Hardknott Pass

Today's the day ......................for a round trip

Will had a meeting today in Cockermouth to the north of Kendal, and as I didn't have to work today, I thought I would go along for the ride.  We drove there via Ambleside and Keswick through the heart of the Lake District - but just for a change, on the way back we decided to take a different route.  We headed south along the coast and then inland over the Hardknott and Wrynose Passes to Ambleside again and then home to Kendal.  A round trip of just over 100 miles.

The road approaching the Hardknott Pass is one of steepest in England achieving a gradient of 1 in 3 (about 33%).  It reaches a height of 393 m (1,289 ft) at the top of the Hardknott Pass before descending steeply to the Duddon Valley and then ascending and descending the Wrynose Pass (also 393 m) on its way to Ambleside.

The Romans originally built a road over the pass in the 2nd century to link the coastal fort at Ravenglass with their garrisons at Ambleside and Kendal. The Romans called this road the Tenth Highway.

I don't know how the Romans found it - but I have to tell you, that I was pretty glad I wasn't driving on this bit of the road home.  There were a couple of times, I just had to close my eyes and trust that Will had things under control ..............?!