Old Man of Coniston

The Old Man of Coniston rises straight from the back of the village, and the direct route up it, past Church Beck and the tarn at Low Water, is one of the most heavily used paths in the southern Lakes. It is also one of the more industrial: the lower slopes are pitted with the remains of copper and slate workings, quarried on and off from the sixteenth century into the twentieth, and the path threads between spoil heaps and old level entrances rather than open fellside.

Fix the Fells counts this path among its priorities; the partnership of the National Trust, the Lake District National Park, Natural England and Friends of the Lake District has rebuilt more than 400km of Lakeland path since 2001. Above Low Water the gradient steepens and the ground turns to scree and broken rock for the final climb to the ridge, from where it is a short walk to the summit cairn at 802m. On a clear day the view takes in Coniston Water directly below and the Scafell range to the north. Most walkers return the same way, though fitter parties often extend the day along the ridge to Brim Fell, Swirl How and Wetherlam, turning a there-and-back into a full round of the valley’s western skyline.

Old mine shafts, some fenced and some not, lie close to the main path in several places, and are worth keeping children and dogs away from rather than treating as a curiosity. The scree sections above Low Water are loose enough underfoot to slow an inexperienced walker considerably, which is worth building into any time estimate.

This is a proper mountain day, not a valley stroll, and it does not suit anyone hoping for a short there-and-back with a view at the end reached in an hour or two; the view here is earned over several hours of steady, at times strenuous, climbing.