Last updated 10:40, Friday, 11 July 2008

An easy walk that ends at Hawkshead where there are various pubs and cafes.

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Hawkshead Church: The village played a major role in the local woollen industry

Map: OS Explorer map OL7.

Start: Moor Top car park in Grizedale Forest (GR SD342965).

Public transport: The X30 runs between Hawkshead and Haverthwaite, via Grizedale and Moor Top until November 2 (telephone 0871 200 2233).Refreshments: Variety of pubs and cafes in Hawkshead.

Distance: 4.4 milesTotal ascent: 718ftTime: 2.5-3 hours

Overview: A stroll across a tiny corner of the immense Grizedale Forest is followed by a walk along farm paths through lovely, rolling countryside in the South Lakes.

The route drops down into Hawkshead where you can get refreshments from any one of a large number of pubs and cafés before heading out to Howe Farm near Esthwaite Water and then climbing back up to Hawkshead Moor. Apart from a brief section after leaving the forest, all the paths are well signposted and easy to follow. There are a few short, easy climbs, the hardest of which comes near the end of the walk.

The walk: Heading into the forest, the wide forest road splits just beyond the wooden barrier. Bear right (signpost reads: “Public Bridleway Hawkshead 1¾m”). When you reach a three-way split, take the middle option – a narrower track heading gently uphill. Rejoining the forest road, turn right and then right again, almost immediately (0.4 miles from the start). At 811ft above sea level, this is the highest point on the walk.

After passing a small pool in the trees to your left, you join a wider track. Ignore a path to the right here. At the next junction, go straight across, continuing in the same direction on a narrow path through the trees.

Leaving the confines of the forest via a small gate in the boundary fence (1.15 miles from the start), you are suddenly greeted by more wide-ranging views as you follow an indistinct path beside a beck. When you reach what looks like a junction of paths, bear left across the beck and through a kissing-gate.

There is no path on the ground now, but if you start heading N, you should see a marker post just to the left of a pair of trees straight ahead. Continue N from here, aiming just to the left of a power line pole. When you reach a rough farm track, turn right and then left through a kissing-gate. Continue N, making your way towards the wall on your right, where you will pick up a narrow path leading to the road. Go through the wooden gate (1.6 miles from the start) and then through the old kissing-gate on your immediate right (signpost reads: “Public Footpath Hawkshead”).

The path soon crosses a concrete farm track and drops to a kissing-gate. It crosses a couple of small footbridges and then swings left to follow the beck downstream for a short while. Follow an electric fence until it kinks left. Now go through the awkward kissing-gate straight ahead to walk with a fence on your right.

Beyond the next kissing-gate, follow the fence on your left down to a surfaced lane, along which you turn left (2.3 miles from the start). At the bottom of Vicarage Lane, turn right to pass to the right of the Co-op, then head diagonally across the square to walk with the Market Hall Meeting Room on your left.

Enter the churchyard and, as you pass it on your left, swing right to walk below a burial area on a small hill. Leave the church grounds and head towards another gate, beyond which you turn left (signpost reads: “Public Footpath Roger Ground”). A well-defined trail leads through a series of kissing-gates to a minor road, along which you turn right (2.9 miles from the start).

Walk uphill for 100 yards – until the road bends sharp right. Turn left here, along a narrow lane (signpost reads: “Public Footpath Howe Farm”). Keep to the lane, even when it seems like you’re heading down someone’s private drive. When you reach a gate with a “private” sign on it, cross the small bridge to the right and follow the fence on your left to the farm.

As you reach the buildings, go through the gate on your left and follow the path round to the right to reach the farm track. Turn left and then right along the road.

With the little-known Esthwaite Water to your left, you walk along the road for 300 yards and then turn right along the second of two tracks running parallel with each other (3.4 miles from the start). The track soon swings left to pass to the right of a white cottage and then goes through a large gate – this time it really does enter someone’s front yard. Go through the gate to the left of the building and then walk up the rough track beside the beck.

After leaving the wooded area, follow the clearly waymarked trail, which swings left to climb the grassy hillside. Twisting and turning all the way, the path eventually leads up to High Barn (4.0 miles from the start).

You now pick up a wide vehicle track, which you follow all the way to the road. Turn right and the parking area is just on the left.

Points of interest: The woods around Grizedale used to belong to the monks of Furness Abbey, and, in the early 16th century, much of the area became a deer park. The Forestry Commission has owned the land since the 1930s.

Furness Abbey also owned much of Hawkshead, but it wasn’t until the 17th century that the settlement really began to grow as a market town. It played a major role in the local woollen industry, with pack-horses frequently crossing Windermere by ferry to get to Kendal.

Hawkshead’s old grammar school was established in 1585. Closed in 1909, one of its most famous pupils was William Wordsworth. On the walk into the village, you will pass Ann Tyson’s House, the beautiful 16th century cottage where a young Wordsworth lodged in the 1780s. It is now a guesthouse.