Raven Crag

A picturesque little fell - full of character and charm.

I parked on the roadside near Bridge End Farm, which is ideal for a stroll across Thirlmere Dam on the approach to Raven Crag.

I used to go further along this lane - but for now it is closed off to cars by United Utilities due to safety issues on the lakeside road.

Looks like it will be closed for a long time - these look fairly permanent.

But at least you get to stroll across the dam without worrying about cars. It's certainly a nice peaceful and very quiet walk, so many photos taken here as it's so picturesque and serene.

Looking Southwards on Thirlmere.

Spotted these two old chaps slowly clambering there way over the reservoir exposed rocks. Surely, they can't have planned their walk with this in mind. I wondered what they were up to? and stood around for a few minutes to make sure they were okay and then, when satisfied that they were fine, I pressed on.

Tree topped Raven Crag - minus quite a few trees I may add compared to previous visits.

1890 !! Didnt realise it was that old (130 years!) They certainly were good engineers - I wonder if they also had 'Point of Work Risk Assessments' and Human Factor considerations - I bet not!! A lovely piece of engineering all the same.

I used to park here, but it's all quiet today. I didn't realise at the time, but you can still get here by car by using the small turning on the A591 slightly further up the dual carriageway from the one I took at Bridge End farm. But as I said earlier, it's a lovely walk across the dam and one that is worth including in the route to Raven Crag - so all's well.

The left turn for the start of the climb up Raven Crag. Just a bit further on is a few free car parking spaces for anyone who wants to reduce this walk still further.

Seems strange to be walking up Raven Crag without being enclosed by trees.

Straight ahead as forestry tracks are occasionally crossed on the way up.

A brief look back through the now open terrain, which is littered with tree stumps, to see the grandeur of Thirlmere.

More open areas as the climb steepens slightly. Short and sweet I would say - Enough to get you puffing and panting a bit, but over in no time.

A view over to 'The Dodds'

Following storm damage (I think it was Storm Desmond), major tree removal operations have been undertaken to make it much safer for walkers. One particular visit to this fell about 7 years ago, I was unable to get to the summit as there were fallen trees intertwined all over the place at this spot. I did make it eventually but had to go an 'off-path' route from the west to get there. As you can clearly see, there are no such problems now.

The luxury of a wooden staircase.

A really beautiful view of Thirlmere awaits at the top - You don't need to go super high to get views like these.

I think this is the only fell in the Lake District that has a visitor's viewing gallery.

After a ten-minute chat with other walkers at the top - I started to make my way back down the engineered staircase.

I decided to take the same route back down, I did consider following the forestry track Northwards and around 'The Benn' to Smaithwaite, and back that way - but opted against it, as I had one more small fell to visit before I called it a day.