Gummers How, at the south end of Windermere, seen across the misty lowlands on walk 29
Summit: Gummer’s How is 1054 feet above sea level.
Volume: Book Eight (The Outlying Fells).
Date bagged: First visit: 23rd August 2014 (walk 86).
Some of the cattle that keep Gummer’s How neat and tidy
Second visit: 5th February 2019 (walk 158).
Bagged as number: First round: 270 of the 330. [ << Newton Fell (North) (269) (271-2) Green Quarter Fell >>> ]
Second round: 184 of 330. [ << Cartmel Fell (183) (185) Staveley Fell >> ]
Route of ascent and descent: First visit: I went up the way almost everyone else will: from the car park on the Newby Bridge – Bowland Bridge road. Towards the top, you can choose to scramble straight up the face or take the longer and more circuitous route to the east. I would go up the face and down the other way. Returned to the car park afterwards.
Second visit: Tried an approach from the north. Once I got a foothold on the ridge proper this was easy, but coming in the way I did, Birch Fell next door, covered in plantations, did confuse me and the paths on this side are getting stifled by woodland. I would stick to the main path in future. My descent was the same, but from the road I went on to Staveley Fell rather than straight back to Newby Bridge.
Gummer’s How, from near Simpson Ground
What Mr Wainwright says (from p. 44 of volume 8): “Here is a fellwalk in miniature, a little beauty, with heather, a few rocks to scramble on, soft couches for repose, a classic view and a rustic Ordnance column — just like the real thing, and so easy of access from a motor-road and attainable almost without effort.”
What I say: Those of us who don’t use cars have to put a bit more of an effort into getting up Gummer’s How, but it is worth it; this is one of the District’s great views, in fact. The fell had already endeared itself to me, by being the subject of the shot at the top of this page, taken back on walk 29, in January 2011, and it was the highlight of walk 86 for sure. However, one downside — it was very busy on the day I did it (admittedly a warm, holiday weekend in August).
Gummer’s How from the south, Windermere below
My second visit tempered my enthusiasm a bit thanks to the confusions engendered by my attempt to come in from the north; but it is still a good view. Also I like the herd of wild cattle that meander over the fell and keep it trim: pictured above. The noticeboard by the road provides a bit more information on how the environment is managed.
[…] the southern tip of Windermere. Bracken and blackberries were the dominant lifeforms (except on Gummer’s How, where there were plenty of other visitors on this holiday weekend). The picture belies the […]
[…] yesterday (5th February), was a poor one, but on a grey February day, the low altitude fells around Gummer’s How at the south end of Windermere do not have a great deal of visual appeal. The best views all day […]