Day 3: Back to Burnbanks
NY403119 Follow the path to left of A592, to pass Brothers Water. At its end, follow the pavement beside the A592 to the Hartsop lane end. Turn right towards Hartsop, then in 50m take a lane left. It soon becomes a walled track, crossing Angletarn Beck by a footbridge (now going only halfway across due to damage sustained in Storm Desmond). In 600m, a small track forks up right, with a blocking boulder at its foot.
NY405145 This track slants up the valley side with great views. It crosses Stonebarrow Gill and turns uphill, with a sheepfold on the other side of the stream. As the slope eases, a cairn marks a point where seven paths converge. (One of them is the coast-to-coast longdistance route, which can be followed to Mardale Head if you start day one from there.)
NY408156 Keep ahead, due east and gently uphill, on a small swampy path. After 150m, bear right on a crossing path south-east. It works around the flank of Angletarn Pikes, crossing Freeze Beck in its dip, to reach the ridgeline of Beda Fell. Turn left down the ridgeline path to descend over small hummocks. The path levels out, then rises gently to Beda Head. NY427170 The path descends north, passing a secondary summit cairn. Near its foot, the ridgeline rises over the small rocky top called Winter Crag. Then it levels, just above the valley floor. At a bench, turn down right on a bracken path. This bends right, slanting down above a wall to reach the Martindale valley road.
NY432183 Keep ahead to pass St Martin’s Church. Just past the church, don’t take the path (right-ofway) along the fell wall. Instead, take the path rising to the right, then directly uphill. It then slants uphill again, southeast. As the slope eases above the bracken, turn up left to bag Pikeawassa, the summit point of Steel Knotts. NY440181 Take the ridge path south to rejoin the previous path. It heads up the ridgeline, keeping to right of the crest, then wanders left across the ridgeline, crossing the headwaters of Fusedale Beck to a ruin beyond. The path heads up to the left of the beck, then recrosses it. From the col, east of Gowk Hill, the path slants up southeast, turning uphill to reach the ridgeline at the top of Mere Beck.
NY452159 Cross the wide ridgeline path and head directly east, over rough grassland with some peat hags, to the slight rise of High Kop. Here, a wide, faint quad bike path heads down the wide ridgeline east. After 2km of easy, fast descent, the clearest path runs over the top of the slight rise Low Kop. It then bends down to the right, with Haweswater visible below, to a saddle (454m on Harvey’s map). Follow the track up onto the unnamed flat hump (489m) with its cairn to the right of the track.
NY487164 Descend south-east to the rocky Four Stones Hill, then head east along the tops of the drops to Haweswater. As you approach a point above Haweswater dam, drop to a grassy terrace with a faint track. Follow this until you’ve passed above Burnbanks houses. Then, turn right, to the bottom corner of the pasture. A gate leads onto Burnbanks Lane, where you turn right for a 200m walk to the car park.