Three Final Fellrangers

 This was my first outing of 2020 as lockdown restrictions relaxed after the initial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic decreased.  It was quite easy to choose an objective as the Fellrangers list had been updated by their compiler Mark Richards.  Three new summits had been added to the Cicerone guidebooks as a result of the expansion of the Lake District National Park towards the Lune Gap of the M6. 

looking north through the Lune Gap

Overlooking the Westmorland Borrowdale, Grayrigg Forest, Whinfell Beacon and Winterscleugh were the new summits on the list.  I had already completed the original list of 227 but I wanted to tick these three fells so that I could still claim a completion.

From the Hause Bridge layby on the A685 I started up the ridge that separates Little Coum from Great Coum.  This was quite boggy low down but as the slope steepened to what looked like a green plod it turned out to be an incline of hidden rocks with the gaps filled in with vegetation; this is not a slope to be descended unless quite a bit of care is taken.

Great Coum and Grayrigg Forest

There were a number of minor summits at the top of the ridge on Grayrigg Pike but I decided to follow the path to the first Fellranger of the day – Grayrigg Forest.  From the trig point the radio masts were clear to see and I strolled along the broad ridge towards them and continued over boggy ground to Whinfell Beacon.  I tapped the top of the cairn and stood on the small mound that was the true highpoint and carried on across Whinfell Common, passing between the multiple summits of Old High and Castle Fell to the southern boundary of Mabbin Crag’s forest.

Grayrigg Forest trig point

Whinfell Beacon summit

The way through the forest was easy to follow but very wet and muddy in places.  Emerging from the trees, I saw an old stone hut which although looked in reasonably sturdy condition, had a roof that had seen better days.  A little bit of work would make this a better bothy than some I know of.  The way to the top of Mabbin Crag was clear of trees as was the continuation to Ashstead Fell.

Mabbin Crag "bothy"

Rocky ground is in short supply on the ridge but the well-trodden path leading to the summit of Ashstead Fell followed a narrow rake through the short rock band.  Definitely a scramble, albeit an easy one, this was the day’s only clear opportunity to get hands on rock.  A relaxing stroll followed as the weather improved before the descent to Borrow Beck was reached.

I had a long rest at the Borrow Beck stepping stones before making quick progress up the Breasthigh Road to reach Borrowdale Edge.  This ridge is much less undulating than its southern counterpart and has a wide-open feel to it.

Whinash is the first significant summit east of Breasthigh Road but its featureless and flat top does little to inspire.  However Winterscleugh has terrain that is more deserving of “summit” status, with its small outcrop, modest cairn and super views across to Cross Fell and neighbouring northern Pennines.

Winterscleugh summit looking towards Cross Fell

Winterscleugh was the final of the day’s Fellrangers and also marked my second completion!  There was no celebration and because I was tired I decided to drop to the valley floor at the earliest convenient point which turned out to be the bridleway at the col below Belt Howe, from where I took a fairly direct line down to Borrow Beck and started along the track back towards the Lune Gap.

Three New Fellrangers

The Fellrangers is a list of Lake District Fells first detailed in the eight “Fellranger” guidebooks written by Mark Richards and published by Cicerone.  There were (note the tense!) 227 of them and I completed them in 2013.

There is a lot of overlap between this list and the Wainwrights and that shouldn’t some as too much of a surprise as Mark was somewhat of a protégé of Alfred Wainwright; anybody ticking the Wainwrights wouldn’t have to expend much more effort to complete the more modern list.  But, as is so often with guidebooks, the routes to the summits subtly change and revision is required to keep the information current.

The guidebooks are currently in the middle of such a revision process and the first two (“Wasdale” and “Langdale”) were published in late 2019.  In the back of each of them is a list of the Fellrangers and the new volumes in which the summits are or will be detailed.  And there are 230 of them!

So, having completed a list I find out that now I haven’t!  But what are the differences between the old and the new?

It didn’t take long to work out, but it really is as simple as the addition of three new summits.  All three are on the Borrowdale watershed, not the famous valley that feeds Derwentwater, but the lesser known Westmorland namesake that can be found between the A6 and the M6, leading into the River Lune.  It’s part of the extension to the Lake District National Park that occurred in August 2016.

The three new summits are Grayrigg Forest, Whinfell Beacon and Winterscleugh.  The first two are on the southern watershed and the third is on the north and they can be ticked in one walk with Richards’ new “Mardale and the Far East” guidebook detailing such a route. 

Now all I have to do is take a trip up north to complete the Fellrangers – again!