A day in Cockermouth is always one of our favourite past times! Around 30 minutes drive from our cottages it's a lovely little high street.
After a meander around the high street there's a great Alfred Wainwright Outlying Fell called Watch Hill which is a lovely way to finish your day or maybe walk off that coffee and cake!
Fika off the high street - the perfect brunching stop or for coffee and cake!
We struggled to find information about this walk online so in this blog you'll find all you'll need to walk it!! Great for beginners, children and families or maybe if just wanting a walk at a gentler pace.
Wainwright's Outlying Fells book suggests you can walk this right from the high street but we struggled to find the start point. So we drove through Cockermouth - past the bridge and up to Isel starting the walk about 5 minutes from the high street.
Ample free parking at St Michael and All Angels church
The scenery becomes super tranquil with rolling hills and farms as you drive further upland and away from the high street.
Parking at the small local church we crossed the river and headed to the start point of the walk.
Crossing the River Derwent
After crossing the river and walking up a gently slope you'll come to a clearing on the left which takes you away from the road and into a wooded path.
The busy world seems far away being surrounded by woodland and the rolling Cumbrian hills on the right.
The woodland opens up as you pass the Setmurthy plantation forest commission signpost and the elevation here starts to get steeper.
Continuing on the path past Setmurthy you'll eventually come to a gate which opens into rolling countryside and fields.
Looking back to Setmurthy plantation woods once through the gate.
The landscape changes here with a grassy path trodden into the hills. Following this path up and to the left you'll now be heading towards the highest point of Watch Hill.
The sheep seemed surprised to see us!
For little effort you'll be rewarded with views back towards Cockermouth but also an array of mountains including Skiddaw, Great Borne and the Loweswater Fells.
The grassy ridge gives commanding views all the way along and, with the ridge and this view to ourselves, seemed a world away from the bustling hight street down below! In better weather this would be an ideal place to pitch up a blanket for a picnic with a view.
The end of the ridge came all to quickly but with more cloud rolling in we crossed back through another gate into the cover of the woods again to begin the walk down.
The ascent here is a little steep and slippy so care is needed especially in wet weather.
Entering back into woodland with birds chirping, follow the winding tarmac path past the Setmurthy sign - this time on the right - and back along the wooded path to the road.
A lovely walk and easily fitted in to a day Cockermouth. We finished our day feeling refreshed after a few hours immersed in the Cumbrian hills and happy to bag another Wainwright Fell.
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