WALK WINDERMERE & HAWKSHEAD

WALK WINDERMERE & HAWKSHEAD with Bill Birkett

There are twenty walks described in this guidebook. Stretching for some eleven miles, with a breadth approaching one mile at its widest, Windermere is the longest lake in England. Poets, authors and artists who knew its special qualities include the famous Beatrix Potter, Arthur Ransome and William Wordsworth.  Surrounding the lake is an intriguing mixture of high and low fells, woodland, hidden valleys and secretive tarns and lakes. From the high fells above the valley of Troutbeck, by the quaint stone village of Hawkshead,  to the stunning beauty of Tarn Hows, this guidebook offers a mixture of routes of varying length and difficulty. Here you will find waterfalls and woods, paths through quarries and ancient byways passing by farm, cottage and over stone arch packhorse bridge. The walks are all circular and whatever the season or prevailing weather (within reason of course - be sensible) there is a choice of routes here to delight most people.

The walks selected offer a balanced range of difficulty and duration from easy valley and lakeside outings, with local cafes never far away, walks over moderate hills to very difficult routes over the high fells.  Each walk is presented on a double-page spread with a route summary, a walk description, a clear map outlining the walk, a Fact File box, and photographs illustrating the walk. The Fact File gives you an instant reference to what you need to know about the walk:  CLASS  (Valley, Low Fell, Intermediate Fell or High Fell), LENGTH, TIME (the expected time it will take for a walker of average fitness and ability), DIFFICULTY (Easy, Mildly Difficult, Difficult and Very Difficult), START & FINISH (the location with Ordnance Survey map reference), Maps (the numbers of the Ordnance Survey maps that cover the walk - L is at the scale of !:50,000 and OL is at the larger scale of 1:25,000), HOSTELRIES which detail inns and cafes to be found on or nearby the walk.

They say one photograph is worth a thousand words and within this book, there are a number of additional photographs, of or taken on, a featured walk. Each has been chosen to reflect the sublime beauty and variety of the walk and the area. All photographs are captioned and referenced on page [ii].
The ring-binding keeps the guidebook flat in your pocket and always allows it to open on the page of your chosen walk.

All web purchased books are individually signed by Bill Birkett. And they can also be individually endorsed - simply send an instruction on checkout.
Should you manage all the walks in this book then you can justifiably claim to know a little about this particular and special area. Should you manage all the walks in the whole range of Walk the Lakes guidebooks then you have done very well indeed. But remember this: in the Lake District every season is different, every day is different and each fleeting moment of light is different. On these walks, you will see many magical moments of light and form. Even if you should do a single walk a hundred times on each occasion it will be a separate and markedly different experience.

The CONTENTS page
There are two overall area maps included in this guidebook. One map will be seen on the BACK COVER and one on the CONTENTS page. Each map number references each individual walk. Additionally, on the CONTENTS page each walk is colour coded (Valley Walk, Low Fell Walk, Intermediate Fell Walk, High Fell Walk,) and its length, expected duration, and grade of difficulty are listed. So much information at one glance will help you choose a suitable walk to suit both your particular ambitions and the prevailing conditions.

CHANGES TO THE ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
Please note that these guidebooks are frequently reviewed and updated and you may find that both written and photographic content may vary to that illustrated.