Wainwright's Fells – Binsey

This lovely short walk to one of Wainwright's favourite lower Lakeland fells was a nice bracing walk, though my wife Lil and I both agreed it would have been a lot nicer in sunshine! The walk was my first of our regular Easter Lake District break and the first short walk Lil had joined me for.

I had chosen Binsey for Lil after reading Wainwright's description of the hill: "Binsey is the odd man out.. detached and solitary.. generally of benign appearance. Yet it is much too good to be omitted from these pages. For one thing it is a most excellent station for appraising the Northern Fells as a preliminary for their exploration. For another, it is a viewpoint of outstanding merit. For another, it possesses a grand little summit.." This glowing endorsement made Binsey the perfect choice for Lil's walk, even if the promised fair weather was 24 hours away.

We parked near a caravan site side road, crossed the A591 with care, and passed through a gate onto a muddy bridleway lined with hawthorn trees. The trees offered slight shelter from the brisk, cold wind as we wrapped up in coats and woolly hats.

The bridleway gradually ended, leading us through a gate onto Binsey proper. The climb steepened on the ascent to West Crag, gaining over 100 metres in half a kilometre. At West Crag, Lil stayed on the path while I scrambled up the crag edge before rejoining her near the top.

Reaching the exposed summit, we were hit by the full force of the gale. We crouched near the trig point and dived into the protective stone shelter. In Book Five (The Northern Fells), Wainwright's summit page features a self-portrait titled "On the top of Binsey....Prehistoric Tumulus and Ancient Briton," showing him in shirt and braces—clearly a much warmer day!

Despite the wind, the views were resplendent: the Blencathra and Skiddaw massifs stood proud to the east, with distant vistas stretching to the Scafells, the Newlands and Coledale ranges, and even Coniston further south. Bassenthwaite Lake provided a wonderful foreground. It was well worth the buffeting!

After enjoying the summit panorama, Lil left a stone on the cairn before we descended back to West Crag and followed a path into Whittas Park. Crossing lush sheep pastures, we inspected an old abandoned dwelling with a chimney and fireplace remnants at Grid Ref: NY206366, joking about a potential renovation project before joining the tarmac road.

We took a brief 100-yard detour north to inspect the Roman settlement site at Caermote. Finding no visible surface remains of the ancient invaders, we walked back along the wide verge of the A591 just as rain began to fall. Perfect timing! We had completed Wainwright's beloved Binsey and shared the magnificent sights he so admired.