Coniston - the elongated ridge of the Coniston Fells, fashioned in volcanic rock with heavily-glaciated arêtes and sombre corries, provide an extravagant drama of ice-shorn topography that cannot fail to excite even the most critical palate. Never falling below 2000 feet, this splendid parade is best appreciated from the south. Coniston, a village which has somehow managed to retain its dignity under an onslaught of brash tourism, was formerly an ancient Norse king’s settlement. The scars of the once thriving copper industry are still present for all to see and only the upper fells remain free of man’s scourging hand.

The suggested 10 mile (with 3350ft of ascent) RED Coniston Horizon walk visits the summits of Dow Crag (2552ft), Coniston Old Man (2633ft), Brim Fell (2611ft), Great Carrs (2575ft), Swirl How (2630ft), Black Sails(2443ft) and Wetherlam (2502ft).

The alternative 8 mile (with 1442ft ascent) BLACK walk is centred around the picturesque, old-world village of Hawkshead and will visit Colthouse for the Quaker Meeting House [built in 1688], graveyard and The Hanging Tree (where the local gibbet was erected in 17th Century : GR355981). The high point of the walk will be Latterbarrow (803ft) which, as Wainwright claimed "needs little effort yet yields much delight" with magnificent views of the Langdales, Windermere, and the Coniston hills.