for a good first close-up view of the impressive falls. From here a clear path leads up to the right and climbs by the side of the falls, eventually crossing over the river.

Most people turn back here and return to the funicular, but the suggestion is to continue along the path as it drops to the other side of the falls. The path goes through woodland before a junction is reached with Reichenbach falls sign-posted down a track to the left. Follow this path as it descends, ignoring for the moment a side track signed Meiringen that drops off to the right, until it reaches an excellent vantage point overlooking the falls and marked with a white star and plaque as the point where Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty were locked in their apparently fatal duel (of course it turned out that Holmes survived).

After admiring the view go back to the track junction just passed and follow it as it descends back into Meiringen. There is another excellent view of the falls a little further down. The footpath then eventually reaches the main road into Meiringen, the turn-off back to the falls is on the left; alternatively, continue walking and then turn right over a bridge and back to Meiringen town centre.

If you are staying at Grindelwald, a suggestion is to take the train from Meiringen to Brienz and then paddle-steamer across Brienzersee to Interlaken Ost from where the train to Grindelwald can be accessed – the bus station office at Grindelwald can sell a ticket that covers the whole circuit (i.e. also including the bus trip from Grindelwald to Meiringen).

This suggested walk is an easy mountain walk (in good weather) from Grosse Scheidegg to First along a well used footpath and represents an excellent introduction to mountain walking and the Grindelwald area. There is a cafe at the end of the walk and an enjoyable cable car ride back down to Grindelwald; alternatively the walk could easily be extended.

Access to Grosse Scheidegg is via bus from Grindelwald. Buses leave from the main car park just up from the station.

From Grosse Scheidegg the start of the walk is clearly sign-posted to the left of the bus stop. The walk initially follows a clear vehicular path (walk no. 6 on the Jungfrau region hiking map – see below), just below the ridge with excellent views in all directions. Looking westerly gives a different profile of the Eiger, and Grindelwald can be seen in the valley. Looking directly ahead along the path is Gemsberg and Schwarzhorn.

The vehicular path soon starts to drop down to the left but while this route could be taken, the suggested path continues ahead along what is now a foot path as it keeps to the higher ground, also curving to the left and then continuing along an obvious path to First, with a rather steep but short section right at the end for the final pull up to First.

First has, in addition to the cable car terminus, a gift shop and cafe with a terrace that also commands outstanding views. From here you may see paragliders launching from a point close by.

Access back to Grindelwald is via the cable car, or alternatively by walking down along the clear trail (walk nos. 8, 12 and 15).

Total walk time for me was around 1’15”.

The Jungfrau region hiking map is available free of charge from train and cable car stations in the area. I haven’t been able to find an online version, so have scanned the relevant part for this walk, click here for the pdf.