Lingmoor Fell, Lake District, Winter
I’ve been wanting to get into the snowy mountains for a while.
I’ve been wanting to get into the snowy mountains for a while.
As I’d accrued a fairly significant amount of flexi-time at work, I used it to take a mid-week day off and headed into Lake District.
Lingmoor Fell is a small hill I’ve had my eye on for quite some time. It’s only a modest fell, standing at 469 m (1,540 ft) a.s.l., but what it lacks in height it more than makes up with the sensational views it offers. Lingmoor Fell’s isolated position in the Central Lake District—separating Great Langdale from Little Langdale—means some of the finest panoramas in all the Lake District can be found on this small fell.
Though I ultimately didn’t feel confident or skilled enough to properly summit Lingmoor in the current sub-zero temperatures, I nevertheless managed ascending the fell’s shoulders and obtained some absolutely crackin’ photos.
All photos taken on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my Vivitar “Series 1” 28–105mm f2.8–3.8 zoom and Laowa 9mm f2.8 prime lenses. Shot using the camera’s Classic Chrome film simulation, edited in Capture One for iPad, and finished in Affinity Photo 2 for iPad.
Lingmoor Fell, Lake District, Winter by Ian Cylkowski is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
The start of the walk ascends the fellside from Elterwater village, through winding country roads that have become a winter wonderland, totally frozen.
After navigating the country roads and Sawrey’s Wood, you soon emerge onto the open fellside with wonderful views across Great Langdale towards the Grasmere fells.
The tiny village of Chapel Stile in the Great Langdale valley, with the rusty, craggy fells looming high above in the morning winter light.
Lots of quarrying has happened around the slopes of Lingmoor Fell, and continues to this day (though on a much smaller scale). I sneaked into this disused quarry largely for the icicles.
The old miner’s track provided a clear way up the fell. The day was crisp and bitingly cold, with the moon clear above. My destination was the peak illuminated by the sun.
It didn’t take long before I came across the Lake District’s famous sheep, Herdwicks. The path continued up to the left.
Herdwicks are such posers. They know they’re pretty.
Up on the shoulder of Lingmoor Fell the views instantly open up in all directions. Here the rusty bracken and crags of Lingmoor Fell provide a nice contrast to the distant wintery views of Ambleside and the Kentmere fells.
Over the wall, towards Grasmere, Fairfield can now clearly be seen with a dusting of frost on its flat summit.
Herdwicks graze upon the scant vegetation of a crag. The ridge of Lingmoor Fell is totally lined with this drystone wall, making it easy to navigate along the fell.
I turned away from summiting Lingmoor Fell as the path quickly become a long sheet of ice. Instead, I skirted around its shoulder towards some disused quarries. Here, Wetherlam and Swirl How revealed their wintery magnificence to me.
I took a water break near this crag and started crawling around it with my ultra-wide angle lens, looking for compositions involving those beautiful wintery mountains.
This one’s probably the best of the bunch.
Heading back down the old miner’s track, I catch a glimpse of one the axe-like peaks of the Langdale Pikes, and line up a composition.
Not a bad place for a cottage, eh?
Back on the winding country roads towards Elterwater village.
What a crackin’ day.
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Great Langdale, Lake District, Summer
It has been far too long since I’ve been to Great Langdale.
It has been too long since I’ve been to Great Langdale.
In fact, from what I can make out, the last time I visited Great Langdale was November 2020. That’s bad.
And a shame. Great Langdale is one of my favourite places in the whole of the Lake District.
Thankfully I have some time off whilst I transition between jobs, and the UK summer is in full swing. It was time to reacquaint myself with some of the Lake District’s most recognisable peaks.
Great Langdale did not disappoint. My goodness.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using my Vivitar “Series 1” 28–105mm ƒ/2.8–3.8 zoom lens. Images made 90% in-camera using the Velvia film simulation, finished off in Affinity Photo.
I managed to get some parking at the LDNPA’s official car park, right in the heart of the Great Langdale valley. Merely stepping out of the car park offers you scenes like this.
A true Lake District scene: towering craggy fells, stone walls and cottages, green grass, Herdwick sheep.
There were plenty of ewes and their lambs freely milling around the roads and lanes in the valley.
The first leg of the hike I wanted to explore was to head east towards Oak Howe. This part of Great Langdale is heavy with summer meadows and at this time of the year they’re brimming with flowers. Plus, you get panoramas like this.
