Orrest Head Walk from Windermere – Where it all began for Alfred Wainwright

Orrest Head Walk from Windermere – Where it all began for Alfred Wainwright

*The Full Orrest Head from Windermere walk description, OS map showing the route, and GPX route download are available on our website: https://w4all.uk/x3rwb. Altogether, it is a short but rewarding walk with woodland, history, family-friendly features and one of the best easy summit views in the area.*

*WALKER, VIDEOGRAPHER AND NARRATOR* Andrew Forrest https://w4all.uk/gcri5

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*Walk Description*
This Orrest Head walk from Windermere is a short, easy-to-follow Lake District walk that starts at the Orrest Head footpath sign next to the A591, close to Windermere railway station, Booths and nearby parking, including Broad Street car park.

The route follows the blue waymarkers of the Miles without Stiles route, making it the easier, more accessible option to the summit. Although there are still some gravel surfaces and a few steeper sections, there are no steps, gates or stiles, so it is suitable for many walkers looking for a gentler route, including many with pushchairs or limited mobility.

The walk heads up through Elleray Wood, first along the road and then on a wide gravel track. Along the way, you pass numbered wooden waymarkers, benches, information boards, a small money tree, and a collection of Gruffalo-style wooden carvings, including a fox, owl, squirrel, snake and horned creature, which makes this a particularly good walk for children.
There is also the small Blacksmiths coffee stop on the route, serving drinks and cakes from a converted horsebox when open. As you climb higher, glimpses of the Lakeland fells begin to appear before the trees thin out and the summit comes into view.

At the top, Orrest Head opens into a superb viewpoint with the Orrest Head Compass at its centre, created by local artist and blacksmith Chris Bramall. From here, there are sweeping views over Lake Windermere, the Lakeland fells, Kentmere, and out towards the coast on a clear day.
This is also the place where Alfred Wainwright first saw the Lake District after arriving from Blackburn, a moment that shaped his life and inspired his famous Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells. That first visit to Orrest Head is often described as the moment that sparked Wainwright’s lifelong love of the Lakeland fells. A little below the summit is the commemorative plaque showing the surrounding hills.

The return is along the same, blue-marked route back to Windermere. Once back in town, there are plenty of places to eat and drink, as shown in the video, including: the Greek OPA, Treasure Mountain, the Elleray, the Crafty Baa, the Queens, Brown Sugar, the Cowshed, Tilly’s Bar and Kitchen, the Brew Room, Sugarfinery, Cafe Italia, Topios, Home Ground Coffee and Kitchen, Francine’s, Brambalino’s Bistro, Slate, Bandito Burrito and the Lamplighter. In the video, there is a short flythrough, created using the OS app.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
08:42 Gruffalo-style wooden carvings
16:42 Orrest Head Summit
30:20 Windermere walk-through for places to eat and drink
39:05 OS Flythrough