Latrigg, a Wainwright for Everyone

What happens when you take your car for a new timing belt and water pump fitting and it turns out the wrong water pump was fitted? It waits until you get to the best part of your holiday, good weather in the Lake District, and heading out to go up Great Gable. Then it packs up and leaves you stranded in a place where a car would come in handy to get to the peaks you chose to go up. And to cap it off, you can’t go too far away from the garage where your car is because they are unsure of the cause of the problem.

So if you find yourself stuck in a campsite just outside Keswick, you can’t go too far, and you need to keep a mobile phone signal, there are some options. In my case I chose Latrigg.

Latrigg (pronounced Lat-rigg), at 368m (1207feet) is not a particularly high Wainwright. But what it has to it’s advantage is easy access. If you have mobility problems but can get about on fairly level gravel paths, Latrigg may be a Wainwright to consider. If you go to the Car Park between Latrigg and Lonscale Fell overlooking Applethwaite and Ormathwaite there is an easy access path. It’s not level as it climbs several hundred feet onto the summit. But it is fairly smooth with a gravel surface. I can’t vouch for this path and do not take responsibility for anyone attempting any of the walks I mention. The choice is your own, so just the same as any other walk, care and common sense should prevail. If in doubt, don’t.

Parking for this walk is fairly limited unless you park up in Keswick itself. Heading out of Keswick up Crosthwaite Road towards the A66 you will find Brundholme Road on your right on around 100 yards before you reach the A66. Turn along Brundholme Road and a couple of hundred yards up the road you will find the path on your left. There is space here to park your car on the road if needs be.

The path heads across a bridge over the A66 and begins to climb up to the foot of Latrigg. The route to the summit is extremely simple and well sign posted. All I can say is it is worth taking an hour or two to got to the summit and take in the summit views.