• Alston
• Allonby And Aspatria
• Ambleside And Troutbeck
• Appleby In Westmoreland
• Askam In Furness
• Barrow In Furness
• Bassenthwaite
• Borrowdale
• Bowness On Windermere
• Brough
• Buttermere
• Brampton
• Broughton In Furness
• Carlisle
• Cartmel
• Cleator Moor
• Cockermouth
• Coniston
• Dalston
• Dalton In Furness
• Dent
• Grange Over Sands
• Grasmere
• Greenodd
• Grizedale
• Hawkshead
• Kendal
• Keswick
• Kirkby Lonsdale
• Wasdale And Gosforth
• Kirkby Stephen
• Longtown
• Loweswater
• Maryport
• Melmerby
• Milnthorpe
• Nenthead
• Newby Bridge
• Orton
• Penrith
• Pooley Bridge
• Ravenglass And Eskdale
• Sedbergh
• Seascale
• Shap
• Silloth And Solway
• St Bees
• Skiddaw
• Staveley
• Tebay
• The Duddon Valley
• Threlkeld
• Ulverston
• Vale Of Lorton
• Wasdale
• Wetheral
• Whitehaven
• Wigton
• Windermere
• Workington
• Spa Hotels In Windermere The Lake District
• Hotels With Hot Tubs In Windermere
• Hot Tub Hotels In Windermere And The Lake District
• Romantic Breaks In Windermere And The Lake District
• Themed Hotels In Windermere And The Lake District
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• Windermere Attractions And Boat Trips
• Boutique Hotels And Accommodation In Windermere And The Lake District
• Windermere In The Rain
• One Way Ticket To Windermere Por Favor
• Horse Riding In The Lake District
• Walks In The Lake District
• Windermere Boutique Hotel Bedrooms
• Holiday Accommodation Wanted In The Lake District

Lake District walks

Callback lived by farming until its mineral riches were discovered. This boom period led to the village becoming large and busy. The miners sought silver, lead and copper on the fells that lie to the south. The heyday of Callback's industrial phase came in the middle of the nineteenth century, and the last of the local mines, at Sand beds, ceased to operate in the 1950s.

Callback gives its name to some of the rolling hills. The 'callback' joins the Caldew, which once had so many water powered mills they inspired a couplet: It was at the Odd fellows' Arms that John Woodcock Graves composed the celebrated song John Peel, who was a personal friend. Peel's last resting place is in the local churchyard, where the tombstone is large and gleaming white.

Also in this churchyard was interred Mary Robinson, the wife of a local farmer. She died in 1887. In her young life, Mary was famous as the Beauty of Buttermere; she married a bigamist who was eventually hanged at Carlisle. A novel based on this story was penned by Cumbrian writer Melvyn Bragg. Conifer plantations are found on Whinlaller, the Skiddaw slopes and the western side of Derwentwater.

The species include spruce, silver fir, Scots pine and larch. From the west corner of the car park, walk a short distance up to a road, where you can scan a nearby pond for signs of bird activity. Turn left to where, ahead, there is a barn with a notice directing you to the Hawk. A footpath with kissing gates takes you to the riverside in the vicinity of the remains of a bobbin mill that ceased operating when the textile industry was in decline in the 1920S.

Notice the stone pillars, which mark out the drying shed, a door head with the date 1857 and, on the far side of the mill, the pit that accommodated a forty-two foot (13m) diameter waterwheel, of the overshot variety. The wheel became known as Red Rover. Now climb some steps and follow a section of the path that was once the leat, this being the channel along which water flowed to turn the wheel. Flowers to be seen beside the path include celandine, dog\'s mercury and primrose.

The Howk, also known as the Fairy Kirk, is a limestone ravine with foaming waterfalls between impressive cliffs. Dorothy Wordsworth, who visited the Howk in the summer of 1803, mentioned \'limestone rocks, hanging trees, pools and water¬breaks caves and caldrons which have been honored with fairy names and no doubt continue in the fancy of the neighborhood to resound with fairy revels'.
This is a well wooded area, with much mature timber. A conspicuous plant in the damp conditions is butterbur known incorrectly as wild rhubarb which locally tends to develop heads as big as umbrellas. Red dead nettle, another local plant, is so called because it does not sting.

A vantage point gives you a good view of the Hawk, then continue along a footpath by Whelp Beck, where there are alder trees; these are much at home with their roots in water. Cross a handsome stone bridge to Whelp Farm; turn right, then follow a grassy lane on the left. A dry bank at one side is adorned in summer by harebells, the 'blue bells of Scotland'. The route leads after half a mile (0.8km) to a minor road where you turn left and shortly afterwards turn right.

This road leads to Fell side, but soon you leave the road at a signposted path on the left, stiles giving you confidence in being on the right track. The local sheep are of the Swale dale breed. A big pasture holds tall thistles and clumps of rush. There is also Moor House, a former farm that manages to look attractive even in a ruined state. Features to look out for are two windmills on the left, behind Hesket New market, and directly ahead, on the skyline the fell known as High Pike.Visible from Moor House is the white gable end of Little Fell side, to which we walk. Like many another old farm along the fell side, it is now a private house. On reaching Little Fell side, turn right and walk around the building and back garden before crossing rough pasture to reach Potts Gill. Now keep on the main track, ignoring turns to the left until you reach Nether Row.

Before turning left down the road, you may like to confirm your position, the building opposite being called Skye House. After leaving Nether Row, in less than a quarter of a mile (O4km) take the lane on the right as the road runs left. Continue on the lane and eventually cross fields until reaching Street Head Farm and a descent into Hesket New market. A cafe, which is open through the year, is doubtless a welcome sight. At this unspool Cumbrian village, eighteenth century houses look at each other across a capacious green. A market cross was erected in 1751, when the village was granted the right to hold sales of cattle and sheep. The old smithy has a weather vane in the form of the silhouette of a show horse, complete with a beribboned tail.

Charles Dickens and Willkie Collins, \'two idle apprentices\' who stayed here in September 1857, mentioned \'black, coarse stoned, rough windowed houses, some with outer staircases, like Swiss houses Old Carrack [Fell] gloomed down upon it all in a very ill-tempered state; and rain was beginning. \'The final stretch of the walk is by the river, in the Caldew Valley. At Hesket New market, seek out, just beyond Smithy Cottage, an entry gate that is substantial and comparatively new. The path goes through a pasture, then beside the wooded edge of a ravine. The ground is cloggy In wet conditions. Wild raspberries give the walker an excuse for stopping here and there. Kissinggates are encountered. There should also be yellow way marks.

You will leave the wood, cross a pasture, enter another wood where the path is marginally drier, then go through a meadow where a bank holds a grand assembly of betony. An iron bridge is crossed, and from here you walk upwards through a natural break in the bushes and eventually reach a wire fence. On your left, about 100 yards (90m) away, is a gate on the Cumbria Way.

Before it enters a forest, the route is a vantage point for the Cald Beck, but for most of this section the views are restricted by woodland. Look for yellow waymarkers. The path makes a gradual descent, passing near a North West Water installation on its way to Caldbeck. Those who are in need of further refreshment will find a cafe not far from the church and the starting point.

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