Dalulv one

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Dalulv here.

I walked half of this route, Dalton to Little Urswick, last summer with a few friends. I would have given it two stars after we'd hacked and slashed our way through broken stiles that were overgrown with hawthorn and brambles. However, one of the people I walked with had been lobbying for two years to get problems on these paths addressed, and only in the past couple of weeks a number of stiles were replaced and thorn bushes were cut back. I walked the whole route from Ulverston to Dalton to see what else might be improved.

First off, I wasn't keen on all the road-walking to get out of Ulverston. Only five minutes after leaving the railway station, a footpath signpost offers a 'historic route to Swarthmoor Hall', and that's a much better option than the road-walk, and about the same distance. Swarthmoor Hall is the birthplace of Quakerism and you can sometimes make a tour of the house, or enjoy a break at their cafe. Anyway, there's still a road-walk until you reach 'Camping at The Hayfield', which is a short-term summer campsite. The path alongside the camping field always followed a wall, but now there's an additional wire fence to make sure that's how you pass through. Great Urswick has a pub, the General Burgoyne, that you could easily miss as it's just a few paces off-route. The way to Little Urswick uses convoluted field paths, and these are fine on a good day, but the stiles are in a very poor condition and some of them are so slippery as to need care. Missing signposts, broken stiles, a locked gate and a path that's often heavily cropped make it hard work to get from Little Urswick to Bolton Heads. Walking alongside a big quarry is easier, then the right of way shown on the OS map doesn't quite match the way you end up passing Highfield Farm. Some very awkward, broken and overgrown stiles have just been replaced, making this part of the walk much more pleasant. Once you're through the fields, a simple road-walk leads to Dalton railway station.

If more work was done to replace missing signposts and repair broken stiles, I'd give this route four stars. Fortunately, a group has just been formed with the aim of fixing path problems in this area, so there's hope that things will improve in the future.

Leaving Ulverston, the first 3k of this route is roads, 2k of it urban/suburban (though not unpleasant) and 1k rural with no pavement. This section was less busy but not ideal. There are good views back towards Ulverston and the Hoad Monument (looks like a lighthouse). From here the route crosses fields, goes along farm lanes and the odd short quiet road sections, and open, limestone-strewn sheep grazing. The village of Great Urswick has a pub.
There were gates (occasionally tied up or rusted), stiles (stone pinch, rickety wooden, or ladders), kissing gates, one or two electric fences (but not blocking the path), and not enough signs and some footpaths were unclear. However, it was all very beautiful countryside, with nice views. There were also sheep (mainly), cows, horses, buzzards and curlews.
The last section into Dalton followed a tiny bit of former railway line before reaching a short section of housing, then the station.
This was a lovely route except for the 3k of roads at the start, although there was the occasional navigation challenge.

Share your views about this route, give it a star rating, indicate whether it should be verified or not.

Include information that will be useful to others considering to walk or wheel it.

You can add up to 15 photos.