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  • 5/20/2025
Wainwright Walks episode 6

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Travel
Transcript
00:00Nestled in the far north-west of England, this is the Lake District.
00:11A land defined by its natural beauty.
00:22Unknown to millions who love the lakes was the late Alfred Wainwright, author, guide writer and talented artist.
00:30But above all, he was the greatest fell walker.
00:37Wainwright's guides have inspired generations of walkers to roam these glorious fells.
00:43And now, a century after his birth, it's my turn to go in search of the real Wainwright experience.
01:00I'm starting today's walk down there in the bustling tourist town of Keswick, in the heart of the Northern Lakes.
01:17It's the place where Wainwright famously enjoyed his favourite fish and chips.
01:20I'm heading over Dermot Water and up Catbells to discover why Wainwright thought that this was the perfect family fell.
01:27The perfect walk for grandparents and little ones alike.
01:29Keswick is a popular base for travelling across the Lake District and so it's no surprise that it plays host to over a million visitors of all ages every year.
01:51Catbells is one of the most photographed viewpoints in the Lake District.
01:58Wainwright recommends that you sail across the Lake here.
02:02He says that it makes the expedition rewarding out of all proportion to the small effort needed.
02:06Even the name has a magic challenge.
02:24With such popularity, Catbells is one fell where you're guaranteed the company of other walkers along the way.
02:31Something that wouldn't have been to Wainwright's taste elsewhere in the lakes.
02:34That's the profile of Catbells and Wainwright says in his opening page for this fell, words cannot adequately describe the rare charm of Catbells, nor its ravishing view.
02:58But no publicity is necessary. Its mere presence in the Derwent Water scene is enough.
03:04It has a bold, come-hither look that compels one's steps and no suitor ever returns disappointed.
03:18It is only to be seen from Friars Crag and a spell is cast. No Keswick holiday is consummated without a trip to Catbells.
03:31I'm taking Wainwright's advice and travelling across the lake, but before I do, let's take a look at the route ahead.
03:40Taking the launch, I'll travel across Derwent Water, passing a number of small islands, each with their own histories and individual beauties.
03:58My walk begins at the lakeside jetty at Hawes End. The path here takes me through woodland before reaching the foot of Catbells.
04:17Here, the path splits in two, and I'll follow the route up the engineered zigzag path, up the north breast of the fell.
04:27The path is interrupted by a short scramble up a polished rock face, before reaching a stony plateau.
04:38From here, I'll walk along the top of the distinctive steady ridge, which gives Catbells its famous profile.
04:52It has three distinct impressions, before reaching a heavily eroded tower of rock, which takes me on a steep climb to reach the rugged and exposed summit.
05:08It's very simple.
05:24Frank Harrison, a local guide, has agreed to join me on my trip across Derwent Water.
05:29Now, Frank, you've been a guide in these parts for nearly fifty years. Things must have changed an awful lot in that time.
05:37that time well I started in the 50s there were no tracks as such today where
05:43they've deliberately gone out the National Trust and made paths you made
05:49your own path you finally I did I was a guide at the time 15 to 2,000 miles a
05:58year I walked so I was giving me a run for the money well I would have done
06:03them now here we are on the beautiful Dermot water and everything's working in
06:07our favor so far the weather's good so tell me some of the stories as we move
06:11through this stretch of water well through this stretch of water here comes
06:16to Friars Crag and Friars Crag was regarded it was regarded by Ruskin as the most
06:23beautiful view down the lake in the Lake District now two famous people of course
06:30from these parts Beatrix Potter and Wordsworth there's a nice Beatrix Potter
06:34story isn't there in connection with Cat Bells well Beatrix Potter of course
06:37Fort Park which is over there they came and stayed at Fort Park a number of times
06:44and of course it has a walled garden and the story of Peter Rabbit and the walled
06:51little girl started over in that spot when you climb Cat Bells and you look down you
07:03will see Little Town and Mrs. Tiggywinkle lived above Little Town this is
07:09Tiggywinkle that's what yes and at the island which is Herbert's Island that is
