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 Lords Rake News Feb 2008 The situation in Lords rake remains much the same as it has over the past few years. The loose tower at the top of the first rise is now less prominant due tot he amount of rock collecting at its base, and the entrance to the West Wall Traverse continues to erode depositing more loose rock into the rake. The pillar at the top of the first rise makes passing it a scramble and the entrance tot he Wst Wall traverse is like wise harder than it it used to be and a lot looser. Advice would be go carefully, and dont expect it to look like it does in the guide books, it has a lot of loose rock in the rake, and a lot of loose unstable rock surrounding it, all of which at some time will fall down the rake. I continue to go into the area to check the situation and when I do I wear my helmet, and wait to make sure there is no one else above me to dislodge rocks, as once you are in the rake there is nowhere to hide should loose material bounce down. October 2006 Lords rake continues after two years of problems to be a dangerous and unstable place to go. The advice from the landowners the National Trust remains the same : Don't use Lords rake as a route, find another one instead. This is advice I would have to echo, these photos below go some way to describe the current situation and should be enough to put most people off. Two years ago the right hand wall at the top of the first rise collapsed across the rake leaving a loose pillar of rock and a huge amount of loose rock, a while later the left hand wall that this pillar was leaning on begain to crumble, presumably due to the rock fall. This in a nutshell remains the case today, the pillar is still there and is still fractured but seems fairly strong due to the tons of rubble that now bury its base. The wall on the left which forms the entrance to the Westwall traverse is crumbling into the rake at an increasing speed. The entrance to the West Wall traverse is a dangerous scramble now on very loose rock. All this rubble gathers at the top of the rake and tumbles down the length at regular intervals, at some stage the whole of the left hand wall will collapse and this to will all fall down the rake. I go to take these pictures, but I wear a helmet and hug the right hand wall all the way up, on all the occasions I have been into the rake to take photographs I have seen rocks falling down the gully and have twice narrowly avoided being hit. Advice then is leave well alone and find another route, if you must go up the Rake, wear a helmet and make sure there is no one ahead of you who may knock loose rock down onto you Update 17 November 2005 The situation in the rake remains as below, however with the freezing winter conditions now upon the fells there has been some recent rock falls, mainly from the crumbling area to the left of the leaning tower. The advice remains the same, avoid the rake and find alternative routes. This advice is particularly important at this time of year as the freeze thaw action will now dislodge a lot of loose rock. Update 4 July 2005 The situation in the rake continues to progress , with he boulder shown below still present but not now being the main area of concern. After a recent trip up the rake the problem observed now is one of a huge amount of loose rock and a readily available supply of crumbling rock present to restock the loose stuff when it tumbles down the length of the rake. The leaning boulder now seems stable after rock has built up at its base but the right hand wall above the entrance to the West Wall Traverse is eroding badly and looks set to put a large amount of rock into the rake, which of course will tumble down the rake itself. While in the rake myself alone I witnessed at least 3 large rocks bounce down the rake with no one to have dislodged them. With this is mind then the advice to leave the area alone must remain still as I can't see the situation improving rapidly.
Update 14 April 2005 No Change. The National Trust are advising that people still use alternative routes up Scafell. The Rake appears to be suffering continuing movement with a considerable amount of loose, friable rock in the rake itself and even more looking set to tumble down the length Update 14 March 2005 The National Trust are advising that people still use alternative routes up Scafell. The Rake appears to be suffering continuing movement with a considerable amount of loose, friable rock in the rake itself and even more looking set to tumble down the length Update 28 Jan 2005 The rake seems to remain much as it has for the last few months, BUT it is still very unstable and very loose and alternative routes are still being advised Update 25 October 2004 The rake has now began to stabilise in terms of not getting any worse or indeed any better! There is still a lot of loose rock and the National Trust is still advising taking alternative routes. Update 18 September 2004 The sitaution in Lord's Rake remains difficult with a lot of loose rock and a ready supply of crumbling cliffs providing a supply of new rubble. Advice is still to avoid using the path and find alternative routes. I will report back when this changes and will include some new photos very soon Update 25 August 2004 Apart from some slight settling of the rubble the rake still remains in an unstable state and advice is to continue using alternative routes Update 7 July 2004 The bad news is that the situation remains the same with a lot of loose rock continually falling down the rake, the top of which is now hardly recognisable. New photos