I threw my lens wide open and got down low to snap the Langdale Pikes high above the fields and fields of buttercups.
Oak Howe cottage, with Oakhowe Crag towering above, itself a subsidiary top of Lingmoor Fell.
One of my favourite spots in Great Langdale, shot near Oak Cowe cottage next to Great Langdale Beck. The Langdale Pikes looking as epic as ever.
For the second leg of the hike, I traced my steps back west, capturing compositions of the Langdale Pikes along the way.
The fist-like crags of the Langdale Pikes to the right, Bowfell to the left.
Whitegill Crag stands protectively over the valley floor and its inhabitants.
Rossett Farm with Thorn Crag and Loft Crag above, like axe heads thrust into the sky.
The western aspect of Great Langdale features its highest fells, accessible via the fell in the middle of this photo known as “The Band”. To the left is Crinkle Crags (859 m/2,818 ft) and to the right is Bowfell (902 m/2,959 ft).
Some kind of rose, I think? I couldn’t tell you which one but it were pretty, just sitting there in the hedgerow.
As I head closer to Stool End Farm, Pike o’ Blisco (705 m/2,313 ft)—south of Crinkle Crags—makes its presence known.
A pied wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii) sits atop a drystone wall long enough for me to focus and nab this shot.
A side valley that branches off the main Great Langdale valley, Mickleden, features this great wall of rock known as Rossett Crag, peaking at Rossett Pike (651 m/2,136 ft).
The road to Stool End Farm, which marks the beginning of many popular ascents up to the likes of Bowfell, Crinkle Crags, and beyond.
The western aspect of the Langdale Pikes peaks at Pike o’ Stickle (709 m/2,326 ft), before dropping sharply down to the valley floor.
Heading back east towards the car, this part of the Langdale Pikes is very popular with rock climbers who fancy tackling some tricky climbs.
I love this place.
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Great Langdale, Lake District, Autumn
Do you know what one of my favourite areas in the Lake District is?
Let’s take a break from my recent run of Isle of Skye images.
Do you know what one of my favourite areas in the Lake District is? It’s Great Langdale.
We recently invited my Dad over to come stay with us, as he’s in our support bubble and lives on his own. On the Saturday I took Dad to explore Great Langdale, which he had never seen before. It’s good to know there’s still places in the Lake District I can let my Dad experience for the very first time.
It is an awe-inspiring place. Great Langdale is a fairly flat-bottomed valley that features a northern wall of some of the finest and most recognisable crags and peaks in the Lake District: the Langdale Pikes.
Judging from the amount of photos, I think Dad found it inspiring too.
All photos shot on my Fujifilm X-T2 using both my Samyang 35mm f/1.2 and Laowa 9mm f/2.8 lenses (with some additional help from Dad’s 55-200mm f/3.5–4.8). I used a customised Provia Standard film profile.
It was prime tupping season in the valley bottom of Great Langdale. Plenty of Herdwick yows (ewes) around with one or two tups (rams) doing their… duty.
We experienced some wonderful play of light streaming across the Langdale Pikes. I borrowed Dad’s 55-200mm lens to really zoom on those famous crags. Stickle Ghyll, the series of cascades and falls to the right of the photo, was in full spate.
There were plenty of puddles on the trail, which enabled to shot a composition of the Langdale Pikes I’ve been after for a long time.
More beautiful late afternoon light, picking out the contours and crags of the Langdale Pikes.
To the east of the Langdale Pikes is a wall of fells peaking at Broad Crag and Raw Pike, with a beam of light shooting across the face of the wall.
The trail closed in on Great Langdale Beck and provided me with a lovely leading line towards the glowing tips of the Langdale Pikes.
Nearer the Pikes the swollen beck was reflecting some wonderful light bouncing off the red fells above us. I closed the lens up to get this longer exposure of the flow of the river.
Here’s something I didn’t know about in Great Langdale! Near the Stickle Ghyll Barn Dad and I spotted a small stile that allowed one access over the fence towards these wonderful cascades. I whipped out my 9mm ultra-wide lens for some compositions of these cascades and Whitegill Crag above.
It’s not the Lake District without some idyllic cottages scattered about the valley.
Herdwick sheep are so bloody cute.
A final panoramic look back at the Great Langdale valley; Langdale Pikes to right, and Crinkle Crags to the left.