07:15also where squirrel nut can use to go to collect the nuts if you believe that you
07:22believe anything
07:27the Cumbria Mountains are older than the Alps and older than the Himalaya
07:32Mountain not only that they were as high as the Alps possibly possibly to the
07:37height of Everest so they have lost if charges are correct they have lost up to
07:4227,000 feet and there's a book out already saying that they are still
07:48coming down that eventually there will be no Lake District because they will
07:53level out and fill all the lakes
07:55let's hope that's long well it will be a long time yeah well we won't be around
08:00when it happens but that's what they claim is likely to happen and if you
08:05consider that this is only 17 feet at the best that's a very shallow lake
08:11anyway there you have Castle Crag looking down there looking gorgeous now Frank that so far is one of my
08:21favorite walks Castle Crag it's a little gem isn't it yes it is a very good one
08:25the cat bells coming up behind us there described as a family wall could you agree
08:35with that
08:38difficult really although it is a family mountain and no 1500 feet just under not
08:46too high you've got to be careful where you put your feet on it but they've made
08:51again vast differences over the last 30 years up there I mean from the day when
08:57you walked on Rock Ridge in order to get down it widens it moves stuff and it's
09:05better for the family today than it was 30 to 40 years ago what else about cat
09:10bells do you think is so alluring to people well I think today is close to
09:17Keswick B it is under 1500 feet C and you think that as you said earlier that
09:27it's just a family walk but there are there's no question about there's a lot
09:32of rock there when Wainwright I come back to Wainwright he didn't envisage that
09:38anyone would take that any book and make it into you know a directory for all the
09:46mountains do you think he didn't do you really think he didn't I think this is
09:51his legacy I think he knew well the point is this people do use the book
09:56without a map then they get stuck if you are going to use Wainwright's book you
10:02have got to use a map at the same take your OS map you must say you must take it
10:06yes what advice do you have me when I'm tackling cat bells well I think you should set yourself a
10:15pace that is the same pace when you're going up on the level and coming down Frank thank you
10:25very much pleasure is all I know where to come if I need to know anything about Lake District well I
10:30hope so and I hope you enjoy the war I said it will
10:33see Frank
10:47well this is Haw's End which is my stop and through those trees should be the beginning of the walk
11:17now the one thing that everybody seemed to know about Wainwright is that he liked to walk alone he
11:25didn't like to be disturbed or approached on his walks he wanted to focus all his energies on getting
11:30every detail to put into these but cat bells was the one walk where he actively encouraged families to
11:36follow in his footsteps cat bells is one of the great favorites a family fell where grandmothers and
11:49infants can climb the fell together a place been loved
12:06here there are two paths both marks in the guide but Wainwright says the zigzag route is exquisite a
12:25much more enjoyable start to the ascent so that's got to be the way
12:36this specially laid-out route is known as Woodford's path after its creator Sir John Woodford he was an
12:54army major general and veteran of Waterloo who had a summer home at Derwent Bay near the launch landing
12:59he uses experience of digging trenches and making defenses to engineer this impressive path purely to
13:10use on excursions from his home his efforts paid off more than 130 years later people are still enjoying
13:22it Wainwright even went on to describe it as an enchanting stairway
13:29there are so many ways to enjoy the Lakeland fells
13:56some people aren't happy with views from the summits
14:26it's not as easy as you might expect and despite being a family walk Wainwright detailed the crags and
14:42caverns on this fell side a reminder of centuries of mining and a warning to walkers this fell is not
14:50quite so innocuous as is usually thought and grandmothers and infants should take care as they romp around
14:57that looks like a bit of a scramble up ahead time to get the hands dirty
15:10the rock here has become really polished actually all the walkers over the years doing exactly what I'm doing
15:24and there's a plaque here Thomas Arthur Leonard father of the open-air movement
15:31Leonard is known as the father of hiking responsible for getting the Ramblers Association underway in 1891
