STAGE 1: ST BEES TO ENNERDALE BRIDGE MAPS 1–7
Introduction
There is a lot of variety in this 14-mile (22.5km, 61/4hr) stage, beginning with a cliff-top walk along the Irish Sea and ending with a high-level view across to the Lake District fells.
Some who are lacking fitness may find this first day a bit of a struggle, particularly the final haul over Dent and into Ennerdale Bridge. If you think this may be you, and you have the time, consider stopping in Cleator or, a mile or so off the path, Egremont for the first night, before possibly continuing on the second day either to the youth hostel at High Gillerthwaite, the eccentric Black Sail, or the youth hostel at Honister Hause.
The route
The Coast to Coast path officially begins from the sea wall in St Bees which protects the village from the Irish Sea. The best way to the shore from ‘downtown’ St Bees is along Dandy Walk (see map p71), so called because the ‘dandy’ students from the grammar school would walk along this path in their caps and gowns.
Follow Beach Rd to the coast and wet your boots in the Irish Sea. Having done so, turn north-west, leaving the sea wall of St Bees to climb up the cliff-top path, steep at first. You are now on the Coast to Coast path, with a fence on one side and a 300-foot (90m) drop on the other.
The cliffs themselves are made of red sandstone, used in the construction of many of the buildings around here. There are some features along the way to help you judge your progress, the first being the Pattering Holes, fissures of uncertain origin in the ground beyond the fence by the ruined coastguard’s hut.
Progressing further north the small Fleswick Bay (Map 2) is reached, a secluded pebble beach surrounded by red sandstone cliffs with some interestingly weathered boulders lying on the shore. It is also your last chance on the trail to dip your feet in the Irish Sea.
This bay marks the dividing line between the constituent parts of St Bees Head: South Head, which you have been walking on up to now, and North Head (Map 2), which you now climb up to from the bay. Two features distinguish this latter part of St Bees Head: the three RSPB observation points, to the left of the path, which allow you to safely peer over the cliffs and observe the seabirds nesting there (including puffins, terns and England’s only colony of black guillemots); and St Bees Lighthouse, a little way inland from the path but clearly visible since South Head.
< I>Tarn Flatt Hall (bookings tel 01946 758198), a camping barn, is best reached by turning off the path here towards the lighthouse and continuing east for 1/4 mile/400m. It sleeps around eight and costs just £6 per person. The barn comes with an electric light, cooking slab and an open fire, with wood available from the farm.
After the lighthouse the path continues up to the tip of North Head before heading east along the coast, eventually turning inland at Birkham’s Quarry. Fifteen minutes later you arrive at Sandwith.
SANDWITH MAP 3
Sandwith (pronounced Sanith) is the first settlement of note that you come to on the trail, almost five miles/8km along the path from St Bees (though, dishearteningly, only two miles/3km as the crow flies!).
Other than the bus stop and phone box, and unless the pub (the Dog and Partridge) is open, there’s little to warrant much of a stay, particularly as you’ll probably be wanting to crack on to the Lakes.
The nearest accommodation is Tarn Flatt Hall (see above).
Stagecoach’s bus No 20 passes through 5-6/day, Mon-Sat, on its route between St Bees and Whitehaven. See pp43-5 for further details.
Taking the road alongside the Dog and Partridge, with the chemical works an eyesore to your left, the path crosses the Byerstead Road and, just over half a mile (0.8km) later, the B5345 linking Whitehaven to St Bees.
From the small underpass beneath the railway line (Map 3) at the foot of the hill the trail crosses fields and a small stream (Scalegill Beck; Map 4), before passing underneath a disused railway. If you were to continue straight on and look behind you, you would see St Bees nestling in the valley of Pow Beck. We, however, advise you to take the steps on your right that climb up the side of the tunnel to the disused railway track; take a left here and follow the ‘track’ to Moor Row.
MOOR ROW MAP 4
Moor Row has little to delay you save, perhaps, for the post office and store (Mon, Tue, Thur & Fri 6.30am-12.30pm, 1.30-5.30pm, Wed 6am-12.30pm, 1.30-6pm Sat 9am-3.30pm, Sun 9am-noon) which sells snacks, chocolate etc. Nearby, Jasmine House (tel 01946 815795, www.jasminehousebandb.com; 1S/2D/2F) is home to a small teashop and charges from £30 single, £58 for a double room. A packed lunch costs from £5; for an evening meal they’ll run you down to the Manor House Hotel in St Bees (which they also own) and back. However, at the time of writing, they were closed due to flooding so check they have been able to re-open.
Stagecoach’s No 6 bus passes through 3-4 times a day each way, Mon-Sat, between Whitehaven and Seascale/ Muncaster Castle. See pp43-5 for further details.
