Pendle Hill

It's not always the highest hill in a county that becomes its touchstone.  Gragareth is the highest point in the post-1974 Lancashire and many Lancastrians don't even know the fact, let alone visit the summit.  Before the county boundary was redrawn the highest in Lancashire was The Old Man of Coniston which is far more popular and a more fitting mountain to have such status.  But possibly more famous than either is Pendle Hill, which in the public consciousness is obviously Lancastrian.  Wreathed in mystery and legend it is, probably more than any other, Lancashire's hill.

A popular day out, Pendle Hill is within easy reach of the M65 corridor from Preston to Colne Burnley as well as the cities of Liverpool, Manchester, Lancaster and even Bradford.  It is prominent but has a modest height, just 173 feet short of "mountain" status.

I stopped at Newchurch in Pendle at "Witches Galore", a shop making the most of the local history, however gruesome.  I didn't succumb to the themed miscellanea but I did buy a large scale map of Pendle Hill which was shortly to be put to good use.

I parked the car in the parish council car park in Barley and started on the Witches Trail up to and past Lower Ogden Reservoir.  The path is quiet as it is the "back way" onto Pendle Hill and a good view of the lower reservoir can be gained from Upper Ogden Reservoir.  At Boar Clough the path turns and heads steadfastly uphill on an eroded sandy path to the summit plateau.

Upper Ogden Reservoir dam

the big sky at Pendle Hill summit

The trig point stands in the middle of a cobbled circle and the summit's isolation from other high ground ensures good views.  I walked north to a stone shelter – it looked like a fairly recent construction – before heading south on the pitched path that cuts diagonally across the escarpment towards Pendle House, before following the Pendle Way back to a full car park in Barley.

On my descent I passed a lot of people heading uphill on what was the most obvious route to the summit, enjoying the sunny half-term afternoon.  Most were not what you would call hillwalkers with assorted families and groups of friends heading skywards.  In one group of teenagers a girl in goth makeup was slowly making her way up in shoes with 4-inch thick soles.  One young boy was powering his way up the path bemoaning the incline with the comment of "man, I'm diabetic!"  Obviously a hill for the people, it was good to see all ages and ethnicities enjoying the outdoors.

Gragareth Revisited

I’d been up here before I added the Moss and Wright lists to my own seemingly never-ending ticklist and with those lists came Gragareth North Top and Green Hill South Top, both of which I might have walked over on the previous visit but I couldn’t be sure.

Eight of us plus Pebbles the dog started the walk from Leck Fell and headed uphill into the fog towards the Three Men of Gragareth.  The cairns made for a welcome photo opportunity, particularly for three women, before we walked to the trig pillar and then the rather nondescript true summit of Gragareth which is marked by a small and unimpressive cairn.  Surely the highpoint of the county of Lancashire deserves something of grander stature!

Gragareth North Top lay just west of the path and was easily bagged although it was probable that I hadn’t previously been to that point.  Green Hill South Top lay on the path and no extra effort was needed with a high likelihood that this had been reached on earlier walk on these hills.

There was a fair amount of snow on the ground but nothing that merited the use of axe or crampons as the recent warm spell had ensured that the ground beneath was not frozen.  There were some colourful exclamations from party members when the occasional bog plunge occurred!  We followed the ridge to Green Hill, Great Coum and the trig point of Crag Hill before descending the broad spur to Bullpot Farm.  From there an easy path led to the bone-dry bed of Ease Gill before we trudged up the long heathery slope of Leck Fell to the cars.

Inevitably, the group was keen for post-walk refreshment and quite by accident we found The Royal Barn in Kirkby Lonsdale, home of the eponymous brewery, where the fine selection of ales and dog-friendly bar provided a very welcoming atmosphere.

A Lancashire Inversion

The drive up the M6 and then over to Ingleton was largely in fog but it had mostly cleared by the time I had reached the layby just past the Hill Inn.  A look up to Ingleborough revealed only sparse snow cover so I decided to leave behind my ice-axe and crampons.

