At Mill Bridge the Tongue Gill funnels beneath the A591 before making its final, hurried descent to the River Rothay at Low Mill Bridge, barely two hundred yards downstream. From its high origins on Hause Moss the gill has carved a steep, boulder-strewn course, rushing through a sequence of opaque white cascades that gather force as they plunge into the narrow wooded channel below. Here, the water pummels its way between rock and root in a continuous surge, completing the last chapter of its journey from the high ground above Grasmere.

Leaving Mill Bridge, the Coast to Coast route slips beside the line of terraced cottages and follows a narrow private lane northwards towards Little Tongue and Great Tongue. Beyond the farm buildings at Broadrayne, the path meets a sturdy wooden footbridge spanning the fast water of Tongue Gill. From here a faint, overgrown trod climbs the opposite bank towards Tonguegill Force, threading through bracken and alder as it shadows the noise of the falls upstream. Across the bridge the valley opens slightly, offering the first close view of the gill as it begins its enclosed rise toward Grisedale Hause.

Above Broadrayne, the Tongue Gill drives through a narrow belt of woodland, slipping from pool to pool in a quick succession of clear, lively cascades. Viewed from the footbridge below the ford, the gill reveals its busy character—short drops over ribbed bedrock, frothing chutes between moss-lined boulders, and restless pockets of white water caught beneath overhanging ash and alder. It is a brief but spirited section of the valley, where the gill gathers pace before the steep climb towards Little Tongue begins.

Set beneath the Coast to Coast path near High Broadrayne, Tonguegill Force occupies a tucked-away cleft on the far side of the valley. The waterfall lies directly below the point where the track loops left and then right, dropping almost vertically into a narrow ravine that remains concealed until the walker is almost upon it. From above, the gill can be traced climbing towards its upper reaches, but here it gathers itself in a sudden plunge—white water falling into a shadowed bowl cut deep between rock, fern, and the steep, enclosing walls of the gorge. It is one of Tongue Gill’s most dramatic yet least visible features.

From the shallow ford at the foot of Great Tongue, the view opens down the valley towards the brink of Tonguegill Force, where the main gill gathers itself before plunging into the hidden ravine below. This is also the point where Tongue Gill absorbs the quieter waters of Little Tongue Gill, the two streams merging in a lively confluence beneath the rising slopes of the ridge. The vantage offers a rare glimpse of the upper lip of the falls—an energetic knot of white water framed by bracken, crags, and the steep-sided hollow that shields the Force from sight further downstream.

From the ford beneath Great Tongue, a small wooden bridge crosses the Tongue Gill and marks the point where walkers may leave the main valley and take the alternative Coast to Coast line towards Hause Gap. Crossing here leads onto the narrower trod that climbs the Tongue Gill flank, a rougher but rewarding ascent with close views into the upper gill. The traditional route continues straight ahead, following the broader path up the centre of Little Tongue, part of the old packhorse route that once threaded this valley on its way to Grisedale Tarn. The bridge therefore forms a natural decision point, dividing the older highway from the quieter hillside path above the gill.

High on Fairfield Brow, a small spring marks the beginning of Tongue Gill, the first clear thread of water gathering on the upper slopes before being joined by feeder streams from Hause Moss, Great Rigg, and Hause Riggs. These rivulets converge to form a single, energetic beck that quickly carves its course downhill, shaping the narrow valley between Great Tongue and Great Rigg. From these exposed origins the gill accelerates into a steep, enclosed drainage, carrying the high fells’ rainfall through a succession of channels and hollows before descending towards the wooded lower slopes above Grasmere.