Tarn Candles + Melts are named after beautiful tarns around Lancashire and the Lake District. One of our blends, Seathwaite, is located a few miles from Coniston Water. Here’s the story of one trip through that stunning area…
The best starting point to tackle the trek to Seathwaite is from Walna Scar car park. Just a few minutes from Coniston, the car park is at the end of a rough gravel track. It’s a good spot to explore a number of fells and crags in the area.
We headed east along Walna Scar Road, more a decent track than suitable for anything other than seriously rugged off-road vehicles. There are streams cutting across the path, sheep grazing and incredible views to be had as you look back towards Coniston Water.
After about a mile there’s a smaller path that shoots off past Goat’s Water. It’s harsher terrain, broken rock, slate and pretty rough under foot. Dow Crag loomed large to the left, and as we navigated the winding path around the water the sky darkened. That’s something that we love about the lakes. The weather changes quickly, and sun, wind and rain accompanied our walk over the next half hour.
Beyond Goat’s Water the track leads uphill with The Old Man of Coniston to the right, and another path to the left doubles back along Dow Crag to give more spectacular views. You need rugged boots, and walking sticks are good idea to help you stay balanced as the wind picks up when you reach the peak.
The sensible option is to follow one of the paths that offer a couple of routes down to Seathwaite Tarn that lies a few hundred feet lower down. We had other plans, especially when we spotted another small pool of water. It wasn’t marked on our map, and it was only a few metres wide. But it sat on a ridge and gave the effect of an infinity pool with a backdrop that included Bowfell and Scafell Pike.
We were already off track by now but decided to carry on, wet under foot and no sign of Seathwaite Tarn. We grabbed a picnic lunch and then headed to another ridge to work out where we were. We got lucky, as down the hill we caught site of our target. It was steep but manageable, and there were more spectacular views and photo moments as we took a direct route down to the tarn.
Seathwaite Tarn sits just south of Grey Friar. It was the site of a copper mine in the mid nineteenth century, and in 1904 it was dammed to create a reservoir for drinking water. It’s a wonderfully peaceful area, and we only passed a handful of other walkers during the two-hour walk from Walna Scar car park. All you can hear is the gentle flow of streams that feed the tarn from several directions.
Heading back, we reached Dow Crag, and this time followed the marked path along the ridge to enjoyed scary but incredible views of Goat’s Water below. It’s not for the faint-hearted, but another gem reveals itself as you head over the top. Blind Tarn is a small but delightful pool of water, named “blind” because there is no visible in or outflows of water.
It’s hard not stopping every few minutes, especially when the panorama is breath-taking. Before we headed down to re-join the Walna Scar track we caught sight of Coniston Water and even Morecambe Bay in the distance.
Do it on a fine day, leave yourself four or five hours to complete the loop, but add Seathwaite Tarn to your list of walks – it will also give you some amazing views of other parts of the Lake District.
Tarn Candles + Melts named Seathwaite as one of its soy wax and essential oils blends. It’s a combination of lemon, ginger and rosemary – available as large and small candles, packs of wax melts, 10ml oil blend and as 75ml natural reed diffusers in beautiful glass containers (with refill options).
Tarn makes natural vegetable wax candles, melts, reed diffusers & pure essential oil blends, with reusable/recyclable tins, minimal packaging - made in Milnrow, Lancashire.