47 miles, 17000 feet
This is a coast to coast, station to station, sea to summits traverse of the Western Lakes contrasting some of its best known areas with some of its remotest. The route was originally conceived as a v65 celebration by Tony Wimbush and took the form of a solo, unsupported run with the objective of taking the early train from Silecroft to St Bees, ticking off 10 Marilyn summits and arriving back at Silecroft before dark.
The heart of the route - Eskdale
I had already planned a very similar route to Tony's inaugural traverse, so when Tony announded his route I didn't wait long to make the second completion. I started in the moonlight at Silecroft, dipping my toes in the gently lapping water, before running up the aptly named Black Coomb in the darkness. The journey has great character, travelling from the sea to England's highest summit and back to the sea. For me, the crux was ensuring that I made the last train from St Bees, something which I managed with ten minutes to spare, only to discover that the infamous Northern Rail didn't have a driver (strike action) meaning that an hour and a half's wait was in order. The train did eventually arrive, but I was told it wouldn't make the scheduled stop at Silecroft and after first being told that I couldn;'t make it to Silecroft, I was eventually instructed to travel to Barrow where a taxi would be provided (a round trip of 50 miles). This seemed ludicrous and I didn't trust Northern Rail to actually provide the taxi, so I got off at Millom to secure a taxi there. None was to be had and without a map I started in the wrong direction in the dark, and had to ask directions. I slogged out the extra 4 miles, eventually arriving back at the car after midnight in a very grumpy mood. Northern Rail must surely go down in the annals of history as one of the very worst train operators. Fortunately that memory has subsided and I retain affection for this route.
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