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.

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

A Tan Hill Wilderness

I thought that an early start would get me to the Tan Hill Inn at a quiet time but I hadn’t anticipated that the inn’s nearby parking areas would be so popular with campervans as an overnighting location.

The terrain surrounding the inn, although obviously hilly moorland, is largely gently undulating, making navigating using landmarks quite challenging.  It’s easy to follow, as I did, obvious tracks that go in the rough direction, but I soon had to correct myself to follow, at least approximately, the bridleway marked on the OS map.  A narrow path didn’t exactly follow the printed right-of-way, but as it headed in the roughly correct direction, it was easier to follow it than to stick rigidly to the OS’s delineation.

As I followed the path the day could best be described so far as grey.  At an abandoned mineshaft, thankfully made safe by a sturdy metal frame embedded into a concrete base at its top, I had a brief rest before continuing over Mirk Fell Edge before dropping to William Gill and following the bridleway to Great Scollit Hill.  It was now time to turn southwards and follow a beeline towards Water Crag.

There were lots of recently mown rectangles of moorland that, although a bit boggy, made walking a little easier.  I linked these alongside a line of grouse butts and made my way over Backstone Band to the trig point.  I thought that the shelter to the east perhaps looked a little higher so I walked there and back to make sure that I had reached the highest point.

Water Crag trig point

Although only about 2 kilometres away, Rogan’s Seat looked distant.  I headed to the fence and started following it.  The ground underfoot wasn’t brilliant but it could have been a lot worse before I reached the bulldozed track, no doubt put in place to enable grouse shooters to more easily atrophy their leg muscles!

To be fair, it was a welcome change to walk along the track but it wasn’t long before I left it to make my way toward the obvious peat hag that is the summit of Rogan’s Seat.  A small cairn marked the top and was decorated by 5 white painted pebbles.  Each had a name and a year; the obvious family name being “Rogan”.

I’m not a fan of this personal memorialisation of mountains.  The Great Gable memorial plaque is a different thing; it honours those who fell for the nation.  “Leave No Trace” is a mantra that is becoming increasingly promoted and followed and painted stones are becoming increasingly prevalent on summits, even ones as remote and infrequently visited as Rogan’s Seat.

Rogan's Seat summit cairn

Now at my farpoint and not overly appreciating the terrain traversed so far, I consulted the map to see if there was a more direct way back to Tan Hill.  Nothing was obvious so I resigned myself to retracing my steps.  I cut the corner before Water Crag and visited the “Pile of Stones” to the west of the summit but apart from that slight detour, the way back was a reversal of the way out.  Snack stops at William Gill and the mineshaft brought some respite from the uninspiring terrain, even though the sky was clearing and becoming much less dull.

The walk turned out to not fill the day so I took the chance to drive down West Stone Dale and up to Lamps Moss to scout out the parking for a future walk to Nine Standards Rigg.  In the afternoon sun, it was one of the most picturesque drives I have ever had.

Both sides of Buttertubs

The clocks had sprung forward and the weather forecast was cautiously optimistic so I took the chance to tick a couple of my remaining Yorkshire Dales Nuttalls.  Out of the six to choose from, I picked the nearest two and after a 90 mile drive I pulled in at the layby at the summit of Buttertubs Pass.

Buttertubs has the advantage of being over 1,700 feet above sea level so the ascent of two 2,000 feet summits would be that much easier than a normal Pennine sortie.  The first half mile was probably the boggiest of the walk up Great Shunner Fell.  Navigation was easy because of the meandering fences up to the summit but a couple of shortcuts could be taken by cutting some corners.  I imagined that the route would be devoid of crowds and I only saw six other walkers, all descending, as I made my way toward the top.

Great Shunner Fell summit shelter

The cruciform summit shelter is unusual as at the end of one of its arms is a trig point which is well disguised and could be quite easily missed by anyone who doesn’t know that the summit has been adorned by the usual Ordnance Survey stonework.  After taking a few photos I turned tail and headed back the way I came.  Back at Buttertubs I crossed the road and started uphill again.

Great Shunner Fell trig point

summit shelter & trig point

As with the other side of the road the early flatter ground was quite boggy but the ascending slope soon escaped the squelch.  Like the first leg of today’s walk, a wandering fenceline led to the top.

Great Shunner Fell from Lovely Seat

Lovely Seat is another summit with an unusual summit cairn.  I assume that the fell was named before the cairn was built and not because of the presence of an old stonework, but the cairn is a rocky throne which is a grand perch for those with a need for a regal rest and it presents an ideal photo opportunity before the uneventful descent to the top of the Buttertubs Pass.

