Waymarking and walking (final section)

[Leagw2]

Hi

Does anybody know if the Cumbria Way is way-marked? There is no mention of this on any website?  And what is the walking like?

[bsmyth]

My friend and I walked the Cumbria Way in June 2008. We enjoyed it very much, altho' the last section from Calbeck (a lovely wee village) to Carlisle is a bit nondescript in our view.

There is signage, but in our view not as good as some other Ways. There are a number of points where even following the good description in the Cicerone guide book we were a bit confused, but to be fair it was nothing serious. However that's part and parcel of doing these walks.

I hope you decide to walk the Cumbria Way. There is a good variation of terrain and scenery. A good selection of good pubs and real ales all along the route. A little climb up the well-engineered path to Stickle Tarn up Great Langdale is recommended. A nice little tester after a longish day's walk - well it was for us. The beer tasted even better afterwards.

Good luck.

[Leagw2]

Thank you for that info. We will try the walk. We have noticed that other walkers are not so enthusiastic about the last section. We might substitute that part with a different walk.

[bsmyth]

There is plenty of good walking to be done in the Lakes to make up for the last section. We stayed 2 nights in Keswick and took the bus down to Grasmere and walked the circuit Helm Crags round to Blea Riggs. We also took in Cat Bells beside Derwent Water en route to Keswick. There's  plenty of options up Langdale.

I am sure you will enjoy it. The stretch from Upper Langdale over Stake Pass was particularly enjoyable and the the views were very good - like walking in Scotland. Hope the weather is kind to you. We had a very good week's weather and  obviously it makes such a difference to the enjoyment.

[Paddy Dillon]

Here's a couple of pictures to show what waymarking is often like along the Cumbria Way. First, there are a lot of what you would call 'proper' signposts, with 'Cumbria Way' written on them. However, the bulk of markers are just small circular disks, which would fit in the palm of your hand. They bear a directional arrow, and are coloured according to whether they are indicating public footpaths (yellow) or public bridleways (blue). The words 'Cumbria Way' are written very small inside the arrow. When they're reasonably new, they're fine, but when they are weathered, and quite literally 'shot at', then they're not so clear. Believe me... the weathered example really does say 'Cumbria Way'.