Windermere Railway Station – Lickbarrow Road - Matson Ground – past Golf Club – gated road to Staveley (option to Ings) - optional extension to Kentmere/ Hartrigg and back – Ings - Windermere
22 miles (35 km) 1650 ' climb (500 m)
Map
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http://www.mappedometer.com/?maproute=653756
Description
The ride starts with one mile through town before reaching Lickbarrow Rd, the start of the rural ride.The area in front of the railway station is busy with buses, taxis and cars. It is safest simply to push your bike directly ahead from the station exit for 15 yards to the gates of the vehicular entrance to Lakeland car park.
It is generally ok to bike straight through the car park – follow the “Parking” sign not the “Exit” sign, as the “Exit” is the same one you entered, and is for cars.
At the far side of the car park is a vehicular exit onto Thwaites Lane (high retaining wall). Here go right, downhill, to quickly pass under the railway bridge. Bear left to follow the road (Claife Ave) through the housing estate to its end as it swings right to join Droomer Drive.
Turn left at Droomer Drive, and in a couple of minutes take the 1st right onto Limethwaite Rd (see note at end for off- road possibilities from here). Limethwaite Rd can get very congested at its junction with Park Rd, so it is better to take the 3rd left Lane Head, and turn right into Thornthwaite Rd and on to its junction with Park Rd, much quieter.
Turn left up Park Road, and just after the nearby crest go left up the short and steep start of Lickbarrow Rd (blue bike sign). This is the start of the rural bit of the ride
Continue on the nice undulating road, past Matson Ground, bearing left at a Y junction (sign Crook) and soon, at the main road, left quite steeply uphill past the golf club and take the second left in a ¼ mile on to the narrow turn into the gated road (blue Ings bike sign only).
This gated road starts with a longish climb, then follows a short descent, on through a couple of gates, straight on at an unsigned Y junction and past Borwick Fold Farm.
Soon the route reaches a small junction, a small blue bike sign pointing left over a cattle grid.
At this point there are 2 options to reach Ings or Staveley or Windermere.
. . . the easy way is to pass over the cattle grid, down the gated road to Ings, there picking up National Cycle Network 6 and following the signs (right) to cross the dual carriageway and along the shared path to and into Staveley.
(To return from Ings directly to Windermere (without going to Staveley) simply follow the NCN 6 signs (left) on the shared path alongside the A591 main road.)
. . . a more strenuous alternative to Staveley is by continuing on the lane, before steeply dropping down and then at the bottom going left at a narrow unsigned lane which climbs steeply before again dropping through a gate and past a farm to join, going left, the road at Ashes into Staveley.
To return from there back to Windermere simply follow the NCN 6 sign alongside the A591 main road to the big Windermere junction after a descent, there turning hard left onto the Station Approach and the station.
Optional extension up to Kentmere and beyond to Hartrigg
At the Staveley bus stop/ wc crossroads take the Kentmere road and simply follow this roughly 4 miles section up to the village church.
(Note – to visit Maggs Howe teashop, which may or may not be open, nearing Kentmere bear right up to Green Quarter (signed) and Maggs Howe, and from there continue down the steep and twisting descent to Kentmere village itself. From here the ride continues back to Staveley (but see option below).
There is however an optional extension here to go a little further up the valley to Hartrigg. This adds 3 miles total but is steep in places. To do this, continue on after the church to soon pass through a gate marked “Public road to Hartrigg”. After a short hill the road flattens for nice views of the valley. Hartrigg is reached in a few minutes, where you simply turn around and go back to Kentmere village and continue back to Staveley and Windermere.
Note about Lakeland locked gates
The gates are locked at the station end of Lakeland car park about 1900 , so if locked (ie starting the ride after 1900 hours), there are 2 suggested ways to rejoin the route – go along the Station Approach road, and at the end stop and cross the Approach road by the Railway/ Booths sign and turn hard right onto the footpath to push the bike up the 150 yard A591 footpath to Thwaites Lane, there going down it to the railway bridge mentioned above, and joining the route.
An alternative way is to go down into town (left from Station Approach), and then near the end of the one - way Crescent Rd shops bear left (effectively straight on) into Oak St and then left into Droomer Drive. The aforementioned Claife Avenue comes in on the left, the route now being rejoined, and continues on to Limethwaite Rd mentioned above.