Taking the road south out of Moor Row (signposted to Egremont), leave it via a kissing gate leading into a field. A whole series of kissing gates follows as you cross the dismantled railway once more on your way down into Cleator, arriving by St Leonard’s Church.
CLEATOR MAP 4
Remnants of some 12th-century masonry in Cleator’s church give some indication of just how old this village is, though you’ll struggle in vain to find much else of antiquity in the plain, identical terraced houses that make up much of the rest of the place. These houses were built for the miners who worked in the nearby iron-ore pits. As the industry collapsed in the latter half of the 20th century, so the town suffered, and continues to do so today. It’s a sad but familiar story repeated time and again throughout west Cumbria.
However, don’t let the village’s troubles put you off Cleator. True, the village is not one of the prettiest en route and it’s true, too, that for many years the facilities for walkers were minimal. But it does provide an antidote to the somewhat twee nature of many Lake District hamlets further east and with a great B&B, the walker-friendly Farren’s Family Store (Mon-Fri 6am-6.45pm, Sat 8am-5.30pm, Sun 8.30am-1.30pm) and a pub (The Three Tuns; food is not served) with a colourful landlord, there’s enough in Cleator to warrant an overnight stay, should you already be feeling the effects of this first day.
Stagecoach’s Bus No 22 calls in at Cleator on its way (almost hourly Mon-Sat) between Whitehaven and Egremont. Cleator Moor, a bigger town and separate place one mile to the north, has more services.
Where to stay
Those on expenses might want to consider the Grade 1 listed Ennerdale Country House Hotel (tel 01946 813907, www.oxfordhotelsandinns.com/OurHotels/Ennerdale; 3S / 24D or T / 3F, all en suite), set in ten acres of landscaped gardens at the top end of town, where each of the rooms comes with an entertainment system with satellite TV, Sony Playstation, videos and a CD player. It all sounds lovely – though it’s hardly a typical Coast to Coast place, and at about £89 per person for B&B, or £109 for dinner as well, it ain’t cheap! (That said, do check to see if they have one of their periodic offers on, which see those rates tumbling dramatically.)
A place that is more in keeping with the walk is the extremely pleasant and good-value Chapel Nook (tel 01946 810366 or 07801 862234, email keithrhodes@supanet.com; 2D, one en suite) on Kiln Brow. Rates start at £22.50 and they are generally open March to October.
As an alternative to Cleator, Egremont is only 11/2 miles/2.5km away, with more B&Bs such as Bookwell Garth Guest House (tel 01946 820271, 16 Bookwell; 5S/6T/1F). Rates start from £23 (there are no en suite rooms).
From Cleator it is possible to take the road route north around Dent to Ennerdale Bridge, though unless the weather is positively treacherous, or you’ve had enough climbing for the day, take the high route. It would be a shame to miss the view from the summit of Dent Hill (Map 5) and the tranquillity of Nannycatch Beck that lies hidden away at its foot. Long and fairly arduous, the climb up Dent takes about 50 minutes from Cleator. At the top there are views to the Lakeland fells ahead and the sea behind, with the gigantic plant of Sellafield to the south-west, the largish town of Egremont before it and, on a good day, the silhouette of the Isle of Man.
After passing over the top of the hill look out for the signpost by the complicated track junction on the descent. The signpost urges you to turn right which is indeed the original trek suggested by Wainwright. We strongly urge you, however, to ignore this sign and take a left onto the steep track down to Nannycatch Beck, as indicated on the maps in this book. One novice trekker has complained vociferously about the steepness of this path – but trust us, it is a lot quicker and more scenic and has become the de facto official path now.
From Nannycatch, head due north along the beck before veering to the right, still following the course of the water, to the road leading into Ennerdale Bridge. Joining the road, before continuing north to Ennerdale Bridge take a few steps south along the road to check out the ‘false’ stone circle of Kinniside Circle. False, not because it isn’t made of stone (it is), nor because it isn’t a circle (it is that, too) but because it isn’t, as it at first appears, a prehistoric circle (of which we’ll be seeing a number of examples on the walk) but a 20th-century one built by a local academic. From the circle, the trail hugs the roadside down to Ennerdale Bridge, with paths constructed firstly to the left and then to the right of the road so walkers do not have to share the tarmac with the traffic.
A mile or so before Ennerdale Bridge is the turn-off to Bradley’s Riding Centre (off Map 6, p81; tel 01946 861354, www.walk-rest-ride.co.uk; 3D or T/ 1F), Low Cock How Farm. B&B costs from £26. There’s also a well-equipped bunkhouse (with room for up to 12 people) from £13 or £18 with breakfast, and camping from £5. Not surprisingly they offer riding holidays.
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