We went to “Coniston”:https://www.visitcumbria.com/amb/coniston/ one weekend in May and were lucky with the weather. It rained the day before and the day after our visit but we had cloudy sunshine which enabled us to see the views as we climbed up behind the village. We had thought at first of walking around the lake, but when we stopped in to the visitor’s information office to enquire about a route, we were told there is no walk around the lake. Instead we opted to walk to the lake to have our picnic lunch then head up behind the village to the old mines overlooking Coniston Water.
We were there on a Sunday and were able to park on the B5285 just across from the visitor’s information office. It is a pleasant walk from there down Lake Road to the lake and past some craft shops as you go across Church Beck. There is a café at the lake but there are also benches and picnic tables outside if you bring your own. As for the ducks, they don’t care where you bought food – they’ll still try to nab some. In May, there were lots of ducklings to watch as well. We also saw the Steam Yacht Gondola go by on Coniston Water.
We took the picnic things back to our vehicle and changed into walking boots to head up in the hills (right past the Sun Inn) to the old copper mines and the route to the Old Man of Coniston. On the way up we stopped now and then to take in the views back towards the lake and to watch the sheep making their way up the steep cliffs. The route is uneven with tree routs and rocks and is steep at times. At various times it was warm and at others cool, but it was always dry. We saw two groups of ghyll scramblers heading up the hill and then cutting off the path towards the ghyll. Better them than us! They were all kitted out in the correct gear including helmets, life jackets and wet suits, but still…
We went as far as the old miner’s cottages which are now B&Bs before heading back down via the bridge over the ghyll and back down towards town and the Ruskin Museum. At this point we saw the ghyll scramblers again. This time they were very wet indeed and enjoying their scramble in the ghyll. The weather couldn’t have been better. The sky was blue and the clouds were white and big and fluffy; a lovely day.
