An Easy Return

There are periods in your life when circumstances and responsibilities at home and work conspire to prevent the pursuit of personal ambitions.  It had been 15 months since my last outing and I knew that my fitness had diminished significantly over that time.

I had been looking at my ticklist and searched for a very easy and very short walk to ease me back into the hills.  The north Pennines has some reasonably flat moorland with some of the highest roads in the country so with starting points promising walks with very little ascent, I parked at Allendale Pass and set off for Middlehope Moor.

I crossed the stile leading to the open moorland and followed the quad track alongside the wall and then the fence, avoiding some minor bogs when required.  I noticed my heavy breathing on this gentle slope, a strong indication of how much fitness that I had lost.

I crested the final slope and the cairn came in to view.  It was one of the most attractive I’ve seen, slender and waist-height, sat amongst moorland with no obvious source of stones other than some nearby walls.  Although the summit of Middlehope Moor is recognised as being some insignificant “heather” 20 metres away, I used my GPS to reassure myself that I could properly claim this Nuttall.

Middlehope Moor summit cairn

I returned to the car by mostly retracing my way up and my lack of fitness was reinforced by the fact that the out and back route took twice as long as my own adaption of Naismith’s rule would suggest and what’s worse is that my version of the rule can be quite pessimistic for such short walks.

Although the views were hazy and the wind being described by Francis Beaufort as a moderate breeze, the weather was that of a nice summer’s day.  I drove north to Allenheads and then turned west towards Nenthead.  Although it would be horribly bleak in poor weather, I thought that this area was very picturesque, probably more so than the Yorkshire Dales, and looking very similar to the Lowther hills, another area with a significant mining history.

This minor walk has reinforced my desire to walk the high places of the country and it certainly won’t be very long until I return.