Thorneythwaite picnic and waterfall walk
This short walk introduces you to the three parts of a hill farm – the in-bye land, the in-take land and the open fell. It also introduces you to Thorneythwaite where we’re experimenting with a new form of land-management, share-farming with local shepherd Joe.
You’ll see the hay meadows and the wood pasture as they undergo gradual restoration work, then go through the ‘fell wall’ – the boundary between the intake land and the open fell, to discover a hidden valley and a perfect picnic spot beside a picturesque cascade overlooked by the towering Coombe Crag.
Map
Start:
Seatoller National Trust car park, CA12 5XN
1
From Seatoller car park, turn left and walk along the road to the junction that turns off to Seathwaite. Take the Seathwaite road, and then take the first gate on the left hand side, signposted as a public footpath (this field has yurts in April-October). Cross the footbridge, turn right and walk round two edges of the field, then turn right into the next field and follow the wall to the wall gap on the left. Go through this gate and the next to join the tarmac driveway/lane. Turn left.
Hay meadow restoration
This is the first part of the farm – the in-bye land. These three fields are being restored to high nature value hay meadows following soil analysis work. 90% of England’s hay meadows have been lost since the 1970s due to intensive agriculture techniques like use of fertilisers. Using less intensive management that uses no fertiliser and includes cutting the hay late to allow the plants to set seed will help the upland meadow flower and grass species that survive in the margins of these fields gradually recolonise the meadow over the next ten years.
2
Walk along the tarmac lane away from the farmhouse, follow it left round the corner and continue between the walls for 500m until a public footpath to Glaramara is signposted to the right. Go through the gate and walk up the rough track as it winds round and starts to climb the hill. Keep following this track uphill through the next two gates.
Regenerating the wood pasture
You’re walking through the Thorneythwaite wood pasture that is unusual for having a large number of wild apple trees (visit in late April/early May to see the orchard blossom). Wood pasture was a farming practice used in the days before intensive agriculture to graze cattle and pigs, as they don’t nibble tree seedlings down like sheep and deer do, so the next generation of trees could take the place of veteran trees as they reached the ends of their lives. In the 20th century this wood pasture had been used for sheep grazing, so no saplings had survived to replace the older trees. Now the sheep are restricted to one end, and the rest is grazed by cattle once again allowing the wood pasture to regenerate naturally over the next 30 years.
3
Go through the gate in the fell wall, onto the open fell. Follow the path as it climbs until you reach a large waterfall cascade on the left hand side. Find a flat rock to have a picnic and enjoy the sound of the rushing water – just watch out for the steep drops! When you’ve finished, retrace your steps to the car park.
Herdwick sheep
The fell wall is the last wall between here and the farms in Langdale. This is all still farmland but the Herdwick sheep don’t need walls, they are hefted to their bit of the fell – they know where to go, and will only stray if pushed by bad weather. Lakeland hill farming relies on all the farmers working together to gather the sheep off the fells at key times of year – in spring for lambing, July for clipping (shearing) and in Autumn for tupping (putting the tups with the yows). Herdwick sheep grow slowly so their meat has a deep, rich flavour, their lambs are called hoggs after their first winter. Herdwick ‘hoggett’ (lamb) is first available from February each year, rather than September like other faster-growing breeds. Many local restaurants have Herdwick on the menu – if you eat Herdwick you’re supporting the Lake District rural economy, enabling farmers to manage their land less intensively so they can leave more space for nature.
End:
Seatoller National Trust car park, CA12 5XN