to follow soon Update 23 June 04 The rake remains unstable with more loose rock coming down its length all the time, the warning signs at the bottom have been buried but are still there! Best avoided still Update 06 June 2004 The rake continues to fill up with loose boulders coming from the entrance wall of the West Wall Traverse. It seems to run in cycles of filling up with loose rock which then tumbles down the rake leaving it clear, only then to fill up over the course of the next week. The area is very loose, with some large loose rubble poised ready to fall, the National Trust are advising walkers to find an alternative route. Lord's Rake updated 22 May 2004 More bad news I'm afraid, over the course of the last 2 weeks the situation in the rake has once again got worse. The wall to the right of the West Wall Traverse just under the perched boulder has continued to collapse into the rake itself. This means that there is now a huge amount of loose rock in the rake, which looks full of debris now. Old features such as rock steps and even the warning sign telling of the rock fall have been buried under the rubble. Advice is leave well alone until all this new rock has had chance to make its way down the rake. I wouldn't go in without a helmet and only then if I absolutely had to. Take care
Photos thanks to Andy Fellwalker
Lord's Rake Rockfall (Updated 1 May 2004) As of 1 May 2004 the situation in Lord's Rake is as described in the old news articles below except to note that the continued collapse of the West Wall Traverse entry wall means there is a lot of loose rubble being deposited in the top of the rake and the National Trust's advice to find an alternative route continues. The detached pillar of rock remains standing and looks fairly solid at the moment although its base is eroding. The following Flash movie below shows the pictures taken 1 May 2004, older pictures are available below Please allow time for the movie to load..... Lord's Rake Rockfall (Updated 16 April 2004)
NEW ROCK FALL IN LORD'S RAKE *(As of 16 April 2004 the situation remains the same with the large amounts of loose rock gathering at the top of the rake, more photos to follow) * Last year there was a rock fall in Lord's Rake on Scafell, which left a large detached pillar of rock at the top of the first rise of the Rake. The situation then worsened when the wall against which the pillar was leaning also started to subside with large crack developing . Well as of 2 March 2004 it looks like that wall, which is too the left of the entrance to the West Wall Traverse, has now started to collapse into the Rake just below and on the detached pillar. At the moment the rock and soil which has slid down from the wall is frozen to the floor of the Rake, but once thawed will no doubt trundle down its length. Warning signs remain in place suggesting that walkers take alternative routes and certainly for the near future this will be very good advice! I will monitor the progression as the weather changes and will post more photos towards the weekend, be beware there is now a lot of loose and unstable rock which is held in place by the ice only, and its forecast to get warmer. Above the new rubble lying behind the block and below the frozen rock and soil ready to tumble down the rake
Lord's Rake Rockfall (Updated 2 March 2004)
NEW ROCK FALL, More photos to follow asap It has been reported that there has now been further rock fall in Lord's Rake on Scafell.The right hand wall at the top of the first rise in the rake has now fallen into the top of the rake, this wall which forms the right hand side of the entrance to the West Wall Traverse had suffered some major slippage last year and looks to have now collapsed completely. The result is that there is now a large amount of rubble and soil frozen together at the top of the rake which looks likely to tumble down its length once it thaws out. I hope to have some photos and further description by the end of today so watch the space. In the mean time with warmer weather set to arrive this week it will be an area best avoided. Last year the scramble route to the summit of Scafell from Hollowstones, known as Lord's Rake was hit by a rockfall which left a huge loose pillar of detached rock poised above the route and a lot of loose rock scattered throughout its length. Because of this the land owner the National Trust has been advising people of the situation in order for the walkers to judge for themselves the danger and possibley rethink their route as a consequence. I have been monitoring the situation ever since and the report below outlines the current position of the rake as of 2 November 2003. At the top of the first rise of Lord's Rake, just after the West Wall Traverse path a large pillar of rock has detached itself from the surrounding rock and now stands leaning over the rake. The rock itself is shattered and loose and is likely to collapse completely at some time, this area has been further compounded by two further rock fall which have left a substantial amount of loose rock in the top of Lord's Rake. While investigating the rock falls above it was noticed that the whole of the wall to the right of the detached block is itself slipping from the rock and fracturing. A large slippage crack has emerged as the whole of the wall above the start of the West Wall Traverse is slowly crumbling into Lord's Rake. The pictures below show the slippage crack with the bottom one taken on the 2 November 2003
The leaning pillar and the wall of slipping rock will collapse into the Rake at
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