Guardian cows at Black Fell

Posted 29 October 2022

Date of trip 6 March, 2022

Written by:

April

It was a beautiful, crisp morning in early March when we set out to walk a circular route taking in two fells; Black Crag and Holme Fell.

After our first walk up Wansfell, we were excited to tick off our second and third fell. The weather was lovely, the scenery was gorgeous and the terrain was relatively easy – but we just weren’t feeling it that day and ended up only walking Black Crag.

Looking back at this trip I often regret that we didn’t push ourselves all the way around our planned route. I would like to revisit this route in the future and walk the two fells as a pair!

Around the tarn

We started the walk from Tarn Hows, a partially manmade tarn built by connecting three smaller Tarns. Beatrix Potter had brought the land in 1929. She sold half the land to the National Trust and gave the other half to them in her will, so now the National Trust now owns all of it. The car park will cost you the price of one human kidney unless you are a member (which I would recommend in the Lake District!)

The tarn is still, a mirror reflection of the surrounding trees.

It was a bright but chilly morning and very quiet when we arrived. The Tarn reflected the scene like a mirror. I had high hopes of a beautiful lakeside walk as the entire internet seems to agree that this is one of the prettiest tarns in the area. Sadly, due to recent storm damage, many trees had fallen and the tarn looked a bit like a bomb site.

Here in the Lake District, there seems to be some kind of tradition where people hammer in coins to fallen trees or remaining stumps. This tree at Tarn Hows had a crazy amount of coins hammered in – a small fortune!

A close up of the coins hammered into the fallen tree.

A fallen tree filled with coins that people have hammered into it at Tarn Hows.

The wrong turn

After we walked around the Tarn, passed the felled trees, and watched cows enjoying breakfast, the path got progressively muddier. At the end of the path we made our way up to Black Crag. We were very proud of our navigation skills – such an easy route, how could we go wrong?

Martin stood at Tarn Hows in his yellow jacket and winter hat.

Tall trees with no leaves around the edge of Tarn Hows.

Well, of course we got lost. We ended up walking up a large hill and into a bog. I really, really (really) hate being lost, so I got a bit grumpy.

Okay, I got very grumpy. I wanted to pack the whole thing in and head back to the car. Even the gorgeous views weren’t cheering me up. But… we retraced our steps, found the correct route leading up to Black Fell and sat down to enjoy a snack in the sunshine before moving on up.

April stood looking back down the hill we just climbed. A clear sky and Tarn Hows in the distance. — Getting lost isn’t always that bad when the views are like this.

A selfie of Martin and April with Tarn Hows in the background between us. — Getting lost isn’t always that bad when the views are like this.

Black Fell Cow-Gate 2022

After a quick break, we found the right gate signposted with the National Trust sign. We made our way up a stony path that looked much like a dry river bank.

Our next obstacle was a group of cows chilling by the gate. We debated for about 15 minutes how to proceed, but seeing no other way out of the area, we very carefully moved through the cows, who didn’t even seem to notice us.

A herd of cows gather around a gate on both sides. Obstructing the path up to Black Fell. — Moove over!

Cows blocking the muddy path around a gate. — Moove over!

The top of Black Fell

After a certain point up the fell, the main path turns into lots of little routes up to the top. Most of these routes were very boggy, but at least we could see the top and wouldn’t get lost again.

We trudged through the bog and up to the cairn, only seeing one other person on the fell. It was at this point I was feeling a bit rubbish. I wasn’t particularly tired, or sore, but I just really wasn’t enjoying myself.

Martin taking a photo of a curved, windswept tree on the way up Black Fell. — Martin didn’t take any photos with his camera on this day – just a couple with his phone.

A curved, windswept tree arcs over and points to a mountain in the distance. A blue sky with just a few clouds. — Martin didn’t take any photos with his camera on this day – just a couple with his phone.

Martin and I have talked about this walk a bit and wondered what went wrong that day. We have walked in worse weather, up worse paths, with fewer views and had better times. Maybe some days just aren’t walking days? But we did get to the top and it was nice to have ticked off another fell.

The view from the top was very picturesque and Alfred Wainright agrees.

“The lovely countryside around the head of Windermere is delightfully pictured, this being the best viewpoint for the sylvan charms of the area.”
Alfred Wainright

A low, wide-angle shot of Martin & April stood next to the Black Fell cairn (the plaque actually reads Black Crag) — Although the map and all the guides call it Black Fell, the cairn has “Black Crag” written on its plaque.

The Cairn atop Black Fell (the plaque actually reads Black Crag). Mountains in the backgrounds. — Although the map and all the guides call it Black Fell, the cairn has “Black Crag” written on its plaque.

We ate a sandwich, looked at the map – and decided to just head back the way we came, instead of continuing around the loop.

A waterfall stop

Tarn Hows had become very, very busy by the time we reached the path, and it was more like a theme park than a relaxing lakeside stroll.

We power-walked back towards the car park with a brief detour down to the waterfalls as Martin wanted to show me where he’d been to take photos before (I got him a 1:1 photography session with one of his favourite YouTube Photographers, Henry Turner).