Orrest Head - Windermere, Cumbria, England, UK.
N 54° 23.176 W 002° 54.229
30U E 506246 N 6026503
Orrest Head is a hill located on the eastern shores of Lake Windermere in the Lake District. It is the first fell climbed by Alfred Wainwright MBE, a fellwalker, guidebook author and illustrator.
Waymark Code: WM150Z4
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/24/2021
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Orrest Head is a hill with panoramic views across Lake Windermere into the heart of the fells.
Situated on the eastern shores of the lake it is not far from Windermere town centre and the railway station, making it a popular location for walkers.
A slate toposcope located on Orrest Head was installed by Windermere Town Council and the Wainwright Society. It replaces an earlier indicator damaged by vandals and is positioned at the site where author Alfred Wainwright first glimpsed the Lakeland panorama that would inspire him to write his celebrated guidebooks.
The toposcope, created from slate quarried at Coniston, is situated on a plinth constructed of stone blocks. It shows the principal fells from Coniston Old Man in the west to Red Screes in the north and other features. The design is based Wainwright’s own drawing of the view from the hill from his book 'The Outlying Fells of Lakeland'.
Alfred Wainwright (17 Jan 1907 – 20 Jan 1991) first visited the Lake District in 1930 when he was 23 years old. He had travelled by train from his home in Blackburn to Windermere.
He climbed the path that starts just outside the station and goes to the viewpoint of Orrest Head. He was so enchanted by the views of the fells and lakes that they changed his life and inspired him to write his celebrated guidebooks.
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Work began in May 2021 to make the summit of Orrest Head more accessible for more people to reach, with a £51,000 grant from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
The pathway was completed and officially unveiled in September2021.
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