In Wordsworth's Footsteps

On loitering Muse - the swift Stream chides us - on!

The walk begins in Seathwaite, a remote village with a rustic pub, a little church and a handful of farms, set beneath the crags of Wallowbarrow. A reservoir service road takes the route easily up into the Coniston fells to the dam of Seathwaite Tarn. The large reservoir is dwarfed by the rocks of Grey Friar and Buzzard Crag towering above. On some days it's an uninspiring place and needs a little help from evening light or, as on the occasion when I last visited, a dull windless day when the sulking crags were reflected to perfection in the hushed and gloomy waters.

Look the other way though and the landscape needs no help, especially if the bracken glows red to blend with the dusky heather, the crags and the odd lonely pine. The jagged cone of Harter Fell dominates the skyline high above the forests, streams and farmhouses. Our route descends through the heather and the bracken, and by a chattering beck to the Duddon. Over the road, it comes to the Fickle Steps across the river. Wordsworth remembers them in a fanciful sonnet:

Not so that Pair whose youthful spirits dance

With Prompt emotion urging them to pass;

A sweet confusion checks the Shepherd lass;

Blushing she eyes the dizzy flood askance;

Too ashamed - too timid to advance

There's a wire across the river to steady your progress these days. It's an exciting prelude to a wonderful walk through the Wallowbarrow Gorge. From a lofty path you look down on the river and it's bounding cataracts, then descend for a riverside stroll back into Seathwaite.

Where to eat and drink

The Newfield Inn is a simply furnished but attractive pub, dating from the 17th century. There's an open fire in the bar and a wide range of real ales are available, including Theakston's and Jennings, and tasty bar meals. There's a good beer garden in the back for sunny days and dogs are welcome.

While you're there

Take a look around Broughton-in-Furness, a pleasant village near the Duddon Estuary. Chestnut trees surround the village square, where there is an obelisk erected to commemorate the jubilee of George III, and a set of stocks. Broughton's oldest building is the Church of St Mary Magdalene, which has Saxon walls and a Norman archway.

What to look for

You will see clumps of bog myrtle in the peat meadows of the Duddon Valley, especially near the end of the walk. It's a low aromatic shrub with woody stems and oval leaves and it thrives in this boggy terrain The branches have been used in past centuries, both for flavouring beer and for discouraging flies and midges, which apparently don't like its eucalyptus-like scent.