A Circuit of Easedale

A long high level route around the Easedale valley near Grasmere. The area described by Alfred Wainwright in his third Pictorial Guide- The Central Fells.

On Location: 14th September 2008

Wainwright Fells: Silver How, Blea Rigg, Calf Crag, Gibson Knott, Helm Crag

Parking: Pay and display parking at Grasmere village

A Circuit of Easedale. This long day out on the fells was undertaken so that Andy could collect as many references for the Wainwrights in Colour project as possible. This post illustrates some of the complexities of Andy’s Wainwright challenge. Don’t be put off by the date that Andy walked this route, very little of the land above the intake walls has changed. The route visits 5 Wainwright fell tops and in the right weather it will make a memorable day out.

Make sure that you are prepared for days out on the hills. Follow the advice from Mountain Rescue

The camera used at this time was a small Fujipix S5500 with only 4mb. Hence the poor quality of some of the images.

A note on the sketches. The sketches shown in this blog are all from the Wainwrights in Colour project and book. You will see that Andy interprets the reference photographs to enhance the colours etc where he feels that it is needed. That’s what all artists do. Wainwright himself often used artistic license in his pen and ink drawings, including often compressing the scenes (generally in width) to fit the shape of the Pictorial Guides. As a size comparison, Andy’s original sketches were scaled twice the width and height of the illustrations in the Pictorial Guide.

Route map: click on the arrow to play the route. Route files in various formats such as GPS are available to download by clicking in the Plotaroute.com link at the bottom right.

Leaving home early the weather looked promising as we approached the Lake District. Early autumn mist hung in the valley of St John’s in the Vale as the sun rose.

I drove down to Grasmere where I parked and then headed off west along the road in the direction of Silver How. Soon I took the track off to the left and headed towards Kelbarrow. (See the route Silver How 4, the Central Fells).

The track turns into a footpath which ascends the slopes of Silver How. Behind us the bright early sun lights up Stone Arthur and Great Rigg above.

Grasmere (the lake) was perfectly still as the last of the morning mist burns off in the sun.

We followed the path with the wall on our left. To our rear the autumn colours were shrouding the landscape. Soon, at a crossroads of the path we headed north west up the broad scree gully that would take us to the top of the fell.

Approaching the top of the fell the view opens out over to the Langdale Pikes.

And before we know it we are at the top of Silver How. The cairn is my first reference of the day.

Sketch: The summit (Silver How 7) looking towards the Helvellyn range and Helm Crag.

A beautiful day with great visibility. The Crinkle Crags, Bow Fell and The Langdale Pikes in the sunshine.

As I left the summit I could see the whole of the Coniston fells to the south west, the direction I was heading for my next reference. A more direct route to Blea Rigg would be to the north west in the direction of Lang How. I needed to find other features so I took the longer route.

Heading south I was on the look out for one cairn in particular that features on the Silver How 9 page (bottom right). This wasn’t it, in fact I couldn’t find it on this day. Meantime I headed towards Meg’s Gill.

Meg’s Gill and the waterfalls. Not as much water in the gill as in Wainwright’s drawing but right location none the less.

Sketch: Meg’s Gill (Silver How 9)

All of a sudden the weather had changed. Low cloud had quickly moved in and distant hills were obscured. This often happened on my days out, the weather played a very big part n my challenge.

Elterwater far below.

Next, I was looking for the Stone Man above Meg’s Gill as illustrated on Silver How 7 (original version). It is located well off the footpath so hardly anyone goes there (most likely an old shepherd’s cairn or marker).

After a bit of searching I found the exact location as per AW’s drawing. Not only has the stone man gone but so has the top cairn shown in his detailed drawing.

All that is left of what once was an impressive cairn on the heights above Elterwater.

Sketch: The Stone Man above Meg’s Gill (Silver How 7). As with every sketch for the project I paint the scene as it is today, not how it was shown in AW’s work.

From the stone man I headed back up to the main route, on towards Blea Rigg.

Picking up the main path near Lang How.

If you follow the path you will pass by this small stone shelter. Briefly mentioned and marked by AW on the ridge route to Blea Rigg (Silver How 10 and Blea Rigg 12)

Nearer the summit of Blea Rigg a larger shelter can be found. A stone wall keeps out some of the weather under this larger boulder.

The wall has been enlarged since AW’s day.

Sketch: The Shelter Stone, Blea Rigg (Blea Rigg 12)

About 50m to the north east and beyond the two shallow tarns is the Wainwright Summit of Blea Rigg.

The Wainwright summit of Blea Rigg, a small cairn on a prominent rough rock perch. The true summit is back and above the shelter stone.

The Wainwright summit of Blea Rigg, a couple of stones form the cairn.

The weather was too poor to obtain my reference photograph for the sketch of the summit so I moved on. Carrying on west along the peaty path there were occasional glimpses of Easedale Tarn down to our right.

Further along the path, and just off to the right, you will come to one of Wainwright’s favourite locations.

The rock pool, water retained in shallow bowls in the rock. This is a reference that I need for the project but the inclement weather means that as I can’t see the background I will have to return on a more favourable day.

I continue on my route. Passing several cairns in the low cloud. Several paths cross here near Codale Head so good navigation skills are essential. It would be easy to head off down to Langdale or elsewhere by mistake.

As we descend Deep Slack there are still signs of the old boundary fence crossing the landscape such as this iron straining post.

At Broadstone Head we can see our next objective, Calf Crag. If needed to take an easier route back to Grasmere we could pick up the good path that can be seen on the left descending into Easedale.

But we continue on towards Calf Crag.

