Route: Lost Lanes — Wasdale Head

Andrew Ross

12 Apr 2026 — 4 min read

An enjoyable ride in the sun from a holiday cottage to Wasdale Head following some ‘Wasdale Head Lost Lanes’ route from the Lost Lanes Northern England book

Start / Finish

I started from the holiday cottage in Coulderton, but the ideal place to start would be Ravenglass. There is a large carpark next to the ‘Little Ratty’ station.

Route

This route followed quiet lanes from Coulderton all the way down to the Sellafield Nuclear Reprocessing Plant. This location, formerly known as Windscale, provided power when it opened (1956) until 2003. It also provided Nuclear fuel reprocessing from 1952 to 2003.

According to Wikipedia:

“Sellafield was also the site in 1957 of one of the world's worst nuclear incidents. This was the Windscale fire, which occurred when uranium metal fuel ignited inside Windscale Pile no.1. Radioactive contamination was released into the environment, which it is now estimated caused around 240 cancers in the long term, with 100 to 240 of these being fatal. The incident was rated 5 out of a possible 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale.”

Luckily, all was well when I cycled past and down to the coast! The route follows the external fencing around Sellafield and along the edge of a golf course before reaching the Seascale.

Through Seascale, the route rises around Drigg on a Bridleway. This was tough riding with the mud in the fields and resulted in some wet feet.

You then drop to the coast again and follow a bridleway across the estuary into Ravenglass.

Here was the idea spot to get some lunch. You have a few choices — I recommend The Ratty Arms. Sitting outside in the garden, with the sun on my back, was a delight.

Following lunch, you can enjoy the Ravenglass Railway if you have time. The Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway is a 7-mile line that runs from Ravenglass to Dalegarth near Boot in the valley of Eskdale. The line is known locally as La'al Ratty.

Otherwise, head out of Ravenglass and onto the busy A595 for approximately 1.5miles to Gubbergill where you once again join the quiet lanes. This is where the hills get tougher as you head up to Nether Wasdale before the final rolling stretch alongside Wastwater to Wasdale Head.

This is a delightful stretch of road which, although is reasonably busy with sightseers, is delightful to ride on. I was surprised how quickly I made it to Wasdale Head!

Wastwater, the lake you cycle alongside, is almost three miles long and more than one-third mile wide. It is the deepest lake in England at 79 m. The surface of the lake is about 60m above sea level, while its bottom is over 15m below sea level.

At the top of Wastwater is Wasdale Head. This is as far as the road goes unless you’re on a MTB. A pub, a campsite and an outdoor shop provide can provide you with a hearty meal and snacks before you head back the same way you came for a few miles.

Heading back, I realised how I had made such good time — I had a tailwind. Fighting against the wind on the return leg was hard work. Just before you reach Countess Beck, you turn right and follow the signs towards Gosforth. More hills take you there (including a lovely downhill) before a final push-up to join the A595 again.

Another few miles on the A595 sees you leave the main road onto quiet (silent!) B-roads (it was currently closed to motorcars when I cycled it!). These quiet roads lead all the back to Coulderton.

A wonderful ride, especially in the beautiful weather!