Watches
Watches at 333m (1,093ft) is a Birkett top on the western flanks of the Skiddaw massif above the Bassenthwaite valley, giving views across Bassenthwaite Lake and north towards the Solway. Part of the broad, lower fell country on the north-western side of the Skiddaw group.
Summit conditions on Watches
On the summit on Tuesday 27 October: 13° to 8°C, gusts to 56 mph, 11.9 mm of rain forecast over the whole day, midnight to midnight.
The forecast figures are Open-Meteo’s, worked out for the summit’s height. How we check →
Routes up Watches
Hand-mapped, with GPX to download — full maps further down.
A long round on the northern fells over Great Cockup, Great Sca Fell, Knott and Little Calva — 23.9 km and 1,316 m, with a steepest sustained pull of about 27% on the short climb to Cockup.
Distance and climb are measured from the route’s GPX track, and the time from them by Naismith’s rule; the route page says what each grade rests on. How we check →
How hard is Watches?
The shortest way up we hold is Cockup at the White Hause and other Birketts — 23.91 km, 1316 m of ascent, ~6¾–9½ h. On our scale its hardest axis is distance — Severe.
All axes: length: Severe · steepness: Hard · navigation: Moderate · terrain: Not assessed · exposure: Not assessed.
These are the route page’s grades, set by the rules on how we grade: length and steepness measured from its GPX track, the others set on the ground, judged from the map or estimated from OpenStreetMap. The route page says which. How we check →
Conditions and 7-day summit forecast
Modelled for the 333 m summit (Open-Meteo). Check the Met Office mountain forecast and MWIS before you set off.
Full 7-day forecast
Taken 27 October 2026, 20:59 UTC; the live forecast replaces it when it loads. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (opens in new tab)
Parking & buses for Watches
Parking
Route starts first, then the car parks nearest the summit, which are not always a way up.
2 more places to park near Watches
Positions are approximate.
Vehicles are left at their owner’s risk: we list places people park and cannot vouch for any of them. Take valuables with you and leave nothing on show.
Buses
The 553, 554 and X4 stop at Bassenthwaite, opposite High Side Farm. From there it is 2.5 km and 142 m of ascent to the start of Cockup at the White Hause and other Birketts — a route we rate Severe overall (hardest: distance) — a walk in before the walk. And the same back: about 28.9 km in all, with the walk. As timetabled from 27 October to 1 November. Towards Carlisle (553): Saturday and Sunday 18:24 only. Towards Wigton (554): Tuesday to Friday 18:13; Saturday 20:43; Sunday 16:23. Towards Workington (X4): Tuesday to Saturday 20:28 only. Checked against the operator’s timetable, 7 September 2026. Times here are a guide, not a promise — leave yourself more than the minute.
Rural routes change seasonally — confirm on stagecoachbus.com (opens in new tab) or Traveline before relying on a last bus.
Getting there across the Lake District: Buses · Parking map · By train · By boat
Hazards on Watches
Notes from a planned route, not walked: Cockup at the White Hause and other Birketts
- The Cockup–White Hause–Little Cockup ground is pathless rough grazing and heather edge — expect fences and gates to dictate the line low down, and no trail underfoot higher up.
If you need to get off (the leg from Cockup): Retreat: You are now adjacent to the valley floor. We have not checked a line down from here for this guide, so none is offered here; the route itself continues to the valley lanes.
Quoted from the route page of a planned route, drawn from the map and not yet walked: its warnings and the note for the leg that reaches Watches.
We have not written a hazard card for this fell yet, and that is not a sign that it is low-hazard. Read the warnings on the route pages that climb it, check the forecast, carry a map and compass, and turn back in cloud if the ground is not what you expected. The National Park Authority’s What to pack page, AdventureSmart’s hill walking kit list and Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s safety page are linked from our what to carry guide.
If you need Mountain Rescue
Dial 999 or 112 and ask for the Police, then Mountain Rescue.
Before you call, have ready: where you are (a grid reference if you can – the OS Locate app shows yours on your phone), what has happened, how many of you there are, and your mobile number.
Then stay where you are until the rescue team contacts you.
If you cannot make a voice call because of a hearing or speech impairment, emergency SMS works only if you have registered first: text “register” to 999.
From Mountain Rescue England and Wales’s guidance on calling them out (opens in new tab) (read 26 October 2026).
Map, GPX and nearby Birketts
Skip mapFree mapping: OpenTopoMap / OpenStreetMap, with SRTM elevation data (switch layers top-right).
Parking, toilets and buses: Parking & buses ↑.
Birketts within 3 km of Watches
These Birkett tops are not Wainwright summits. Distances are straight lines: check the ground and access on a map before adding one.
Routes over Watches
Download GPX Planned route · not yet walked
Every line here is a guide, not a guarantee — conditions change. Navigate for yourself and carry a map and compass. How to use this guide.
About Watches
My Strava hikes over Watches
1 logged hike pass over this summit:
- 102nd Wainwright including Ullock and Skiddaw (opens in new tab) — 13.7 km · 1152 m ascent · 3h 43m moving · 15 June 2025
Data from Strava.
Classifications & hill data
Is Watches a Wainwright?
Watches is not a Wainwright. It is on the Birkett list and the Synge list.
Selected lists
This is the summit’s grid reference. If you call from anywhere else, give your own position, not this one.
Lists, height and summit position from the Database of British and Irish Hills; the feet are converted from its metres and the grid reference from that position. How we check →
Places to stay near this fell
- Bassenfell Manor Christian Centre (opens in new tab) hostelabout 3.1 km
- Puddleduck Cottages (opens in new tab) guest houseabout 1.9 km
We have not stayed at any of them. We take no bookings or affiliate fees. Distances are straight lines from each route start, never walking times. Properties found via OpenStreetMap (opens in new tab).