1. Raby Castle
Meeting Point: Raby Castle
We begin the Big Smile in the magnificent grounds of Raby Castle. We follow a broad path through the grassy landscape where Red and Fallow Deer herds live wild. We pass the impressively maintained medieval castle, built between 1367 and 1390 by John Neville, the 3rd Baron Neville de Raby.
We wander through Ladywood and then up towards Raby Home Farm and then Shotton enjoying the beautiful countryside home to some superb flora and fauna.
Eventually, we leave the Raby estate and find ourselves heading over Cockfield fell, common land pock marked with evidence of human habitation including flint arrowheads dating back to 8000BC.
We skirt around Cockfield itself and back through the estate to finish back at Raby Castle in a wonderful start to the Big Smile Walks.
Distance: 20 km ( 12.47 miles)
Difficulty Rating: ★★★☆☆
Sponsored By: The Ramside Hall Hotel
1. Raby Castle
Meeting Point: Raby Castle
We begin the Big Smile in the magnificent grounds of Raby Castle. We follow a broad path through the grassy landscape where Red and Fallow Deer herds live wild. We pass the impressively maintained medieval castle, built between 1367 and 1390 by John Neville, the 3rd Baron Neville de Raby.
We wander through Ladywood and then up towards Raby Home Farm and then Shotton enjoying the beautiful countryside home to some superb flora and fauna.
Eventually, we leave the Raby estate and find ourselves heading over Cockfield fell, common land pock marked with evidence of human habitation including flint arrowheads dating back to 8000BC.
We skirt around Cockfield itself and back through the estate to finish back at Raby Castle in a wonderful start to the Big Smile Walks.
Distance: 20 km ( 12.47 miles)
Difficulty Rating: ★★★☆☆
Sponsored By: The Ramside Hall Hotel
15. The Fairfield Horseshoe
Date: 09/07/2021
Meeting Point: Ambleside Cricket Club, LA22 9PN
We start this superb lakes stage out of Rydal, climbing up to Nab Scar and then on to Heron Pike. From here, we head up to Great Rigg, and then on to the highest point of our walk: the summit of Fairfield at 873 metres.
The curve of the horseshoe route brings us over Hart Crag, Dove Crag, and Little Hart Crag, before dropping down into Scandale, keeping Scandale Tarn to our right. We continue descending, before looping back to our start point at Rydal.
This is undoubtedly one of the tougher stages of The Big Smile, especially when the weather is bad. However, it is a truly marvellous fell walk, affording us some fantastic views and taking us over several Wainwrights to boot.
Distance: 18.1 km (11.25 miles)
Difficulty Rating: ★★★★☆