Calf Crag summit cairn. Nothing special but it marks both the Wainwright summit and the true summit. Again, the weather frustrates me in obtaining the reference photograph for the project. I need to see the Helvellyn range which is obscured by cloud.

In the other direction Deer Bield Crags can be seen across the valley. Moving on I skirt round the summit area and drop down to get this view of the crags.

Going by the very indistinct path here it is not a location often visited. However, as can be seen by the angular boulders at the lower right of the picture which feature in AW’s drawing I am exactly where he stood to obtain his reference photograph.

Sketch: The summit crags (Calf Crag 6)

Now to find my next reference. This time it is the view of Pike of Carrs.

By following the path towards Gibson Knott I was able to keep looking back to find the required angle of this promontory. It took several attempts but eventually I found the correct spot.

Matching AW’s drawing to the scene in front of me I knew this was the right place, a short distance from the path.

Sketch: Pike of Carrs (Calf Crag 8)

Heading east along the path towards Gibson Knott I was now searching for the view of Horn Crag.

And this was it. It can be seen from this view that AW in his design of the Pictorial Guides page was very clever in making the subject fit the page content. In his drawing of Horn Crag he totally omits the background. This often made things more of a challenge for me as until I located the viewpoint I had no idea whether I needed to be looking up or down at crags such as this.

Sketch: Horn Crag (Gibson Knott 4) As always, I include the full scene in my paintings.

In a short distance I reached the summit of Gibson Knott.

Gibson Knott summit cairn. This is the most obvious cairn on the fell and is actually at the highest point. However, if you have reached this point first (as I did) you have gone past the Wainwright summit of Gibson Knott. To visit it you need to retrace your steps for 200m along the path.

Just to the north side of the path on an outcrop of rock with a flat face there is a smaller cairn. This is the Wainwright summit. Remarkably on my visit the stones marking the top looked exactly the same as in AW’s drawing.

Sketch: The summit (Gibson Knott 3)

For clarity, the picture below shows the view from the Wainwright summit looking south east to what should be classed as the “true” summit as it is 2m higher than where we are. The footpath between the two tops can just be seen in the depression.

From the summit we headed on towards Helm Crag.

We passed this outcrop of pink rocks, Helm Crag ahead.

I was continuously looking for the next view location using the Pictorial Guide as my reference.

By stopping, comparing the views and moving on I was able to pinpoint the right place even though the path was more distinct. From here all elements of the fell matched his drawing.

Sketch: Helm Crag from the path to Gibson Knott (Helm Crag 10)

I proceeded to ascend the path to Helm Crag summit. On my way I was hoping to get two more references in the bag.

A steady climb of the fell meant that I was rewarded by matching AW’s aspect of Steel Fell from the path. Identifying where walls crossed the fell side, ravines dropped into the valley and other elements of the scene indicated that I was in the right location. A comparison to Wainwright’s drawing shows how he exaggerated the shape of Steel Fell to fit the page. A regular “trick” of his.

Sketch: Steel Fell from Helm Crag (Steel Fell 1) I also had to adopt the “trick” of turning a landscape format scene into a portrait format. Here, my regret was that I wasn’t able to capture the scene in winter as he had shown it. Time was not on my side.

Cleverly AW used this same position for two fell references. By turning slightly to the left he was able to photograph Gibson Knott for use in the Pictorial Guide.

The Greenburn valley

Now facing Gibson Knott, this was the best angle of the fell for use in the guide. He drew a single line to indicate the continuation of the ridge to Calf Crag. By using the line as reference I was able to confirm that I was exactly on the right location for the shot.

Sketch: Gibson Knott from Helm Crag (Gibson Knott 1) I have painted the scene with a more autumnal colouration. I have also included the distant Ullscarf in the background.

During this route I was able to acquire all three references for the Gibson Knott work. This was very unusual, most fells took several days of walking.

On towards Helm Crag top.

Helm Crag summit is marked by a rocky peak. It is famous as being the only top of all the 214 Wainwright fells that the man himself didn’t reach- “hands-on” climbing wasn’t really his thing. The rocks on this northern end of the fell are known by several names. From this angle (and at a distance) it is known as The Old Woman Playing the Organ with the two pointed rocks on the left being similar to a figure leaning over an organ keyboard. The main rock structure being the organ. Yes, you do need to use a bit of imagination.

Sketch: The summit (Helm Crag 7)

Moving a short distance to the south the rocky top takes on a different appearance entirely.

From here the rocky prominence takes on the appearance of an early 20th century field gun, hence one of the other names, The Howitzer. Especially when viewed from Dunmail Raise. It is also known at The Lion Couchant (a lion resting on its legs with the head raised).

Sketch: Summit scene (Helm Crag 2) Again, I have added more colour to give a bit of variety to the sketches.

Further south along the ridge is another large outcrop of rock.

This is known as The Lion and the Lamb, the lion being the main rock and the lamb the rounded rock on the left. Best identified from Grasmere.

Sketch: The Lion and The Lamb (Helm Crag 7) again I have included the background which AW excluded.

Now all we had to do was to descend off the fell using the good path back to Grasmere.

The weather was still dull but brightening.

Looking back up the valley to Tarn Crag and the white waters of Sour Milk Gill as we descended.

Back on lower ground it was an easy stroll into the village.

The end of a long but productive day. 15 references obtained (it would have been 18 if the weather had played ball). Hopefully this will give you an insight into the work that went into The Wainwrights in Colour. If you have a copy of the book already then perhaps blog posts like these will fill out some of the background to the work. If you don’t have copy maybe now is a time to purchase one, just click on the links on the right of the page or just further up the page. (Thank you)

I would love to hear your comments. Do you like reading about the method behind the project? Would you rather it was just a post about walking the fells? Do let me know.

Thanks for reading.