Helm crag circuit

CLASSIC WITH A TWIST

Perhaps more than any other fell in the Lake District, HELVELLYN is best known for its ridges – two of them particularly. There are a couple more that are worthy of note though, even if they aren’t really Helvellyn’s.

Gird your loins for a tough, steep, pathless ascent, but then settle in for a straightforward Lakeland round.

Gazing through the window, I take in the scene as we wind along the road by Rydal Water – the cradle of fells, the pewter-blue lake to our left, the brilliant green trees. The bus is bustling, and I g

If you want to climb a mountain, it’ll be tough, right? And there’s no point staying low in the valleys if you’re after a big adventure, right? Actually, wrong on both counts. CW sets out to show that at both high level and low, the Lake District has the power to surprise.

Because Skiddaw and Wast Water aren’t the only walks that defy conventional wisdom in the Lakes…