Holme Fell & Tarn Hows circular walk

Tarn Hows Car Park - Even more pleasant now that I'm a National Trust member again !

Paul treat me to a coffee and a slice of carrot cake as we prepared to set off on this reasonably gentle 6 mile walk.

Friendly chaps - all very used to walkers and couples around here.

The path from the car park as we head down towards the beauty spot.

Our first look at the tarn as we admire the natural beauty of the area.

Very quiet and serene as we briefly walk along the shoreline on the well maintained path.

Leaving Tarn Hows at a left turn.

We follow the path alongside Tom Gill as we head for Glen Mary Car Park

Passing Tom Gill waterfalls along the way as we head downwards.

We didn't actually get to the car park at Glen Mary, but followed the path to the right at the bottom which went parallel to the road.

A hop, skip and a jump over the road and we arrive at Yew Tree Tarn.

Even time for me to pose for photographs.

A rare moment of me being captured on film, I limit such photos as I don't want to put folk off from visiting this site.

There's the magical gate that leads you safely towards Holme Fell.

I noticed a part broken wall and damaged fencing a few yards back. I reckon some folk have panicked and gone through there in the past and it's now becoming a route onto the fell. But this is the easiest way to go for sure.

We stopped for a while and observed how the trees shed the lower branches in a race to the top. Bit of a branch graveyard actually.

A bit of ascent as we begin to reach the Uskdale Gap.

I didn't take a photo of the gap - it's nothing to be concerned about, just a nice gradual ascent through a wide ravine of sorts.

"There's my house over there" shouts Paul

As we both enjoyed the lovely views from the top of Holme Fell.

Straight over the top and picking up a downward path towards the small tarn (or as listed a 'reservoir' ?)

The impressive Hodge Close Quarries.

We stopped for a while here to admire the views and had a hot drink and a snack. It's hard to capture the eeriness of this place with the vertical drops down to the still water - quite un-nerving when you stand right at the edge.

Picking up the track towards Oxen Fell

High Oxen Fell farm

Lingmoor in the distance.

Arriving at the crossroads (of sorts) with the busy little Coniston to Ambleside road.

15 minutes later we arrived back at Tarn Hows - it was later in the day and surprisingly quiet for such a pleasant afternoon.

To be fair, it was only 6 miles and in reality a gentle walk, but we still felt we deserved a treat.

A lovely pint (and day out) too.