Lovely Seat's lovely seat!

Scotland's Southernmost Mountain

A local guidebook of walks on Cairnsmore of Fleet describes the route I was to take with unabashed disdain.  It is dismissed as “a predictable plod”; it “runs the risk of tedium”; “is little more than chore”; is derided as “this most monotonous of routes” and each time it is followed “its tediousness grows no less”.

I can only assume that the old adage that “familiarity breeds contempt” is the reason behind the disparaging descriptions as I found the walk to have a variety of terrain not found in my recent visits to the Pennines and Yorkshire Dales.  It is also a more interesting route than many I have followed in the oft-praised mountains of the Lake District.

Cairnsmore of Fleet is the southernmost Scottish mountain, with a height of 711 metres (2,311 feet) ensuring its classification as both a Graham and a Donald.  From a distance, and specifically the view from the peninsula of The Machars reinforces this, this Galloway mountain is basically a lump.  But on closer inspection it has character.

the way up from the car park

From the car park the Cairnsmore estate track meandered its way slowly uphill.  A signpost indicated the way resulting in a short wooded walk accompanied by the many rhododendron bushes which added their purple brilliance to the verdant pathway.  Another short walk past the farm led to a gate and the first open country of the ascent; across a field to the base of the forest of Bardrochwood Moor.  The path continued to a forest road and a carved granite bench, a memorial to a Rosemary Pilkington.  I chatted with a couple who were on their way down and they told me that their energetic spaniel had been covered in ticks due to its excursions into the forest undergrowth.

in the forest of Bardrochwood Moor

the path through the forest of Bardrochwood Moor

the Rosemary Pilkington memorial bench

The path continued steadily uphill through a wide forest ride and emerged on to open hillside giving a clear view of the way ahead.  The breeze was at my back but no extra layers were needed as long as I kept moving.  Due to my relatively late start I saw quite a few people heading downhill but nobody else was in sight moving uphill.

The path was part pitched and was pleasant underfoot, especially up the zig-zags leading towards the summit plateau.  The gradient eased and the obvious block of a memorial to eight crashed aircraft and their 25 aircrew came into sight above the horizon.  The true summit is ground at the base of a nearby large cairn with the trig pillar just a very short stroll away, situated next to a small walled shelter.

memorial to 25 aircrew

the summit - memorial, cairn, shelter, trig point

summit triangulation pillar 

summit cairn, shelter & trig point

Cairnsmore of Fleet from Cairnsmore

The way down was simply the reverse of the ascent but despite this, the walk reinforced to me that guidebook descriptions are written through a judgemental lens of the author and a rewarding day out can be had on unfamiliar terrain if you keep on open mind and have half-decent weather.

The lesson to be learnt is – tread your own path.

The Lowest Mountain

For a long time it was suspected that Calf Top in the Yorkshire Dales may reach the height threshold for mountain status – 2,000 feet.  A GPS survey in 2010 concluded that the summit was short by 2 centimetres but the adoption by the Ordnance Survey of a new geoid model in 2016 updated the height to exceed 2,000 feet by just 6 millimetres!

Starting from Barbon Village Hall car park – make sure that you a donation to the honesty box – and looking up I saw that Calf Top was in cloud but otherwise the weather was pretty benign and I hoped for a good track to the summit.  The lower meadows through Barbon Park looked very nice but were a bit of a quagmire although the squelching was easily escaped by gaining just a little altitude.

It was a fairly steep pull up to Eskholme Pike Cairn but after reaching this waypoint in less than an hour the gradient eased as I neared the cloud base but the breeze started to pick up.  Most of the steep walking was now behind me even though less than half of the ascent had been done.  The walk to the summit was easy despite a small boggy area to cross and being in cloud from the 400 metre contour.  The final yards used the fence and ruined wall to handrail unerringly to the trig point as the wind blew from the west with the cloud clear to see as it travelled across my path.

Just below the summit I met two fellrunners coming down.  These were the first people I had seen on the hill on any of my three post-lockdown days out this year.

I reached the star-adorned trig point and then crossed the fence to the true summit marked by a small cairn.  With summit photos taken I soon departed after putting my gloves on in the cooling wind.

Calf Top summit trig point

I dropped out of the cloud below Castle Knott only to re-enter it near the top of that minor summit before quickly dropping out again.  Descending to Eskholme Pike Cairn afforded good views of Barbon and obvious rain in the direction of Lancaster.

