THE COCKPIT – A WINTER RIDE IN THE NORTH LAKES

 

We can make so many excuses for ourselves at this point in the new year however here at Wheelbase we’re starting the year as we mean to go on, as we know at some point in the not too distant future it’s undoubtedly going to get warmer, this is what keeps us turning the cranks during these wet, dark and cold winter months.

 

For our latest riding adventure we started at the small village of Askham; you may or may not be familiar with it? Perhaps what is better-known is actually situated very nearby, the 17th century Lowther Castle is a popular destination for visitors to the Lake District and the surrounding North Lakes area. To the west we have another quaint village called Pooley Bridge, sitting at the north of Ullswater; it’s popular for its steam cruisers and its view of the third highest mountain in the Lake District, Helvellyn.

 

Now, upon browsing the popular Komoot App whilst looking for some ride-route inspiration I saw this ride and thought to myself “why is this ride called The Cockpit?..” a small amount of casual research gave me the answer. The stone circle at Askham and Barton Fell stands near to the present junction of the M6 motorway and A66, where important trade routes crossed as early as the Bronze age. The Bronze Age of Britain lasted almost 1500 years and it is difficult to date the stone circle as it has features from both the early and Late Bronze Ages; the stone circle referred to colloquially as ‘The Cockpit’ is more than 28 metres in diameter and consists of 75 stones, more than 20 of which are about 1 metre high.

 

I would describe this ride as steady, there isn’t a great deal of elevation and after starting out riding on a quiet B-Road the route soon turned into a more rudimentary bridleway which climbs gently out of Askham. Once you reach the plateau on top of the Fell there’s some nice flowing, grassy trails before picking up a bit of the rougher single track that leads you over the Fell, underneath Barton Fell for the start of the Ullswater descent.

 

Now with this descent I’m always torn, do we sit back, relax and enjoy the absolutely stunning views over Ullswater to Hallin Fell, Helvellyn and the surrounding fells? Or do we cut loose and enjoy the super-fun descent? Obviously it’s the latter, however we were slowed down in places due to weather erosion along the bridleway and some deep ruts that the fast-flowing becks run through. Those disruptive elements don’t have too much impact overall as this descent down to Howtown is the best part of 5 km long. One to get the arms pumping for sure!

 

Once we finally reached the shores of Ullswater it was a short hack along the road up to the outskirts of Pooley Bridge where we were spoilt for choice in terms of refreshments. We were careful to not over-indulge because of the upcoming climb back up the bridleway which runs up the side of Heughscar Hill taking us back up to where we started.

 

 

 

 

To summarise this ride I do feel like it’s great, no matter what the weather. In retrospect it would appear that we’d done the ride in all four seasons and I would suggest it would be even more fun in the drier months of the year, if there’s such a thing in Cumbria!

 

Written by Andrew Barlow

Photos by Andrew Barlow

 

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