Tilberthwaite and Yewdale –Bruno Bags Big Bunch of Bijoux But Beautiful Birketts

Me and the Dawg have had this plan to bag a well bunched group of unbagged Birketts which are gathered around the foot of Wetherlam and the plan was to do it later this year with the Bro. But, monny a plot gangs aglay as they say in Corby and, as neither of us had any important plans for today, apart from the dog, who generously cancelled some afternoon snoozing on the settee, and the forecast was for “sunny”  and the knipemobile had some petrol in it, and (there’s more…) I had a fresh mars bar  and some new bananas, on a whim, we set off stupidly early this morning  and parked in the free car park (yes, folks, that’s a free car park in the Lake District!) at Tilberthwaite.
Quite soon after this, we found ourselves lurching and sweating up the dangerously congested contours which interfere with fast and comfortable progress towards Greenburn.








After crossing a huge stile, and plodging a bog, we were soon enjoying the vista from the top of Birkett #1 – Great Intake.
Great Intake is a beautiful rocky dome overlooking the Langdales and is occupied by a small herd of Highland cattle – presumably for their assistance in preserving the right kind of vegetation.
I suspect that “Great Intake” is more likely to be the name of the enclosure than the hill. It makes little sense as a name for a hill….!
Onwards and sideways!

Next up was Birkett #2 – High Fell, which was back over the big stile – rocky and sporadically wooded with Scots Pine – quickly followed by Birkett #3 Hawk Rigg and Birkett #4 Haystacks – also beautifully wooded and defended by crags. Quite good fun so far – and each of these tops is less than 400 metres from the others, although each has a short but steep climb and a small and well- defined top.
The final top for the morning was Birkett #5 Blake Rigg – a more rounded summit with good views over Coniston.
We retraced a bit and found the path to Tilberthwaite Gill and, after some brief shenanigans caused by a small time/space continuum accident somewhere out in space which resulted in a brief period of dislocation from Ordnance Survey, we lunched in the sun by some old mine workings.

There now came a long (ish) walk South up on to Coniston Moor where we were soon bagging Birkett #6 Kitty Crag. Bruno was disappointed not to find any pussycats there, but enjoyed the extensive view of the West face of Coniston Old man.

Birkett #7 Long Crag was just a few hundred metres away, and a bit further was the pointy and rocky top of Birkett #8 High Withow. A  dreamy snoozietime was declared here. This was possibly an hour or so. I mean, who cares, really……  We were chastised by what appeared to be a wheatear and mocked by two ravens but the snooze went on. There’s far too much rushing about goes on y’know…

Eventually, it was time for Birkett #9 – Low Withow – another rocky top and finally Birkett #10 Brackeny Crag – a deliciously beautiful place, ideal for a kid’s expedition involving rock scrambling and egg sandwhiches. Brackeny Crag has lots of little rocky bays, sun traps and places to bivi. Its an ideal place for contemplation and the cleansing of belly buttons from the blue fluff….
And then, after another bit of a sit-about, it was time to descend. I’m afraid, readers, that at this point, I became quite lost. I ended up fighting my way through a forest of juniper bushes and deep bracken. I descended rocky slabs and slithered and scutterred downhill till eventually I found a path. Don’t go this way. Paying more attention to the navigation will reap rewards, although you won’t visit places never before trodden by man like wot we did.
This is a cracking walk for days when the big hills are smothered in cloud or for people who just can’t be arsed with going up high today. It’s full of nooks and crannies (mainly crannies, though I did spot a few nooks), and little scrambly bits for those who want safe adventures – and holes in the ground…..  and places to snooze away an afternoon…. and for Birkett Baggers….
Its only 6 miles, and nearly 2000 feet of ascent. Here’s a map.  You may well be able to improve on this route