Led by Paul

The morning started cool and calm with the prospect of fine weather for the rest of the day.
Nearby, the waters of Bassenthwaite Lake were almost a mirror as a dozen walkers met at Beck Wythop for the start of this walk.
There were eight members of the Cumbria group (six being regulars), two from Lakeland, one unattached and one guest.

Starting where we did, we were able to cross the A66 safely at the beginning and end of the walk by using the central reservation as a half-way refuge. Once over the road the route followed a narrow permissive path along the lakeside, passing through a couple of nature reserves and a short section of road by the marina to reach Ouse Bridge.

Crossing the river Derwent here at the outflow of the lake, the route used verges of the road up to Armathwaite Hall where a public footpath led to Scarness, crossing some boggy ground and negotiating a fallen tree (photo) along the way. A pleasant wooded section along a very quiet road led to another footpath that crossed fields and woodland to emerge at the beautifully situated St Bega's Church. Here the group stopped for a morning break.

A mile further on, through the charming grounds of Mirehouse, the group stopped to use the facilities at the Dodd Wood café area.
A steep climb into Dodd Wood followed before the way levelled out to pass the Osprey viewpoint. The forestry track continued to a turning circle beyond which the footpath narrowed and started to descend. Part way down, an easily missed path on the left led vaguely up through the trees before becoming more defined - the Dodd Wood Traverse (Photo). This eventually led down to the main road at Dancing Gate. A safety barrier and grass verge allowed the group to reach the footpath opposite, which led to a recrossing of the Derwent at High Stock Bridge. The boggiest parts of the walk then followed - in winter this area south of the lake often floods.
Lunch was taken at Newlands Beck (photo) in a patch of relatively dry ground, before passing Bog House and a Willow Plantation before emerging on the track into Braithwaite, which passed the old railway station.

The group stopped for a short ice-cream break at Braithwaite village stores as the day was by now very warm. From here the route followed a good path to Thornthwaite before skirting Powter How Wood to reach the underpass that led back to the lake shore. From here, the permissive path was followed northward through another nature reserve back to our starting point.

Walk statistics: 15.8 Miles (25.4Km) with 1300ft (396m) of ascent