15:42he pioneered country holidays for families from the industrial centers of 19th century Britain
15:50these were for families from similar backgrounds to Wainwright's own humble origins in Blackburn
15:57and there is the first view of the summit
16:04it's amazing that you can be so close to all the creature comforts of Keswick
16:12and yet within about half an hour you get to a viewpoint like this
16:19in one direction there are fine views across Derwent water to Blencathra or Saddleback as it's sometimes known
16:27in one direction there are fine views across Derwent water to Blencathra or Saddleback as it's sometimes known
16:33standing behind Keswick is the giant peak of Skiddor and looking north towards Bassonthwaite lake the valley looks straight down to the Solway Firth and the Scottish hills beyond
16:52the name cat bells has got people divided but when right commits to his view here he says it might
17:02well be a corruption of cat builds that means shelter the shelter of the wild cat although this
17:08has been disputed by authorities of repute
17:11scenes of great beauty unfold on all sides and their scenes in depth to a degree not usual
17:24on this side the hamlet of Littletown is well seen down below a charming picture
17:31but it is to Derwent water and mid Borrowdale that the captivated gaze returns again and again
17:52it's a bit steep here and it's a bit disconcerting that you lose the summit behind this outcrop
17:59this area was once home to a booming mining industry today almost all mining has ceased
18:06but its legacy is still visible on the landscape
18:15hi Ian
18:17hello good to see you
18:19Ian Tyler is the curator of Keswick's mining museum and is here to tell me a bit more
18:23about the history that lies beneath the fells
18:26it's a history that dates back to the 16th century and this very fell when Queen Elizabeth imported her miners from Germany
18:33this is where the Germans actually started to mine in Cumbria
18:40the reason why they were here was because of Queen Elizabeth
18:43she desperately needed copper she desperately needed lead
18:47and the Germans had the expertise they were the finest they were about 150 years ahead of us and they had the ability to not only dig and prospect they also had the ability to smelt the ore
19:02anybody can dig things out the ground but then you've got to be able to smelt it and they built in fact the biggest smelt mill in Europe just over in Keswick at Brigham
19:09Wainwright has made quite a few references of course to the mining history of Cumbria
19:16now this is a relatively small fell compared to most but there are many mines under here along here aren't there
19:24there certainly are
19:25there's about four different veins actually coursing through the fell
19:28but lower down here we've got old Brandley
19:31and then further on we've got Brandle Howe
19:33but the biggest mine on the fell right under the summit of Catbells
19:37is youth weight mine
19:39which is round about a thousand feet in vertical height
19:42so when we go up to the summit
19:44there's a thousand feet underneath there's a mine shaft
19:47a hole, a great big dash
19:49wider than this
19:50and much deeper
19:52there are some villages in existence that wouldn't be here if it wasn't for mining
19:55Absolutely
19:57right throughout the Lake District
19:59you've got Coniston
20:01which was one of the first haunts of the German miners
20:04they were there for 50 years
20:06and set up an incredible industry
20:09and of course that brought people in
20:11because of course the farmers have got to come in to feed the people
20:14you've got Colbeck likewise in the northern fells
20:16Threlkeld
20:18and indeed Keswick itself
20:20because when you walk across the fells
20:22I mean you see hints of the mining industry that was
20:24but you'd never know that it was so prolific
20:26absolutely
20:27I mean we mined 20 different commercial minerals here
20:30and through 400 years we created and dug out these minerals
20:34created fabulous wealth and employment
20:38in 1900
20:40half the male population
20:42was working in mining
20:44that's incredible isn't it
20:45it is
20:46well it just so happens I have
20:47a very good sample of what was here
20:50and it was lead
20:52you carried lead in your backpack Ian
20:55just specially for you
20:56blimey
20:57well I have to say thank you
20:58because the one thing I do know is
20:59it's going to be heavy
21:01there we are
21:02this is the lead here
21:04whoa
21:05lead was used for
21:08well many different things
21:10windows
21:12church roofs
21:14lead piping
21:16but most important of all probably
21:18musket balls and bullets
21:20how much lead was mine?
