BB1112 : Five Unknown Tarns

11th May 2011

Stan, another of us on the comeback trail from ailments, wanted something gentle this week so I suggested a circuit of five tarns I had spotted on the map.   These are just six miles from where I live but I had never visited any of them- or even paid any attention to them on paper for that matter!

No-one else was available so it was just the two of us.  If I told you we parked at Icornshaw my betting is you will never have heard of it so to help you identify the location, travel down the A65 past the Plough at Lupton, take the next road on the left, keep right at the next junction and same again just after the intriguingly named Carlingwha.

Our first objective was Tarnhouse Tarn.  This involved heading north west along a track to Pant End then joining the road that led up past High Row Farm to Tinkler Bank and there it was on the left hand side.

Tarnhouse Tarn

Lupton Reservoir was harder to spot.  It is not much further on, along Green Lane but shrouded in trees for most of its length.

Next, we had to travel a short section of the B6254- the back road from Kendal to Kirkby Lonsdale- and after Barkin House we turned east.

We passed over the fell to Wyndhammere, which is rather smaller than its one time actual and now phonetic namesake!  Three down.

Wyndhammere

The path on the far side was supposed to go through a wood but there was no sign of it on the ground and the terrain was difficult underfoot so we took advantage of where a tree had fallen to break the fence to escape along the edge of the field wall.

Once again heading east with a northern interlude along the Old Scotch Road, the fourth tarn was Kitmere but the owners don’t want you to see it.  Our apologies for trespassing but we did not damage and took only these photos.

Kitmere

Continuing east, a fine view opened up over the Lune Valley with Middleton Fell opposite us.  The sun was threatening to come out so we stopped for lunch.

Lunch stop, looking over to Middleton Fell

Next we dropped down through a mighty fine display of bluebells to arrive at Rigmaden Park for a team photo with the stunning rhododendrons by the missing gate.  From here, our route lay south westerly to Old Town with its mysterious seemingly abandoned big house.

Tarn number five, Terrybank Tarn, is a bit further south and found by taking a track from the road over the hill to the southeast.  First you pass Woodside which is a house rather less pretigeous than Rigmadan Hall!  In its grounds, however, we found a strange sculpture.  At first we thought it was a large stone.  Then we realised it was man made. Finally we discovered its real purpose!  Click on the picture for a clue!

It was a disappointment to discover at Terrybank Tarn that, again, the visitor is not really made very welcome!

Terrybank Tarn

From here, it was a relatively short stroll across the fields to Tosca and along the road to Icornshaw and the car.

The whole was a surprisingly pleasant round but the lack of access to and knowledge about the tarns was a little frustrating.  We should have had our tarn expert with us.

Tony- we are relying on you to provide us with the background information about these places, together with accounts of the fish that you have captured in them.  Legitimately, of course!

Don, 11th May 2011

STATISTICS:

BOOTboys routes ares now being put online in gpx format which should work with most mapping software. You can follow our route in detail by downloading BB1112.

To see which Wainwright top was visited on which BB outing see
Which Wainwright When?

For the latest totals of the mileages and heights see: BB Log.

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Archive

2011 Outings

BB1101 :
Wasnfell Revisited
Tuseday 11th January

BB1102 :
Recuperation Scar!
Thursday 17th February

BB1103 :
A Promenade of Pensioners
Thursday 24th February

BB1104 :
The B Team
Thursday 3rd March

BB1105 :
A Little Bit Of Wind
Thursday 10th March

BB1106 :
A Linthwaite Round
Thursday 17th March

BB1107 :
Home From The Pulpit
Thursday 24th March

BB1108 :
Taking The Brunt
Thursday 31st March

BB1109 :
Up The Spout
Wednesday 6th April

BB1110 :
Not The Royal Wedding
Friday 29th April

BB1111 :
Kentmere Parts 1 & 2
Thursday 5th, Saturday 7th May

BB1112 :
Five Unknown Tarns
Wednesday 11th May

BB1113 :
Gurnal Dubbs Revisited
Thursday 19th May

 Click on the photos
for an enlargement
or related large picture.

 Wainwrights

To see which Wainwright
top was visited on which
BB outing see Which Wainwright When?.

To download a log of heights and miles and which Wainwrights have been done by which BOOTboy in the "modern" era, i.e. since the advent of BOOTboys
click on BB Log.