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Barf, Lord's Seat & Broom Fell from Swan House, Thornthwaite

Barf, Lord's Seat & Broom Fell from Swan House, Thornthwaite

Start/Finish

Small rough car park behind the bus stop opposite Swan House, formerly known as the Swan Hotel. This is on the minor road through Thornthwaite which shadows the A66 and leaves it just north of Braithwaite, near Keswick, and rejoins about 3 miles further north alongside Bassenthwaite Lake. Swan House is about a mile from the north end of the Thornthwaite road.

Distance/Time

7 km       About 3 – 4 hours

Peaks

Barf, 359 m, NY 214 267.

Lord's Seat, 552 m, NY 204 266.

Broom Fell, 511 m, NY 196 270.

OS 90, 1:50 000, Penrith etc. OL4 North Western Lakes.

Introduction

Barf is a fell of modest height which has a very rocky south flank and is densely forested low down. The Bishop is a large boulder, painted white and well visible from the main road, which sits up a steep scree slope above a smaller painted rock, at the bottom, known as The Clerk. It is a bit of a struggle to reach The Bishop but there are “paths” up the steep scree. This route does not go past either The Clerk or The Bishop but both could be visited by a detour off the route. Visiting The Clerk adds only a few minutes but visiting The Bishop will add about 30 minutes as one will need to descend the steep scree afterwards to regain the main path. It seems possible to ascend the very steep and rocky south flank but further exploration will be undertaken before any such route is uploaded. The main path to Barf, used on this route, is moderately steep but straightforward. There are two short rocky sections which are merely steps and hardly rate as scrambles. Some guide books over state the difficulties. Once on Barf, there is a gentle ridge path to Lord's Seat and on to Broom Fell. On a clear day, views are excellent especially to Dodd, Ullock Pike and Skiddaw as well as to Grisedale Pike.

Route

(1) Walk up the signed (Barf) minor road opposite Swan House. Very soon, reach a gate with a sign warning of “Falling Rocks”. If wishing to visit The Clerk and/or The Bishop, go through this gate and soon reach The Clerk then return to the minor road unless one wishes to struggle up the steep scree to The Bishop then descend back the same way to the minor road. Follow the minor road to cross a shallow concrete ford over Beckstones Gill. Immediately, take the path (stile) on the right and follow it up. There is the occasional sign as the path picks its way up the forestry with Beckstones Gill to the right. Higher up, there is a short rocky section which is very straightforward; some will use their hands here. The path continues, narrow in places and there is another, easier and shorter, rocky step higher up. The path eventually reaches a forestry track. Turn right and follow the track for a short distance before a path forks off right to cross Beckstones Gill which is not difficult even in spate. Continue on the obvious path until it reaches a T junction. Go right and continue up on to the flat summit area where a low, wide cairn on a small outcrop marks the summit of Barf, 359 m. The ground drops very steeply about 5 m to the E of the cairn. There are excellent views over Bassenthwaite Lake to Ullock Pike, Dodd and Skiddaw.

(2) Take the path heading roughly W from the summit which loses little height before starting to ascend towards Lord's Seat. The path is very obvious but has a few boggy sections. Further on, the path splits; both paths go to the summit with the left fork being the less boggy option. Soon reach a flat summit area where a patch of gravel, a post and a small cairn mark the summit of Lord's Seat, 552 m.

(3) Just before the summit, a path goes off to the right, roughly NW, which leads to Broom Fell. The initial descent is down moderately steep grass after which the ground becomes much more gentle. A fence is crossed by either a stile or small metal gate. Continue, with the path gradually curving around to the W, to reach the tall cairn which may, or may not be, the summit! The OS has the summit about 200 m SSE of the cairn but it is difficult, on the ground, to tell where the highest point actually is. There is a tiny cairn about where the OS say is the highest point but it does not appear to be the highest point which may be about 50 m to the E! One, or more, of these will be the highest point on Broom Fell, 511 m!

(4) Retrace to Lord's Seat then towards Barf. Not far beyond the path split referred to above, a faint path goes off to the right which avoids a re-ascent of Barf. The path goes down towards some reeds (very boggy in here so go around them) then skirts around them to join the main path from Barf to the crossing of Beckstones Gill. From here, retrace the outward route taking care descending the two rocky steps.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 3rd December, 2015.

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