The start of the walk is a gentle stroll through fields until a path of flagstones and duckboards crossed the open moorland.  Although well-made, the flagged path was iced over because water had seeped over the edges and frozen.  To avoid the ice and inevitable injury I had to walk on the frozen vegetation on either side, somewhat negating the value of the work done to prevent erosion !

As I gained height, the lower slopes started to disappear under cloud with only the highest tops being seen clearly in the bright sunshine.  I reached the start of the steep final slope and started to regret leaving behind the crampons as the path was completely iced.

I had to take a lot of care to reach the top and passed a couple descending with some trepidation, the young lady deciding that the easiest way to get down was on her bottom.  I didn’t feel that an ice-axe was needed as my poles helped my stability but if I had brought my crampons I would have put them on; the path was treacherous.

Pen-y-ghent

Whernside

At the plateau I turned toward the summit of Ingleborough which was just an easy stroll away.  The hills to the east could be clearly seen with Pen-y-ghent prominent.  Whernside poked out above the clouds and both the Scafell and Helvellyn ranges in the Lake District were easily identifiable.  But to the south, Lancashire was completely covered in cloud making it the most extensive inversion I’ve ever seen.

the Lake District

I was pleasantly surprised to find a topograph mounted on the pillar at the centre of the cruciform shelter.  I had not seen this on my previous visit and speaking to a friend about it later revealed that he didn’t know about it either, despite more than one visit to the summit.  Such is the advantage of always visiting the highest point !

The walk to the top of Simon Fell was a simple jaunt and I was soon needing to make a decision about where to descend of the plateau to avoid the ascent path.  I picked a point a few hundred yards east of the icy path and easily made my way down to Humphrey Bottom and onto the flags and duckboards once again.

Simon Fell from Ingleborough

Ingleborough from Simon Fell

Lancashire’s Highest Point

Until the 1974 county boundary changes of 1974, Lancashire had a highpoint worthy of such a great and historic county, but The Old Man of Coniston was wrenched from the grasp of the red rose and placed firmly within the manufactured county of Cumbria.  The new highpoint was Gragareth, a much less worthy mountain, only a stone’s throw from Lancashire’s arch-rival – Yorkshire.

In recent years, there has been some debate as to the true county top with Green Hill claiming the honour with a published spot height just 1 metre superior to that of Gragareth.  But a recent GPS survey has conclusively determined that Gragareth is actually the true top.

The Three Men of Gragareth

From the parking area just short of Fell House I could see The Three Men of Gragareth and set off towards them, avoiding the worst of the boulder fields.  Close to them was an impressive alcove shelter which could be likened to a hollowed-out cairn but it was too early to consider using it for a rest.  As the mist enveloped me I aimed for the trig point and soon reached it.  But this is not the true summit.  I walked east for 100 metres to a small cairn marking the top and felt a tinge of disappointment that a county summit could be marked by such a small pile of stones.

Gragareth summit cairn

The impressive drystone wall that follows the county boundary led to the summit of Green Hill, an equally unimpressive summit that I soon left behind.  The junction of the old counties of Lancashire, Westmorland and the West Riding of Yorkshire is marked by the “County Stone” which is almost overwhelmed by the walls that meet at it and if you didn’t already know about it, its significance would easily be overlooked.  Great Coum was only a short distance away and quickly bagged as was Crag Hill, its trig point looming out of the mist amidst a promise of clearing skies.

Crag Hill trig point

I contoured around the head of the Ease Gill valley and despite the recent freezing conditions still managed to go knee deep into bog !  Resisting ticking Green Hill again, I took a bearing from the col between it and Gragareth to the shooter’s track clearly marked on the map.  Many brace of grouse flew away as I disturbed them while trying to avoid the worst of the groughs.

The track is one of the worst I’ve walked and would be a challenge for all but the hardiest 4x4 but the last kilometre or so was rewarded with a magnificent sunset over Morecambe Bay.

Morecambe Bay sunset