 |
 |
 |
|
Wasdale(See also Wast Water and Wasdale Head)
A visitor looking up the valley will see a panorama of majestic mountains. Yewbarrow sits on the north side of the valley, while further towards its head lies Kirkfell (climb to the top for a vista over the valley). At the head of the dale Great Gable and Napes Needle dominate the skyline. Scafell and the Pikes (behind Lingmell) lord it over all.
Much of Wasdale's land is a nature reserve in the care of the National Trust. Farmland, lakes, fells, woodland, heath, scree, bog and mire all fall under the Trust's jurisdiction.
The only other settlement in the Wasdale valley is the small community of Nether Wasdale.
The valley remained quite isolated even through the 19th century and
practiced many old folk ways. As its symbol, the Lake District National Park has adapted a stylized view of
Wasdale and Wast Water. It is truly one of England's most forbidding but outstanding views,
virtually unchanged by a century of tourism. Wasdale is off the A595 from Gosforth and then left on a minor road. Wasdale National Trust Nature Reserve National Trust campsite at Wasdale Head Wasdale Youth Hostel Photos courtesy of Ann Bowker and Tony Richard © 1997-2008 by The Cumbria Directory. Reproduction of this work in whole or in part, including images, and reproduction in electronic media, without documented permission from The Cumbria Directory is prohibited. |
|
 |
Designedand Hosted by IT-Services © 1997-2008  |
The remote valley of Wasdale is
part flat land and moorland, part dramatic fell views, and part a lake. The winding road into the
valley is a minor one and terminates at Wasdale Head.
Of dramatic impact is the desolate Wast
Water Screes, a crumbling 1500-foot high vertical wall of rock along the southern shore of the
valley's three-mile long Wast Water, England's deepest lake at 260 feet.
At the head of
the valley past the lake sits the tiny hamlet of Wasdale Head. Climbers use it as a starting
point for Scafell Pike, England's highest mountain at 3210 feet. Great Gable, Kirkfell, Pillar,
and Lingmell have their share of devotees as well.
A pack horse bridge leads to
a route over Sty Head Pass into Borrowdale. There's the attraction of the old corpse road from
Wasdale Head by Burnmoor Tarn to Eskdale. It was used when Wasdale did not have its own church,
necessitating burials at Eskdale. Another walk from Wasdale Head leads along Wast Water's south
side and over Illgill Head. The slippery screes make this an area to be wary of. A circular ridge
walk leads over Pillar, Red Pike and Scoat Fell.
The Celtic custom of driving cattle through May Day Beltane fires to ward off evil
spirits was one. Another was to not wash a baby's arms or cut its hair until it was six months
old, thus preventing it from becoming a thief.