The start of another circuit of some of the central Lakeland fells and valleys. Legburthwaite to Wythburn 

via Sticks Pass, Raise, Whiteside, Lower Man & Helvellyn

8.5 miles 3250ft

Starting the climb up Stanah Gill to Sticks Pass with Blencathra behind 

Stanah Gill

Looking back to the north end of Thirlmere.....

....and Skiddaw to the north west

 Raise summit 2897ft with Lower Man and Helvellyn now in sight....

The path to Whiteside (right) leading on to Lower Man

Zooming in on the path rising up Lower Man....

....and then on to Helvellyn

Looking down Swirral edge with Red Tarn at the start of the summit plateau....

....and cloud rising behind Striding edge 

Arriving at the Helvellyn summit Trig Point 3117ft.....

.....and the summit shelter

Who's this having their photo taken?

Striding edge again

Starting the descent to Wythburn.

....and again with Helm crag on the other side of Dunmail Raise

Thirlmere....

....from the steep descent from Birks down Comb gill

Passing through the Thirlmere plantation....

....to Wythburn church. The church is the only remaining building of the villages of Wythburn and Armboth which were both covered when two smaller lakes were flooded to construct the Thirlmere reservoir supplying water to Manchester

A final view of Thirlmere whilst waiting for my lift back to Legburthwaite.

This walk was a fabulous day out at the start of  some winter walking conditions in the magnificent Lakeland fells. There's no better place to start than Helvellyn!

Just remember to make sure you're well equipped as conditions can deteriorate in minutes!!!!

Two short walks for the price of 

one long one !

Walk One: Coniston village to Levers Water & return 6.5miles 1450ft

Setting off from Coniston to start the walk up Coppermines valley on a bitterly cold morning

Looking back east down the valley as the sun rose over Monk Coniston Moor

Reaching the YHA with the Coniston fells behind

Looking up at the waterfalls out of Levers Water to where I was heading....

....and arriving at Levers Water with Swirl How behind

I had planned my walk to climb to Great Carrs fell via Swirl How where I wanted to revisit the WW2 plane crash memorial site as this was November and Armistice Day just passed. However as I sat here by the tarn in a bitterly cold wind and both hands numb with cold despite gloves, I'd had enough and decided to return to Coniston.

I managed a couple of photos here with cold fingers....

.....and again.

On returning to the car I decided instead to drive to another WW2 crash site not far from home which only required a short walk to reach.

Walk Two

Yarrow reservoir to 

WW2 plane crash memorial, Lead Mine Clough, Rivington Lancashire, and return.

Setting off from Allance Bridge by Yarrow reservoir.....

....and walking up the clough.....

.....to the bench beside the crash site with Winter Hill in the distance

The memorial with wreathes recently laid

The pilot and 5 crew were all killed.....Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord....

A final view of the memorial before....

....finally descending again to the reservoir

After a faltering start I eventually achieved my goal of visiting one of the local wartime memorial sights.

The Lake District looked wonderful in the cold winter sunshine but sometimes common sense has to prevail!!!

 Shap summit to Shap village 

via Shap Wells & Wet Sleddale reservoir

14miles 1400ft

This memorial is where I parked in the A6 layby on shap summit. It's dedicated to the workers and local community who helped to build the first road for traffic over the summit

Shap fell bothy, sadly no longer in use.

The first signs of some breaks in the cloud over Wild Boar fell

Looking across the valley to one of the Shap fell quarries....

.... and a closer look at the action!

Starting the descent following Wasdale beck to 

Shap Wells. 

(Not be confused with the Wasdale in West Cumbria)

Shap Wells hotel....

.....and the entrance into a very smart foyer

On the hill behind the hotel Blea beck leads up to....

....the monument commemorating the accession to the throne of queen Victoria in 1837

.....and a closer look at Her Majesty

Also on the hillside is wooded area where....

.....Red Squirrels have been encouraged to breed....

.....as well as other wild life like this Coal Tit

The path leaving the hill through a tunnel of bushes

Leaving the Wasdale valley I crossed the moors to 

Wet Sleddale and its reservoir.....

.....where its outlflow was quite a sight given all the recent rains....

....and again

I then made a circuit of the reservoir....

.....stopping for lunch here

I left the reservoir following the river Lowther and was so preoccupied with making detours to bridges after being unable to cross fords due to the river levels, that I forgot to take any photos until I arrived here at Keld

Leaving Keld the path crosses fields passing 

'The Googleby Stone', one of a line of megalithic monuments forming a processional route dating from 2000 to 3000 bc.

Finally the short descent into Shap village to wait for my lift back to the car.

This was a walk I'd been thinking about doing for some time, but always thought I had something better for the day. However this really was a great walk with lots of interest not least the Red Squirrels!