My Top 10 Northern England landscape views & walks 
In 2015 for the GO Outdoors Awards, we nominated a selection of fantastic independent outdoor blogs and asked the public to vote for their favourite. The following is a guest post from winner Stuart Hodgson and gives you an insight into what you can expect from his own blog. Stuart has combined his love for the outdoors with his love for photography, so we asked him to name his top 10 views that he’s captured on his walks.
by Stuart Hodgson, winner of GO Outdoors Best Independent Blog 2015
http://stuarthodgson.blogspot.co.uk
I live on the North-East coast – so many of the walks I do are up North. I know I’m biased – but northern England offers some stunning landscapes. The main areas I walk and photograph in are the Lake District, North York Moors, Yorkshire Dales and Northumberland. To be honest there are tons of amazing views and it is difficult choosing 10 – but here are the top 10 views I have been able to do justice through my photos so far!
Blea Tarn, Langdale, Lake District
If I could try and imagine the perfect tarn – then Blea Tarn in Langdale would be it! In autumn the colours make this location really special. This place looks remote – but you can still drive here through the windy roads and park up less than 10 minutes’ walk away from this viewpoint. Often you see photos close to Tarn level – so I have included a photo from a vantage point a bit higher up. No matter what your level of walking you can see some amazing views even if you just walk around the tarn.
You can see more photos of this special place and ideas for walks on my blog here: http://stuarthodgson.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/blea-tarn-langdale-pikes-lake-district.html
Bluebells at Roseberry Topping, North York Moors
Roseberry Topping on the North York Moors, near the quaint village of Great Ayton remains close to my heart – as it is quite close to where I live and is what first inspired me to start walking up hills and taking photos. I think one of the best times to visit the area is when the Bluebells are in full bloom in what is locally called Bluebell Wood or Newton Wood on OS maps. On my blog you can see a map showing the exact location of this vantage point.
http://stuarthodgson.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/roseberry-topping-bluebells.html
Housesteads on Hadrians Wall, Northumberland
Hadrians Wall tracks some stunning and rugged Northumberland landscapes, and perhaps one of the most iconic views of Hadrian’s Wall is looking towards Housesteads, and should be high up on any list of Northern England’s finest views. Even though Hadrian’s wall goes from coast to coast, there is an excellent little walking section of around 3 miles which takes in many of the ‘must see’, best bits. I have documented this short walk on my blog over at http://stuarthodgson.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/best-hadrians-wall-walk-views.html – and it remains my most popular blog post. If you haven’t been to Hadrian’s wall before – you should – and this 3 mile section is where I would recommend visiting first.
Lowfell, Lake District.
Low Fell is not a particularly well-known fell in the Lake District and is a little away from the main tourist areas – so it’s not as popular as some of the more well-known summits. And whilst Low Fell is not particularly difficult to walk up – it presents some stunning views and is well worth a visit, particularly on a summers evening when the sun is going down behind you, illuminating this magnificent landscape. In this view from Low Fell you can see Crummock Water and the distant more popular fells of Great Gable, Haystacks amongst other. You can see the full documented walk including maps of how to visit Low Fell here: http://stuarthodgson.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/low-fell-walk-crummock-water-lake-district.html
High Cup Nick, Cumbria
High cup Nick is located in the North Pennines, not too far away from Appleby-in-Westmorland. High Cup Nick is a stunning example of a glaciated valley, one of the finest examples in the UK, and it was made even more impressive by the snow when I visited. Again if you haven’t visited this place – I can highly recommend a moderate 8mile walk from the village of Dufton. You can find a full write-up on my walk including map here: http://stuarthodgson.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/high-cup-nick-walk-cumbria-dufton-map-snow.html
Ullswater from Green Hill, Lake District
Ullswater is one of the more popular lakes in the Lake District, and Green Hill, where this photo was taken from, or the summit of Gowbarrow Fell offer some stunning views looking towards Glenridding and the Helvellyn range. The walk to get here is a lovely walk providing some of the best views of Ullswater, and also includes the popular Aira Force, where you can park to start the walk. You can find out more about the suggested walk to get to this point here: http://stuarthodgson.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/ullswater-walk-gowbarrow-fell-aira-force-lake-district.html
The summit of Haystacks, near Buttermere, Lake District
In this photo I managed to capture the best sunset I have ever witnessed in the Lake District – from Haystacks near Buttermere – looking towards Crummock Water & Ennerdale. Haystacks were Alfred Wainwrights favourite Mountain and with this view you can see why. In terms of walking to the summit of Haystacks – most people start from Buttermere lake and whilst there is some steep walking – it’s not as strenuous as some of the higher peaks in the Lake District. There is also a great little walk around Buttermere lake suitable for children, and is my favourite easy walk in the lake district.
You can see tat walking route here: http://stuarthodgson.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/buttermere-lake-walk-lake-district.html
Lower Aysgarth falls, Yorkshire dales
Aysgarth Falls offers some of the most impressive waterfalls in Northern England, and is one of my favourite places in the Yorkshire Dales. They are quite accessible too, and if you would like to make more of a walk of it – then I have blogged about a great walk that takes in many of the Aysgarth Falls and also West Burton Waterfall. To discover more and the map route visit http://stuarthodgson.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/west-burton-waterfall-aysgarth-falls.html
The Lone Tree on Egton High Moor, North York Moors
When the heather is in bloom the North York Moors offer some spectacular sights, and one of my favourite sights in this region is the Lone Tree high up on Egton Moor. When I visited on this occasion to take this picture there was no wind – and I don’t think I have been anywhere that was more silent and peaceful. You can find out the location of this special place on the blog post over at http://stuarthodgson.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/walks-egton-bridge-north-york-moors-heather.html
Wastwater, Lake District
No post of the best views in Northern England should be without this view of Wastwater, as it was voted Britain’s Favourite View in 2007 by television viewers, and is perhaps the most iconic Lake District view – even featuring on the Lake District National park logo. Wastwater is perhaps the most dramatic looking of all the lakes due to being surrounded by the towering peaks of Red Pike, Kirk fell, Great Gable and England’s highest mountain Scafell Pike. It’s a popular spot and is really accessible, even by car.
Well, I hope you have enjoyed that blog post! There are some popular places on there so you may have already visited or seen photos of a few of those places, but I hope the links that provide more information actually inspire you to see some of these views first hand, as while photos are nice to look at, nothing beats seeing these stunning and expansive views with your eyes and getting out into the great outdoors!
Thanks for reading, and if you have enjoyed the read and photos – I have lots more information, documented walks, maps and photos, over on my blog.
Stuart Hodgson.