Although the walk lasted just over 4 hours I still felt justified to treat myself on the way home.  Greggs have a magnificent jam doughnut called the “Pink Jammie”; I heartily recommended it!

Calf Top was my final southern Dales summit and it felt like a milestone had been reached.  For the rest of the year I’ll be concentrating on the remaining Pennine summits and ticking the Cheviot summits would be a welcome bonus.  I’m just hoping that the forthcoming summer weather is accommodating!

Two Dales Outliers

Looking at my map of summits to tick, there were only three left in the southern Yorkshire Dales.  Two of them were Birks Fell and Dodd Fell Hill.  I had the opportunity to tick them on previous walks but I had opted to shorten those days – one only a fortnight ago – and leave them for another time.  I decided that time was now!

Starting from Buckden a short walk to Redmire led to the bridleway which takes a diagonal line to the plateau.  I cut across to trig point on Firth Fell, serial number S5499, which is just one less than the last trig that I had visited on Yockenthwaite Moor (S5500).

Firth Fell trig point

The drystone wall past Birks Tarn led to a ruined hut that is only faintly marked on the OS Explorer map.  From there it is only a short walk to the summit cairn which can be clearly seen on the skyline.  Pen-y-ghent was the most significant mountain in view from the top and Pendle Hill could also be seen in the distance.

Pen-y-ghent

I walked to Birks Tarn and dipped my feet in before strolling along the edge of the plateau, enjoying the views over Buckden to its namesake Pike.  The descent back to Buckden on the bridleway was a steady amble to end a very pleasant walk.

I drove to the junction of Cam High Road and Oughtershaw Road from where I started out for Dodd Fell Hill.  The ground was boggy in places but I made my way alongside the wall without incident.  Heading just about true north from the wall the terrain became a bit more challenging and at one point my right leg plunged knee-deep into the bog; luckily I was wearing gaiters.

At the trig point the views were expansive with the Yorkshire Three Peaks stretching across the skyline and the Lake District fells were clearly seen, particularly the Scafells and Great Gable.

Dodd Fell Hill trig point

Pen-y-ghent and Ingleborough

the Scafells and Great Gable

Those views made up for the return walk – plenty of peat hags and a long slog along over a mile of tarmac.

Fountains Fell

The potential to tick three Yorkshire Dales Nuttalls in a relatively short walk and its proximity to home was the reason I chose this walk because I only had a limited amount of time to commit.  My variation of Naismith’s Rule said it should have taken 3¾ hours, but maps don’t take into account the conditions underfoot and just over 5 hours later, I was rushing home.

I parked near Blishmire House and followed the Pennine Way onto the summit plateau of Fountains Fell.  The snow patches were mostly avoidable and those that weren’t had been fortuitously stepped out by a couple walking ahead of me.  The last rise was banked out with snow and walking to the cairns required some cautious route-finding.  Despite this I still stepped knee-deep into a bog, the water overflowing the top of my gaiter and leaving me with a wet and cold right foot for the rest of the walk.

Crossing the wall was easy because of the banked snow and started a descent towards Darnbrook Fell.  Instead of following the wall, I took a beeline towards the summit but this mistake became obvious in just a couple of hundred yards.  The soft heather was ankle-deep, the spring snow was calf-deep and the bogs had the potential to be deeper still!  Progress was slow.

The trig pillar came into sight and similar to other moorland pillars, it exhibited an isolation found on these flat peaty plateaus, exaggerated by it being mounted on a deep stone base which was clearly above the ground, probably the result of years of erosion.

Darnbrook Fell summit cairn & trig point

I kept close to the wall on the return towards Fountains Fell but progress wasn’t much quicker as the terrain was not ideal.  Walking became a little easier from the Pennine Way towards the broad ridge, passing to the north of Fountains Fell Tarn.  The ridge itself had the most pleasurable ground of the day and I was soon at the south top of Fountains Fell where a small cairn marked the true highpoint.

Fountains Fell Tarn

Pen-y-ghent & Fountains Fell from the south top

The walk along the broad ridge to Fountains Fell was an enjoyably easy stroll, particularly after the heather and bog that had characterised Darnbrook Fell.  The summit cairn was obviously marked by a large cairn and the view ahead to Pen-y-ghent was the best of the day.

Fountains Fell summit

I can’t find anything to commend Darnbrook Fell with all of its bog-trotting and heather-bashing, but the ridge between the two summits of Fountains Fell would be well-worth seeking out, particularly on a sunny summer’s day.