21:22well literally thousands of tons
21:24probably round about 50 to 70,000 tons in the 1850s
21:28now within the lead there was silver
21:31and the silver belonged to Queen Elizabeth the first
21:34and all the silver went down to the Royal Mint
21:38I'm going to let you hold that
21:39oh thank you
21:40because it's heavy
21:41and the silver went down to the Royal Mint
21:44and was turned into coin
21:46another valuable mineral
21:48copper
21:49absolutely
21:50and that is really why the German miners were here
21:57this is the copper that the Germans came to mine
22:00it just looks like gold
22:01it does doesn't it
22:02sadly it isn't
22:04and what we're going to do with it
22:06was to de-silver our coinage
22:08Queen Elizabeth desperately needed more money
22:11and the problem was
22:13that our little rogues and vagabonds
22:15were nicking literally our silver coinage
22:18they were clipping it
22:19so it was getting smaller and smaller
22:21the idea was to take some copper
22:2315%
22:25put it in the coinage
22:27and that would then give her
22:29the 10 or the 15%
22:31silver back into the coffers
22:34and that would then go into armaments
22:36and defence of the realm
22:38so it was very very important
22:40she could recoup her losses
22:42Ian thank you very much
22:43thank you
22:44can I keep that as a momentum?
22:45sure of course you can
22:46oh thank you very much beautiful
22:52nowhere in the whole of the lakes
22:53is there a better example of how the old industry of mining
22:56has been replaced by the new industry of tourism
23:00where once we'd have been looking at the filthy miners
23:02trudging their way up to the various shafts and workings
23:05we now see similar hordes of people
23:07walking the fells for fun
23:09no wonder the paths and the stones are so worn
23:14cat bells has been witness to the full onslaught of lake district industry for centuries
23:23silence is always more profound in places where there was once noise
23:28oh look now you see for some reason when you're up on the top of this felt
23:41you don't expect to see the sheep
23:43but there they are
23:45it just doesn't seem wild enough for them
23:51I'll follow them
23:54the path along this ridge is straight and uncomplicated
23:57you've got terrific views of the valleys on one side
24:00look out across the water on the other side
24:02and straight ahead the path just goes all the way to the summit
24:05and sometimes that's really satisfying
24:07especially when you've got a tired body and achy legs
24:15it's possible to find quiet anywhere in the lakes
24:19even on a fell as popular as this
24:22and so close to the busy town of Keswick
24:36this is the valley that houses Little Town
24:37which as Frank told us is where Miss Tiggy Winkle lives
24:40Beatrix Potter, rabbits, that kind of thing
24:42the profile of cat bells even featured as an illustration
24:49in one of Beatrix Potter's children's books
24:55but with the summit back in sight I'm almost at the end
24:58and it's the final push to reach the top
25:00the summit cone is reached by a final rocky stairway
25:12which is heavily eroded where walkers have sought out easier routes up
25:16almost mirroring the internal scars of this old industrial landscape
25:20as you get closer to the top
25:35you begin to understand what Wainwright meant
25:37when he said it isn't as innocuous as it first looks
25:40Oh, last scramble for the top
26:01Cat Bells is so appealing and offers so much
26:03that it's reputation predates even AW
26:06he was powerless to make much of an impact here
26:09simply because this fell's popularity was already well established
26:15Hey, hey!
26:20Wow, the summit's not what you expect at all
26:27I thought it'd be grassy and it's all rugged rock underfoot
26:31and it's small
26:32I think this is the smallest summit I've been on
26:37Small summit, big views
26:39Big views
26:50The summit, which has no cairn
26:53is a small platform of naked rock
26:56light brown in colour
26:58and seamed and pitted with many tiny hollows and crevices
27:02that collect and hold rainwater
27:04so that long after the skies have cleared
27:06glittering diamonds dawn the crown
27:16Almost all of the native vegetation
27:18has been scoured away by the varied foot gear
27:21of countless visitors
27:23That often, it is difficult to find a vacant perch
27:27In the summer, it is not a place to seek quietness
27:32It's a very different sense of achievement from conquering one of the big Lakeland fells
27:45I mean, you can get to the top of Catbells in under an hour
27:49Or it can be the pinnacle of a grand family day out
27:52Either way, when you are here
27:53You get the full flavour of the Lake District
27:57For young and old
27:59The joy of Catbells is in its accessibility
28:04A simple fell that offers it all
28:08Lake, town, nearby fells
28:11Impressive views with distant panoramas
28:13A great walk
28:15And an occasional scramble
28:17Catbells has been a favourite in Keswick
28:20Since the dawn of fell walking
28:22And today, it is easy to see why
28:24So now, I am going to head down in the sunshine
28:26The perfect ending
28:28To what Wainwright called a truly lovely walk
28:30Lovely walk