Over hill and Borrowdale - before it's too late

To the casual eye, the Lake District may seem unspoilt but it faces serious challenges. Many of its lakes are in poor health, facing pressure from sediment washed down from the hills and nutrients introduced by farming, habitation and tourism. To raise awareness of these issues, the National Trust is compiling a Borrowdale Catchment Trail, which takes the walker from the source of the River Derwent, high in the Honister Pass, to its end in Bassenthwaite Lake. The linear walk runs for about 12 miles and is designed to show how a river develops and influences the landscape.

This walk follows the start of that trail, heading down towards the jaws of Borrow-dale, before climbing back up through open country to the Honister Pass. The walk starts at Honister Slate Mine at the top of the Honister Pass, 1,090ft above Borrowdale.

LeavetheminebytheNational Trust car park, heading down- hillalongaserviceroad.Where you meet the main road, cross over and follow a narrow bri-dlewayontheleft,beforebriefly rejoiningtheroad.Theviewsare outstanding,withtheHelvellyn rangeonthedistantskyline,and the lower peaks of Borrowdale framingthefarsideofthevalley.

Bear left along a track marked as a bridleway. Up above, on the flanks of High Scawdel you may notice large sacks of rocks. These are part of the Fix the Fells project, whereby the rocks are broken up and used to restore footpaths. The scree and tumbling rocks indicate how the rain run-off is steadily pushing sediment down into the lakes.

You cross a stile and, as you continue downhill, the wooded ravine of Honister gill runs along the other side of the road. The gill is the furthest west of the waters feeding the River Derwent, and drains Glaramara and part of the massif of Scafell. Continue down the path, ignoring a signpost to your left for the village of Grange. To the north, the impressive Seathwaite valley opens up, with the lowland, classic landscape of fields and drystone walls abruptly bumping up against the dark fells.

It is this classic view that faces change. Fell farming in the Lake District is in deep trouble. If the fell farms fold it will have consequences for the whole of the Lakes, from grazing of the high fells to water and river management. "Changes are afoot," said John Malley, Borrowdale property manager for the National Trust. "If the fell farms don't get support they are going to go in the next three or four years. Then the lower fields will fall apart as the river course deteriorates. The landscape will become a little wilder and not so manicured. It will start to look like parts of Scotland. There's nothing wrong with that, but is that what people come to the Lake District for?"

The path bears right through a gate and swings to the right and drops down to the village of Seatoller. Turn left on to the road and then left again through the car park, signposted for Johnny Wood. Head up the stony track, with a fence on your right, cross a stile and turn right to enter a classic wild wood of old oaks.

The path soon meets the River Derwent, where a chain in the rocks helps you to edge along the path. You pass a youth hostel and follow a road before turning left in front of a bridge, with the river on your right. Go through a gate, with a fence on your left.

Cross two footbridges as you follow the path; here the river has effectively been canalised. The path swings left into woods but take a quick detour to the Crook, the confluence of the Derwent and Stonethwaite Beck. Rejoining the path, follow the main track for Grange; when you reach a T-junction turn right following signs for Grange. Soon you reach a broad sweep in the river around Low Hows Wood and here you turn sharp left uphill, following the sign for Honister and Seatoller. The path is rocky and steep as it climbs under the shadow of Castle Crag, an Iron Age hill fort. It finally levels off and marks the end of the bulk of the climbing; the rest of the walk essentially follows the contour line. Keep on the stone path for about 100 yards and then turn left, following the blue waymarker by a cairn. (If you're climbing again you've taken the wrong path.) The path weaves around High Scawdel, across footbridges and through gates before reaching a double gate where you follow the sign for Honister Pass. You are now on the track where you began, which leads back, over 800 yards, to the Honister Pass.

Further viewing Armchair lakeland explorers might enjoy 'Wainwright Walks' on DVD, available at stridingedge.com, price [pound]16.99

COMPACT FACTS

DISTANCE; Seven miles

TIME: Three and a half hours

OS MAP: OS Explorer OL 4, The English Lakes North-Western Area

HOW TO GET THERE

Regular buses link Keswick and the Honister Pass, contact Traveline (0871 200 2233). Mark Rowe stayed at Wordsworth Cottage in Sockbridge, two miles from Ullswater. It sleeps five and can be booked from [pound]502 per week through Cottages4you in partnership with the AA (0870 192 1031; cottages-4you.co.uk/theaa).

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