Barf

Drivers on the A66 beside Bassenthwaite Lake see a whitewashed pinnacle high on the scree above them. That is the Bishop of Barf. The tale is that in 1783 the Bishop of Derry bet he could ride his horse up the fell, fell off at this spot and was killed, and that he and the horse lie buried beside a smaller white stone at the foot of the slope called the Clerk. It is a good story, but the Bishop of Derry of the day died in Italy some twenty years later. Staff at the Swan Hotel used to whitewash the stone. Since the hotel closed, the local mountain rescue team has taken it on.

The direct line past the Bishop is a steep scramble on loose scree and rock. Signs at the foot warn walkers off it, and mountain rescue lists it as an accident spot. Use the path beside Beckstones Gill instead. Park at the free car park at Powter How near Thornthwaite, walk past the Clerk, cross the gill and climb through the woods. It is a stiff pull on slippery slate gravel, with one short rocky step where your hands help, then a forest track and a final path round the face to the top.

The summit is a small grassy platform set just back from the eastern drop. Skiddaw and Longside Edge fill the view across the lake, and Lord's Seat hides most of the west, though the sea shows.

To make more of the day, cross the heathery dip west to Lord's Seat. It is wet and boggy, and easy to stray off line in mist. Walk Lakes' loop from Powter How comes back through the forest over Ullister Hill and Seat How, about 8km with 600m of ascent.