Stock Ghyll Force

Stock Ghyll Force drops about 21 metres in two stages, in a V-shaped ravine a short walk from the middle of Ambleside. Britain Express calls the path well signposted from the village centre and allows ten to fifteen minutes for it, though it is a walk rather than a stroll: the ground includes steps and can be slippery and uneven, particularly after rain.

The wooded ravine is Stock Ghyll Park, one of Westmorland and Furness Council’s parks, and the council lists a disabled access point to the top viewing platform. Tourists have come since at least 1778, when Thomas West’s Guide to the Lakes sent them here, Wikipedia records. This is better treated as a short excursion from a night in Ambleside than a drive-up stop for someone passing through. Bridge House, a small seventeenth-century building that stands over the same beck lower down in the town, is a much shorter, level walk from the same starting point if the falls themselves are one step too far.

Because the ravine is enclosed by trees on both sides, there is no single compass direction to describe the view. Stock Ghyll Force is instead a self-contained, close-up waterfall scene, water dropping between mossy rock walls a few minutes’ walk from shops and cafes, which suits anyone wanting a quick, scenic break in the middle of a day based in Ambleside rather than a destination in its own right. Pushchairs and anyone unsteady on wet stone steps should go instead to Tarn Hows, which has an accessible path from its car park.