Elterwater village, Great Langdale, Blea Tarn, Little Langdale, Three Shires Inn, Furness fells, Tarn Hows, Tom Heights (right) Coniston. 

 OS Explorer Maps OL6 and OL7, The English Lakes, SW and SE areas. Start: Elterwater. Distance 11 to 12 miles, Pubs: Britannia Elterwater, New Dungeon Ghyll and Old Dungeon Ghyll Great Langdale, Three Shires Little Langdale, several in Coniston.  

Coniston has a plethora, a veritable cornucopia, of boozers - some good, some great, some bad - and can even add a Co-op where you can buy booze by the bottle for off-door consumption.
The pubs sell food of varying quality, there’s also a chippy (quality unknown) AND a general store that sells pies, pasties etc. Last time we were there the Co-op sold scratchings.
No wonder Coniston is popular. It’s a Keswick without the crowds, though it’s rarely quiet.
Coniston has been the venue for the RWC annual gentlemen’s walking weekend for several years, the twin rooms (not double, none of that funny stuff for us manly types) on offer clinched it at first. The beer was a bonus.
Instead of starting from Coniston, we hailed a passing black cab (well, we pre-booked an eight-seater from Hawkshead actually) and were dropped off outside the Britannia at Elterwater before setting of on an 11-mile back to base.
With the Britannia on the right, go downhill, cross the bridge and turn sharp right, alongside Great Langdale Beck.
Follow the footpath (it’s the Cumbria Way) uphill, the route fairly obvious, and soon re-cross the beck on a wooden footbridge. Join the B5343 road and within 100yd, turn left onto a FP-signed track and after 200 yards (a bit like a metre, but less common) turn left at the t-junction with farm track. With  Thrang Farm and cottages on the left, through a small gate, follow a narrow path for 75yd then turn left at a broad track.
Turn left and cross the beck again, bear right an follow track parallel to the beck for 3/4mile.
When path turns right to cross the beck again, keep left then bear right with beck still on right.
Follow path along the contour, keep Side House farm to the left, and eventually meet the road opposite the car park.
On the left of the car park follow the footpath to the Old Dungeon Ghyll pub car park and cross the beck to the road, turn right, then quickly turn left as the road climbs to the south.
At the trees, take the footpath on the left through a campsite through two sets of trees and climb an easily-seen zig-zag path to meet the road at a tight bend. Walk on the path with the road on your right to a cattle grid. Blea Tarn should be visible down on the right, follow the track on the right yards before the grid.
It’s easy to follow past Blea Tarn on the left, through trees and downhill through a very clarty Blea Moss for ¾ mile to a minor road.
Turn left and follow the road downhill for ½ mile, passing Fell Foot Farm on right. Ignore the flat stone bridge on the right and follow the road as it bends left, then take the track on right on a hump-back bridge over the River Brathay.
Follow straight on to cross Greenburn Beck, with Bridge End cottage building on the left, bear left and follow the track for ½ mile. Where the track forks, go left through Low Garth group of cottages. The path now levels out and after 250 yards turn left through a wooden gate, descend 100yd and go over the ridiculously picturesque Slater Bridge, fork right to follow the path to track to a minor road, turn right to Three Shires, where the beer is good but the service very callow.
We recommend at least three pints, after which turn left along the road, take the footpath on the right and at the Stang End junction, turn left and after 1/3 mile at High Park, ignore the path on left and stay on the track as it bears right.
Follow this track with woods on the left to the A593, turn right on the path with the road on the left, for 1/4 mile, cross the road and take the climbing track on the left next to a cottage. Follow this for about ½ mile to stile/gate in the wall on the right and follow the path with the water of Tarn Hows on the left.
At the dam as the footpath crosses the stream, turn right with the stream on left and follow the steep and at times slippery path down to the car park in trees next to the A593. Turn right along the road and in 100 yards take the footpath on the left, following it to Tarn Hows Cottage, where you are  back on the Cumbria Way. Follow this through woods to meet a stream on the right. Follow the well-signed Cumbria Way to Coniston.