The Aughton Park Two

Aughton Park is my local railway station and from either the cutting where the tracks run, or the road bridge above at “ground” height, two hills can be seen.  To the south-west, the prominent summit in view is Moel Famau.  To the north-east, the rounded hill is Totridge, which rises above the village of Dunsop Bridge in the Forest of Bowland.

For some time, I thought that it would be an unusual day out to climb both of these.

From Bwlch Pen Barras, the amount of ascent required to reach Moel Famau is less than any other start point, with it being at an altitude of just over 350 metres.  The way up is obvious and on this summer’s day no navigational skills were required, with the summit tower being in sight for most of the way and the route was very popular with walkers of all ages, from babies being carried in slings or pushed in prams to the more senior in age.

Moel Famau trig point

towards Bwlch Pen Barras

After a couple of rests I reached the trig point, painted in Welsh colours, and then climbed one of the sets of steps to the tower top to take in the fullest view.  I left the summit to the masses and even taking with a leisurely walk up and a reasonable amount of time at the summit I managed the round trip in well under 2 hours.

Moel Famau tower

Moel Famau

The drive northwards, once off the M6, was through some wonderful countryside through Clitheroe, Newton and Dunsop Bridge to a car park just before Hareden, significantly less popular than the morning’s Welsh equivalent.

I walked through the farm and turned on to the bridleway leading over Riggs Plantation and up towards Mellor Knoll.  There wasn’t much of a clear path but the ground was well-shorn pasture and quite easy going under the sunny sky.  I followed the permissive path marked on the Ordnance Survey Explorer map which led to open access land and the steepening slope towards the summit.

There was a path, not always clear, that zig-zagged to the summit plateau before making its way through dry peat hags to the trig point.  I also made sure to stand on the highest hag marking the true summit of Totridge, just a few metres away.

Totridge summit

Totridge trig point

From the top, the Yorkshire Three Peaks could be seen and the view towards Pendle Hill was probably the most impressive.

Pendle Hill from Totridge

Totridge slopes

the final slope up to Totridge

Neither of the day’s summits were on my ticklist resulting in an alternative day out.  The objectives, combined for a single day, were esoteric and would not make much logical sense to the vast majority of walkers, but because of my own sense of the unusual, I managed to find an enjoyable and rewarding day out.

Goodbye to the Dales

At the start of this year I had six summits remaining on my ticklist that were in, or very close to the border of, the Yorkshire Dales.  My two previous walks had bagged four of those tops and the thought of doing the third walk appealed as its completion would mark a milestone in my bagging quest and I could move on to another area.

At a misty Lamps Moss layby I donned my boots on and reset my GPS primed before starting on the narrow path and over the limestone pavement leading to Dukerdale.  There was no clear path on the ground and a bit of meandering was needed until reaching a fingerpost at a track above Rollinson Gill.  Continuing eastwards over boggy ground and peat hags led upwards into thickening mist, heading to the plateau and on to White Mossy Hill.  I located the highpoint, marked by a couple of small embedded boulders.  Despite the poor visibility there was definitely no higher ground to create any doubt about where the summit was.

Following a track northwards I soon reached some flagstones, laid to combat erosion, and then the path junction at the county border marking the seasonal variations of the Coast-to-Coast path.

the Yorkshire - Cumbria boundary

The trig point is not quite the highest point of Nine Standards Rigg so I looked for the small cairn just to the south-east.  Although not technically within the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the Rigg was the last of my ticklist summits within the Yorkshire Dales area.

Nine Standards Rigg trig point

I moved on towards the toposcope commemorating the wedding of the (then) Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer, erected by the Kirkby Stephen Fell Search Team.

Nine Standards Rigg toposcope

But the highlight of the walk is at the northern end of the Rigg – the Nine Standards.  The still poor visibility didn’t detract from how impressive the cairns were and it is a place to linger to appreciate the stone artistry.  The possibility of a revisit, unlike many of the Dales’ summits, is very likely.

most of the Nine Standards

I dropped down to Rollinson Gill, trying my best to keep my feet dry and rejoined the path above the previously visited fingerpost before retracing my steps back to Lamps Moss.

Although I had completed my Dales ticklist, since I had previously visited Green Hill, an updated survey had “moved” the summit.  So, for the sake of accuracy, I drove down to Leck Fell, put on my boots again and started along the shooters’ track.  At the shooting hut, the track continues for a short while, before a cross-country ascent over rougher ground to reach the ridge.

I followed the wall to the “old” summit and the spot height before climbing over the wall to reach the “new” summit, now firmly situated in Yorkshire.  And now, my ticklist summits in the Dales had no ambiguity about whether I could claim them all.

Gragareth from Green Hill

Along the ridge to Gragareth was straightforward and just before the trig point I met a young man who was holding a Nuttalls guidebook.  He had visited the trig but I pointed out to him that the trig wasn’t the summit.  He headed for the small cairn marking the true highpoint and then waved over to me in thanks.  I touched the trig and made my way to the cairn before taking a beeline down to the Three Men of Gragareth, a group of three cairns now rivalled by a similar group just to the north.  A final descent over the screes to the lane completed my Yorkshire Dales walks.

Gragareth trig point

Three Imposters of Gragareth

Three Men of Gragareth