Lake District Walks: Whinfell Beacon, Borrowdale and the River Lune Gorge

Whinfell Beacon is a lesser-known and seldom visited fell lying on the eastern fringe of the Lake District National Park. Its location just southwest of the small town of Tebay, close to the M6 motorway, makes it a highly a accessible location for a mountain hike into a splendid, secluded and peaceful landscape. It's a place where we can easily lose our sense of time and life's immediacy; a walk here is a wonderful antidote to the hustle and bustle of the modern world, it's a place where we can lose ourselves in nature and in the pleasures of living in the moment. In this video, I take you on my hike into Borrowdale, the valley that takes its name from Borrow Beck, the river that runs east through its course, and on an ascent to the top of the highest peak in the valley, Whinfell Beacon. The Beacon, so-named because of its historical connection with medieval fire-beacon communication, is part of a fine ridge of high ground running east-west between the M6 motorway and the A6 roadway and, from its top, there are fine views to be gained south to the Lakeland town of Kendal and north into Low and High Borrowdale and the fells beyond. Borrowdale terminates in the east in the Lune Gorge, a steep and lonely valley that runs north-south from Tebay to Lowgill and in which are located vital UK communications links, the M6 motorway and the West Coast railway line connecting London with the north of England and Scotland. It's place where nature in all it's majestic splendour, grand mountainous scenery, lonely fells and wild woodland, seems to confront the accoutrements of a modern and highly developed country such as Britain. It's a place that engenders thankfulness in the hearts of visitors who leave the noise and commotion of road and rail to head off into a wild and unspoiled patch of Britain: the valley of Borrowdale and the mountain that is Whinfell. CHAPTERS 00:00 - Start 00:01 - Intro 00:12 - Entering Borrowdale 00:39 - Route Introduction 01:07 - Drone video - M6 and Lune Gorge [1] 01:23 - Drone video - M6 and Lune Gorge [2] 01:38 - Route Map 04:15 - OS Map of the Route 04:26 - Route Stats 04:37 - The Ascent to Whinfell Beacon 05:32 - Drone video - Borrowdale [1] 06:07 - Drone sequence - Borrowdale [2] 07:52 - Continuing the ascent 08:02 - First view of Whinfell Beacon 08:16 - Radio antennae (masts) 09:31 - The telecoms masts close-up 10:12 - View south from the Whinfell Ridge 11:26 - Information on the Lune Gorge 11:41 - Drone video - M6 and Lune Gorge (valley) [3] 12:01 - Drone video - Borrowdale to the Lune Gorge [3] 12:26 - Borrow Beck at the entrance to Borrowdale 13:33 - Drone video - Whinfell and its fine ridge 14:19 - Last 'push' to the summit of Whinfell Beacon 17:37 - Arriving at the summit of Whinfell Beacon 18:09 - The summit cairn and views 18:48 - Picking out the Lakeland fells to the south 19:56 - Starting the descent 20:18 - Drone video - Borrowdale valley in fantastic sunshine 21:33 - Walking 'off-piste' back into Borrowdale 22:25 - Drone video - Borrowdale [4] 23:54 - The problem with walking 'off-piste' 25:17 - Almost back to Borrow Beck 25:44 - The problem with ticks and their bite [Lyme disease] 26:03 - Old-timers don't like stiles! 27:02 - Local flora 27:30 - The Lune valley and its motorway, the M6 27:55 - Drone video - The M6 motorway [3] 28:29 - Drone Video - The M6 motorway [4] 29:15 - Drone video - The M6 motorway [5] 29:43 - The Ribble Railway Viaduct 30:04 - Drone video - Borrowdale in the evening light 30:26 - Bracken and its rapacious growth-rate 30:55 - Time-lapse of bracken growth 31:29 - Approaching Borrow Beck 31:48 - More information on bracken 32:13 - Time-lapse of fern and bracken growth 32:28 - Fording Borrow Beck 34:36 - Back on the path out of Borrowdale 35:06 - Lovely sheep grazing in the sunshine 35:22 - Drone sequence - Borrowdale 36:09 - Beautiful trees and woodland 37:01 - Bluebells in bloom 37:38 - Final thoughts on the hike 38:28 - Drone sequence - Borrowdale and Whinfell from near and far 39:55 - Credits Subscribe to my channel,    / @ukhiking  , for more hiking and drone videos of my wanderings on THE FELLS OF GREAT BRITAIN and do feel free to leave comments here, good or bad, and suggestions for improvement in my future videos. A gpx route file of the walk covered in this video is available from me at the following email address: [email protected]. Alternatively, you can view the walk and download a gpx route file on the 'OS Maps' website here: https://explore.osmaps.com/route/3193...