Newlands Hause

An Early Start

I started relatively early by this year’s standards. I was up and out before 9am, which felt almost uncomfortably keen for this holiday. A local sandwich shop in Keswick furnished me with some lunch and then I set off towards Newlands Hause, taking the scenic route via Whinlatter Pass and the Buttermere Valley. I needed a stopped for a bit of bicycle rotation in Buttermere on the way past before driving up to Newlands Hause. Newlands Hause is the pass between the Buttermere Valley and the Newlands Valley. It’s on a road which is challenging at the best of times. Last year when I drove down it with Ami there were several brown-trouser moments with people coming the other way. So, I wasn’t driving over the direct road from Keswick. As it turned out when I got to the top, it was closed on the Newlands Valley side anyway.

A hause, by the way, is a traditional Lakeland term for a mountain pass – a shallow saddle of land that links two valleys and sits between higher fells on either side. It’s usually the lowest practical crossing point in a ridge, often identified by old packhorse routes. They tend to offer wide views in both directions. In the Lake District there are a number of prominent ones, with steep approaches and a sudden sense of openness at the top.

Newlands Hause is a classic example, perched between the Newlands Valley and Buttermere, and acting as a natural hinge between two very different landscapes. It’s one of relatively few that bear the name “Hause” and that has a road over it. Not a good road as I’ve said above, but a road nevertheless. Well, as I also discovered on the day, it had a road on one side but not the other.

Knott Rigg and Ard Crags

The walk up Knott Rigg and then on to Ard Crags was straightforward and enjoyable. You can’t see the top of Knott Rigg from the road, but once you’re past the first steep section it’s easy going. It reminded me of the Helm Crag / Gibson Knott day, only stretched out a little longer. I had lunch at the top of Ard Crags, enjoying the quiet and the views.

A lot of the travel guides dismiss the views from Knott Rigg and Ard Crags as “limited”, but that only makes me suspect they walked them on a foggy Tuesday and never went back. Fair enough you don’t get the grand, sweeping panoramas with the Lake District laid out like a map. What you do get is a close up of some excellent mountains – something far more intimate and dramatic. Robinson rises on one side like a great rocky wall with a dramatic waterfall right down the middle. On the other side Whiteless Pike and Wandope rear up on the other, flanked by the southern arms of the Coledale Horseshoe.

Down the valley towards Buttermere there’s a teasing glimpse of High Stile and Red Pike. And if you look north, past the familiar curve of Catbells, you can just about catch Clough Head and Blencathra keeping watch in the distance. It’s a landscape made of contrasts: close‑quarters giants and distant silhouettes. So not a single long view, but a whole gallery of them.

A Brucie Bonus

I reached the car at about 1:30. Too early to head back for the football, and already in Buttermere, so I decided I might as well climb Rannerdale Knotts too. Supposedly it’s only a mile each way. “Only a mile” turned out to be nearly as hard as Knott Rigg, but the view from the top made it worthwhile. You’re perched above the lakes but tucked underneath Grasmoor and Whiteless Pike, which gives the whole scene a dramatic, layered feel. I got back to the car around 4pm.

Evening Festivities and Despair

Back in Keswick I cleaned up and went out for dinner at Merienda. I’d been there last year too. It’s kind of informal. Afterwards I wandered over to the Kings Arms again to watch the football. England vs. Argentina. Bleedin’ Argentina. Fair dos, England got their tactics wrong after scoring and Argentina probably deserved to win because of that. What really got under my skin was the behaviour of the Argentina team. I don’t think I’m off piste or alone in that sentiment, to be honest. Anyway, I couldn’t help thinking about how differently things would be treated if the roles were reversed. I doubt FIFA would have been so lenient.

Football Frustrations

But that’s water under the proverbial bridge now. Argentina got beat in the final, so they don’t get the glory. And one of the reasons they lost was because one of their players got sent off (at last) for a potentially career-ending tackle. I’m not a bitter man, but for the sake of football as a game, I hope that FIFA applies some retrospective punishment for the banner and for the fist fight after the final.