Year: 2017

During the Coniston Walking Weekend 10-12 March 2017, it was wonderful meeting new guests coming on their first Country Adventures guided walking holiday, together with people on their multiple Country Adventures walking trip. That's what always makes our waking tours special, the chance to introduce new walkers to some magical places, and seeing good friends from previous tours. The Old Man of Coniston was our first mountain guided walk of the weekend. Standing at 803 metres above sea level, Coniston Old Man is as synonymous with the history and heritage of the Lake District, as Kendal Mint cake is. Alfred Wainwright said it best (1958), "Best known of the Coniston fells is the Old Man, a benevolent giant revered by generations of walkers." Wainwright was absolutely right, and whilst there are higher and more strenuous Wainwright Lake District mountain summits to tackle, Coniston Old Man is a classic walk, with waterfalls, hidden mountain tarns, remnants of the famous Coniston Copper Mines and stunning viewpoints. And in spite of not having clear blue skies for the day's hike, there is so much to enjoy and see at close hand on this walk, on good mountain footpaths and trails. It's a pleasant, steady walk from the centre of Coniston village, up alongside Church Beck where you'll occasionally find Country Adventures groups gorge scrambling and canyoning down waterfalls. The walking route reaches the Miners Bridge and from there, the old copper mining landscape is laid out in front of you with distinctive slate quarry houses and mounds of slate deposits. It's a tranquil setting, perfect for outdoor enthusiasts, all very different activity from the 16th and early 20th century when it was a working landscape, as miners mined the rich deposits of copper deep in the mountains. The beauty about the walk, is that you get to see dismantled machinery and tunnels in the mountainside, reminding all that see it, that this is the heritage of Coniston and an important time in the history of Cumbria. Reaching the summit of Coniston