High Street - Pooley Bridge to Windermere (★★★★☆)

Looking out for some new walks to do, I came across the old High Street roman path which runs from Brougham Fort near Penrith and Ambleside - passing alongside Ullswater on the way. Being familiar with both Ullswater and Windermere this seemed like an attractive route to walk along.

And so the day before the intended walk I head out by train to Penrith and then pop on the bus to Pooley Bridge - my intended start for the walk. I perhaps could have started in Penrith itself but the writeups on that section didn't seem as exciting so instead I headed direct to Pooley Bridge and had a potter about Ullswater the evening before.

Staying right at the top of Pooley Bridge in the Crown Inn (highly recommended for any visits as its pretty relaxed, a nice place to stay and has good food), in the morning I head out from here and out along the road heading east - up out of Pooley Bridge, up into the hills above.

Following along the track that continues on from the end of this road, there is a bit of a climb up before the path joins up with the indicated course of the old High Street roman road.

The view climbing out of Pooley Bridge from the night before

Although the visibility is good in the above photo, that was from the night before, and while walking out the clouds are sitting low and there isn't as much to be seen. As a result the pictures are slightly more focused on the later part of the day, when it was actually possible to see something other than a cloudy sky.

Having found the High Street, I initially follow the indicated route, before a turn off that should have appeared on the right never appeared and so from here I follow the nearest track heading generally in the right direction. However, finding a local I'm able to confirm that you are able to pick up the course from a later point and that it does indeed feed through okay to Windermere.

In order to learn this I did - however - have to listen to lots of advice about going for walks and a long explanation about how it will be very far - which I did listen to politely despite the slightly patronising tone.

Having successfully managed to do rejoin the intended route of the path, everything becomes a bit more straight-forward and to make it easier another walker passes ahead of me while I stop for an early break, which means that I have someone to follow, who I hope is heading in the same direction and knows where they are going.

From here the path is continuing to climb up and on a clear day would presumably have some lovely views over the lake - as it is the views are of clouds, clouds and more clouds. But, having cleared the end of Ullswater (without actually seeing it yet 😣) the path goes over the top of Loadpot Hill and then begins a section that is getting increasingly boggy.

As the path heads on and as I clear Wether Hill, the clouds shift for long enough for photos to begin for the day.

The first photo of the day just past Wether Hill - just catching Ullswater in the distance

Without the views (which I'm pretty sure are amazing on a clear sunny day) I've mostly just been looking at clouds above and yellowing grass below, but having cleared Red Crag, Raven Howe and reached High Raise there is a also bit more to now see looking forwards.

Looking forward from High Raise

Despite the not so great visibility, and although the route is quite marshy and appears not particularly well traveled - the path ahead has been clear and easy to follow and the tracks seem to be well used by farmers as access tracks - keeping the route clear and obvious.

But as I start to think that me and my fellow walker (who I have by this point lost somewhere along the way) are the only people out today, I start to all of a sudden come across a mass of walkers heading out along a path below.

By this point I seem to have got far enough south for the walkers coming up from the car parks on the A592 to start to appear - and it is a bit of a shock to transition so quickly from a bleak and empty spot to such a steady stream of hikers out for the day.

Heading south from High Raise, I reach Rampsgill Head, where it is possible to see that the path ahead continues on via a much narrower strip of land along the Straights of Riggindale.

The path ahead crosses a natural bridge between Hayeswater to the west and the becks down to Haweswater to the east

A closer view

By this point visibility is much better, and while I'm not a massive fan of walking along the edge of steep ridges, this one actually is a lot more pleasant to walk across than it looks from afar - and the views either side are pretty good too, although having chosen the more rightward path, my best views are out over Hayeswater.

Looking down to Hayeswater

The same view further along

Following along the Straights of Riggindale, the path passes Raceourse Hill and then bends rounds slightly to the west via Thornthwaite Crag - where I stop for a well needed rest, having only just got back to doing longer walks after a bit of a hamstring tear earlier in the year. 

By this point it is actually getting fairly cold, despite it being late August - mostly because there is a fairly strong wind coming across - although that is the same wind that has been moving the clouds away to give me views through the second half of the day.

Next up the path splits with one route heading up to Froswick, while the High Street route heads down the valley into Troutbeck Park which is where I will be going.

The path splits with one route staying left to follow the hills with the High Street dropping into the valley below

The descent into the valley below is a long one, but while it looks like the path should be pretty steep, the route is actually a pretty straight-forward one - which is a welcome bit of knowledge because going downhill is my biggest issue with a recovering leg. As a result the going is bit slow dropping down into the valley, with quite a few breaks, but after a long period of descent, the route flattens out and turns into a very flat and easy walk along the base of the valley.

Down in the valley

Although the descent was a bit of work to get through, the valley is really pretty to walk along and offers a nice contrast after a day of walking on the more rugged and more spectacular - but perhaps less  pretty - hills along the top.

Further along the valley

Heading along the valley the route is pretty straight-forward, but before the stream I'm following (the Hagg Gill) heads off to join Trout Beck, I cross over and stick on the path continuing to head more directly south and rejoin the road near the imaginatively named Jesus Church.

Jesus Church

From here there is a bit of a path alongside the road or else you get returned to a pavement that is fairly pleasant to walk along - and not sure which is the best way to walk, I opt to continue to head along the road (instead I probably should have turned off shortly after the church and then headed round to Windermere via Orrest Head).

As it is the road route is not too bad and having past Windermere school, I turn off through High Hay Wood and Elleray Bank on a route I have used before on a previous visit - and on to the station at Windermere (near which I am staying for the night in the similarly imaginatively named Windermere Hotel - clearly they used the same guy to come up with the name as the one who named Jesus Church).

The hotel is delightfully old fashioned - and stuck in a belief that it is where all the posh people go, whilst obviously being a little bit run down and instead a place for smelly people like me, turning up at the end of a long walk. Instead it was the much more casual Crown Inn at Pooley Bridge that despite being very welcoming to all comers, felt a lot more posh. 

Indeed the information guide informs me that I must be smartly dressed for dinner and must not wear shorts - but as it is a large and not particularly busy hotel, it is a perfect choice at the end of a long day when I just want to head to a quiet room and get some sleep. I did not really fancy the caviar and boiled goose anyway 😆.

The following day I have a bit of a potter around Windermere, on what is a much nicer day and then head back to the train station to head home for the day.

Orrest Head (Windermere)

Windermere

Another viewpoint in Windermere

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ★ / 5

UPDATE - A writeup of another walk that also joins up with Windermere can be found here - walking Burneside to Ambleside via Bowness.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 90 OS Landranger map (Windermere itself is very slightly off map - and is included on 96 or 97 maps) (links redirect to Amazon). The route is not particularly well way-marked on this occasion and some parts of the original route must be worked around (I didn't run into any trouble finding the route however).