On our walk to Holme Fell and Black Fell on Sunday I said to Olivia she could pick any of the fells she saw and if she fancied it we would visit there sometime in the holiday. Olivia pointed towards Wetherlam saying it looked interesting. We were really pleased as we had not visited there before and we always love to visit new areas to us as well as revisit places. 

We were really pleased when Andrew Leaney joined us for the day as his amazing knowledge of the Lakeland Fells always guarantees a good day and he will know a good route to follow too. We met at Tilberthwaite and the first thing I did was look at a sculpture, named The Tilberthwaite Touchstone, that artist Andy Goldsworthy created in a pre-existing sheepfold. It pays homage to the skills of former quarrymen in this area, with slate detailing in the centre of each of its four sides. Looking up at Wetherlam from here certainly gave me an idea of what was to come during the day ahead.

Andrew suggested one of the best routes to take would be to follow Steel Edge.  Although looking up at it from below it appeared a bit daunting, it really doesn’t pose any problems. I know James thoroughly enjoyed any chance he could get to do some extra scrambling over the rocks. Olivia I think surprised herself at what she achieved and I know she grew in confidence once she realised we were not going to take her anywhere she wouldn’t be comfortable. Soon enough we had reached the top of the ridge and then realised the actual summit was still a bit of a walk but it was now mostly flat and wasn’t a problem.
 

The forecast wasn’t that brilliant and in the end it turned out to be a nice day; however the clouds just didn’t seem to be lifting much above 2,500 feet. This was a shame as there really are some good views to be had but we were going to be denied them on this day. So once at Wetherlam summit Andrew suggested a few options and the one that appealed to us most was to visit the summit of Black Sails, a subsidiary summit on Wetherlam, and then make our way to Coppermines Valley and have a look around there. We’d then return over Wetherlam to Tilberthwaite later in the day.

We enjoyed our lunch sitting by Levers Water with the sun breaking through the clouds now and again but we were very pleased the showers we had seen passing over Coniston Water had not reached us and it looked like it would now stay dry for the rest of the day. We enjoyed walking through Coppermines Valley and getting a close look at the waterfalls in Levers Water Beck and some of the old mine levels.
 

Now the only problem during the day was just how do you convince your legs it’s time to go up again when you have been going down for a while?  Mine took a lot of convincing that they now had to start climbing back up again out of Coppermines Valley, passing many disused quarries on the way.  Eventually though the slope was behind us and we had crossed the ridge and were making our way back down towards Tilberthwaite.  We were also keen to get back to our starting point as during the day we had been getting messages from the rest of the family who had been travelling up to the Lakes by train during the day so we needed to meet up with them.  

     


When I asked James and Olivia which day from our holiday they had enjoyed most they both said this day certainly was one of the best ones.  I can’t believe we had never visited Wetherlam before now as it is a really interesting fell and having Andrew’s company today was brilliant for introducing us to the area and showing us so many interesting features.  Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to walk with us Andrew.