Lingmoor Fell & Blea Tarn

23rd May 2010

Blackpool in the Premiership eh,..I still cant believe it.

Today was the day I’d promised Owen my son we’d do a walk together in the lakes & I’d been putting the poor lad off for weeks up to doing Ben Nevis as I wanted to get some hard training in, so it was up to me to pick a couple of fells & then run pass the boss (Owen) a few came up in the form off Eagle Crag, Sergeants Crag & so on, something under 500 Mtrs that I know Owen could cope more than well with, (I sometimes forget he’s still only 10yrs old) & I don’t really want to put him in any danger plus the fact I want him to get familiar with the fells & walking conditions before I throw him in the deep end, anyway Langdale, or Little Langdale  in our case is a place I don’t always find myself in, well for now anyway, so what better chance than a scorching Sunday afternoon than to spend a day at one of, if not Lakelands most beautiful tarn that is Blea Tarn & maybe bag another Wainwright for the pair of us

 

Wainwright Guidebook

The Southern Fells

 

 

Overview
Ascent: 1,530 Ft  469 Mtrs
Wainwrights: 1 Lingmoor Fell
Weather: Lows of 17 Degrees, Clear Blue Skies, Little Gusty On Tops Highs of 26 Degrees
Parking: Off Road Parking
Area: Southern
Miles: 3.1
Walking With: Owen Sharkey
Ordnance Survey: OL6
Time Taken:  
Route:  
 

Map and Photo Gallery

 
 

 

The start of our walk & totally unplanned I might add! was to ascend Rake Rigg rather than take the easy route towards Blea Tarn.


 

Looking back on Side Pike, our would be final fell for the day.


 

And looking straight up the throat of Mickleden, The Band, Rossett Pike & The Langdale Fells.


 

Owen making easy work of it!


 

It tickled me the way the way this young lamb wagged its tail every time it went for drink from its mother, so for making me laugh I’m including its photo!


 

Almost at the top of Rake Rigg when Blea Tarn comes in to view, together with our next ascent Lingmoor Fell, our path takes us right through the woods & we were both looking forward to that just to get a little shade.


 

What is it about walking through wooded areas just gives you that feeling of being a kid again.


 
 

 

The little wooden bridge crossing Blackmoss Beck.


 

Side Pike & Blea Tarn as we stop for a quick sandwich & cold drink, & its at this point we realised that one of the two litres of water Owen was carrying has now emptied its self at the bottom of his backpack no worries Owen,.I always carry plenty.


 

On a day like today, in fact all year round Blea Tarn had got to be one of the most admired Tarns amongst Fell walkers, mmm, maybe except for the extremely loud kids throwing rocks & screaming at the tops of there voices, I quote Derek out of our workshop “The things you see when you don’t have a gun” ha!


 

Our second ascent of the day Lingmoor, the path is found right at the side of the car park & can be reached quite easily.


 

Just beautiful.


 

And from a little further up & this time with Crinkle Crags & Bow Fell in the background.


 

And looking South East, Wetherlam, Great Carrs, Swirl How & Wet Side Edge.


 

I wouldn’t say this was a tough gradient but the heat sure made it that way.


 

And towards the south of the summit Brown How complete with ruins .


 

Lingmoor Summit Cairn.


 

Looking down into the hamlet of Chapel Stile.


 

And Lingmoor Tarn & Oak Crag from the summit plateau .


 
And its basically a case of following the wall to our last summit Side Pike

 

The path snakes round to what I can only describe as a dead end, I’d just watched three teenagers struggle there way around  this outcrop of rock, if you follow the path there is a gap big enough in-between the rock & the cliff face for a smaller person if possibly you removed your pack, I didn’t quite fancy Owen on the steep incline come steps (lower left) but he proved me wrong! in fact it was me who stalled on the third step in.


 
Owen, showing me the way

 

It couldn’t get much better than this, LtoR, Pike O’ Stickle, Loft Crag, Thorn Crag, Harrison Stickle, Pavey Ark & finally the small outcrop of pointed rock is Sergeant Man.


 

Side Pike Summit Cairn.


 

The Band, Oxendale & Mickleden seen centre overshadowed by Crinkle Crags, Bow Fell & Esk Pike.


 

Heading back down towards the car, what a fantastic days walking back to Wigan now for some much needed after sun!




 

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