Get Lost Mountaineering

Latterbarrow from Hawkshead Village

Start/Finish

Main car park in Hawkshead village where you can expect to pay about £7.50 for 4 hours (in 2025). It may be cheaper to book ahead online. There is very limited parking in the village itself and there is no through route in the actual village because of the narrowness of the roads which is why a short by pass was built in the late 1970s.

Distance/Time

6 km  About 2 – 3 hours

Peaks

Latterbarrow, 245 m, SD 367 992.

OS 96 Barrow-in-Furness & South Lakeland or OS 97 Kendal & Morecambe

OL 7 South Eastern Lakes.

Introduction

This is an easy route to follow if you know which signs to follow as none are for Latterbarrow! The only Latterbarrow sign is just after leaving the Colthouse to Wray Castle road and that just tells you that you are entering the Latterbarrow area! Until this point, you need to follow the signs for Wray Castle despite Latterbarrow being a very prominent hill overlooking the village of Hawkshead. It's summit even has a monument rather than the usual cairn and there are excellent views including to Windermere (it isn't called Lake Windermere!). The paths are good apart from a few rough and steeper sections on the actual ascent of Latterbarrow. Hawkshead used to be a lovely Lakeland village with the majority of the houses, some interlocking three dimensionally, being constructed from lakeland stone. The building of the by pass, whilst alleviating traffic problems, has led to an unsightly expansion of the village with modern white houses/buildings now dwarfing the old traditional village centre. The shops have nearly all changed considerably and many are now blatantly commercial yet it is still worth wandering around the old part of the village where there is some good history to explore including the church which looks down on the old village. About half a mile south of the village, on the road towards Lakeside and Newby Bridge lies Esthwaite Water, one of the quietest and prettiest of the all the lakes in the National Park and well worth the walk. The Hawkshead Agricultural Show takes place each summer, usually on the third Tuesday in August, and is often very busy so beware of heavy traffic on the narrow roads into Hawkshead at this time. The show is just outside the village on the Ambleside road and within the grounds of Hawkshead Hall. Note that when the show is being held, there is a fell race up Latterbarrow which is usually marked with large black and yellow arrows and snall red flags. This largely follows the route below except where the fell race crosses a pathless field to miss out part of a minor road (Loanthwaite Lane).

Route

(1) From the main car park, walk onto the bypass and turn left (towards Ambleside), walking behind the old village and in front of the new developments. Just before the the bypass swings left to rejoin the old road to Ambleside, go right (signed for Wray Castle) onto Black Beck Road. Almost immediately, turn right (signed for Wray Castle) just before Black Beck Lodge (white building) where vehicles may be parked. Pass them to pick up an obvious path passing to the right of the lodge. Cross a wooden bridge then fork right, signed for Wray Castle (the other, wrong, path follows the side of the stream). Follow this very obvious path for a few minutes until it splits just after a gate. Go left here, signed for Wray Castle. Soon after, at another gate, meet a track. Go left here. Very soon after, pass through a smaller gate and follow the path by the side of a field. Reach another gate, sometimes open. This is where the usual path and fell race go different ways. The path goes left and further on meets a tarmac road called Loanthwaite Lane. Turn right and walk up the lane. The fell race route (in 2025) goes diagonally across the field from the gate to meet Loanthwaite Lane higher up. At the top of Loanthwaite Lane is a triangle of grass where it meets the road from Colthouse to Wray Castle. Turn left, towards Wray Castle, then almost immediately, fork right, through a gate after which is the Latterbarrow sign. There are now no more signs but the path is easy to follow. Ignore any minor paths going off to the right. The path is rough and steep in a few places but no real difficulties. There is a good view on Hawkshead as height is gained though not as good a view as it was in the 1970s. When the angle eases, the summit is close and soon comes back into view. For such a low hill, it has an impressive monument to mark the summit of Latterbarrow, 245m. Walking past the summit, for a short distance, gives good views of Windermere and many of the southern and eastern Lakeland fells can be seen from here. Over to the right, south, is the forested Claife Heights which are slightly higher. You might just be able to spot the communication masts on their Windermere side.

(2) Retrace the outward route. Upon reaching the Hawkshead by pass, one can turn right and go through the old village.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 18^th August, 2025, and many times in the 1970s.

(b) Another alternative return is to stay on the road at the foot of Latterbarrow and go left to follow it to Colthouse where it joins the road from Near Sawrey just ouside Hawkhead.

(c) Yet another alternative is to stay on the quiet Loanthwaite Lane until it joins the road from Ambleside but this road can be busy in the summer.

(d) It is possible to cycle to the foot of Latterbarrow using the road from Wray Castle to Colthouse then leaving bicycles inside the gate. Do not try and cycle up Latterbarrow as you will only ruin the path for walkers.

(e) It is possible to drive to the foot of Latterbarrow but there is nowhere to park on the very narrow road and if you do park then you may return to find your car might have been damaged by a passing tractor. However, there is no problem with walkers being dropped off here by a helpful driver!