Shap to Pooley Bridge – 28 May 2022
Is there a saying along the lines of Good Things Take Time? If so, then it could apply to our routes this coming Saturday on the last weekend in May. We were last in the Lake District in 2019 but the last time we finished in Pooley Bridge was in March 2013. In total, we have been to Pooley Bridge seven times previously with an almost even split between walking between Patterdale to Pooley Bridge or walking from Shap.
The village of Shap is way over to the west of what might be everyone’s idea of the Lake District but it is still within the Lake District boundaries. Walking north-west towards Pooley Bridge as two of the routes will be doing does not seem initially like the typical Lake District scenery but after crossing Haweswater Beck the scenery changes as the routes climb over Askham Fell and cross the lower slopes of the High Street range before descending to Pooley Bridge.
Both the 12-mile and 10-mile routes get off in Shap and head north-west generally keeping close to Haweswater Beck and crossing it on several occasions. After crossing the beck for the last time between the villages of Whale and Helton the routes start to climb over Askham Fell before the 10-mile route starts a descent to Pooley Bridge while the 12-mile route loops down a section of High Street before turning west for the finish.
The 11.5-mile route gets off the coach after the other two routes some 4 miles further north from Shap at the village of Hackthorpe and heads roughly southwest to make a single crossing of Haweswater Beck close to High Knipe. The route then goes further south to Bampton before going over Cockle Hill and into Heltondale. After crossing Heltondale Beck the route starts to climb over Askham Fell where it joins the 10 and 12-mile route to Pooley Bridge.
While Good Things Take Time may or my not be a saying it is certainly the title of a toe-tapping song by the Gaither Vocal Band which you can listen to on this youtube link. Part of the chorus has the words:
Don’t give up. don’t give in,
That hill was made to climb
With some food and fortitude
You will be just fine
Just remember the chorus line as you go over Askham Fell.
If you fancy a toe-tapping trip over this part of the Lake District and you would like to join us for a walk you can get in touch with us using the Contact Page of our website and you can also download the walk descriptions below and the GPX routes here.
The image for this post was taken on a walk from Askham to Patterdale in June 2013 which is roughly the far eastern side of the Lake District as the area for these routes.
