Church Beck and Coniston Old Man
Our final walk in November was one that I always like to do, whatever the weather - some great falls, a terrific medium length walk, and an iconic summit. Today, however, the weather also gave us a wonderfully clear and bright (but cold) day so we got phenomenal views too.
From the village of Coniston we headed for Levers Water via Church Beck (some stunning falls here, see main picture) and the old copper mines. For the final leg up to the reservoir itself we opted for the slightly tougher path that gets closer to the falls below it, a bit of a scramble in places but perfectly safe. The picture below is not far from the top of this section.
The next section takes us from Levers Water up to the ridge line between Swirl How to the north and The Old Man of Coniston (our summit target today) to the south. The wind really picked up as we reached the ridge but the views, see below looking north, were well worth it!!
Turning south we leisurely took in our surroundings, briefly stopped on the summit (which stands at 803m) and then continued on down, through more old quarries and, while most of our fellow walkers headed south to the main car park, continued on to rejoin Church Beck for a few more pictures from the other side of the falls and the final wander back to the village.
What a stunning day!!
Andy
From the village of Coniston we headed for Levers Water via Church Beck (some stunning falls here, see main picture) and the old copper mines. For the final leg up to the reservoir itself we opted for the slightly tougher path that gets closer to the falls below it, a bit of a scramble in places but perfectly safe. The picture below is not far from the top of this section.
The next section takes us from Levers Water up to the ridge line between Swirl How to the north and The Old Man of Coniston (our summit target today) to the south. The wind really picked up as we reached the ridge but the views, see below looking north, were well worth it!!
Turning south we leisurely took in our surroundings, briefly stopped on the summit (which stands at 803m) and then continued on down, through more old quarries and, while most of our fellow walkers headed south to the main car park, continued on to rejoin Church Beck for a few more pictures from the other side of the falls and the final wander back to the village.
What a stunning day!!
Andy