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

Creigiau Gleision

A fried breakfast at the club’s hut in Llanberis set me up for another day of mopping up Nuttalls and as nobody else expressed any interest in my objectives for the day, the walk turned into another solo expedition.

Three of my fellow club members advantage of my drive over Pen y Pass, asking to be dropped off before their traverse over Snowdon and back down to the hut.  I parked behind Joe Brown’s in Capel Curig and set off on the bridleway leading to the day’s first summit, Crimpiau.  The cloud was obscuring the view but was slowly rising and snow on the ground was first seen at just below 450 metres.  The summit was well-defined, leaving no doubt that the highpoint had been reached.

As the cold and wind made themselves better known I reached into the top pocket of my rucksack for my hat and gloves but the first thing I found was a Christmas bauble, put there by a mischievous hut-dweller!  It could have been worse, I’ve heard stories of rocks being buried in the depths of rucksacks of the unsuspecting.

Tryfan

The drop to the col passed three Carneddau ponies; their dull-coloured coats camouflaging them well.  The final few metres to the top of Craig Wen offered some interesting scrambling with a choice of routes to the summit.  Another drop to a very boggy col was the prelude to the first Nuttall of the day, Craiglwyn.  The views had improved by now with the higher Glyderau tops and the Ogwen valley coming into view, as well as the high Carneddau sporting significant amounts of snow.

Carneddau Llewellyn, Pen yr Helgi Du & Pen Llithrig y Wrach

From Craiglwyn the next two summits could be clearly seen.  Creigiau Gleision was soon reached from where I saw a fellow solitary walker (possibly Steve Smith – see here) on the summit of Pen Llithrig y Wrach with the clear path allowing easy progress to Creigiau Gleision North Top, passing an interesting quartz outcrop.

Creigiau Gleision and North Top

Time had passed too quickly to descend to the dam of the Llyn Cowlyd reservoir and finish the walk in daylight, so I decided to retrace, at least partly, my steps.  I skirted Creigiau Gleision’s summit to the left – a mistake soon realised by the boulder field that I had to negotiate.  I bypassed Craiglwyn on the right through heather, although some sheep trods made like easier.  Then it was just a case of finding a way to the bridleway above Tal-y-waun – a task not too difficult until I encountered the unpassable gorge of Afon Llewesig and an equally unpassable area of gorse !  More retracing of steps, this time uphill, before the final half mile walk along the A5.

Steel Edge and a Confusing Name

Attending an evening AGM in Windermere presented an opportunity to bag Black Sails, a previously unvisited summit in the Coniston Fells.

From Tilberthwaite I followed the track alongside Yewdale Beck to the base of Steel Edge; a north-western spur leading off Wetherlam’s south ridge.  Not as impressive as Sharp, Swirral or Striding, except in name, the edge is a broad ridge that largely follows a shallow waterworn gully.  It’s a reasonable way to high ground but it lacks the splendour of the more famous Lakeland edges.

to Steel Edge and Wetherlam

Steel Edge from the bottom

Steel Edge from the top

Three Tarns at the top of Steel Edge

The top of the edge terminates at a substantial plateau containing three tarns – not as well-known as those at beneath Bowfell.  From here, Wetherlam’s south ridge leads easily up to the south top of Wetherlam, not categorised as anything other than a “Simpson”; belonging to an antiquated list of Lake District 2000 feet summits published in a Wayfarers’ Club journal.  Any one of half-a-dozen rocks could be the actual highpoint and content with the tick, I aimed off to the north-west to gain the summit of Black Sails, a point not far from the main path but one I’m sure is bypassed by many of those Wainwright-baggers heading for Wetherlam.

The descent of Wetherlam Edge wasn’t pleasant.  The way down isn’t overly obvious and in the wet it was too slippery for comfort.  I suspect that I took a line to the right of the most worn path, but was glad to reach the bottom of it and continue on to some minor summits.

There are a number of tops above Tilberthwaite that have Birkett and/or Synge status and I had decided to tick some of them.  Birk Fell came easily, with the west top being considered the higher, although I reached both.  The next summit turns out to have a nomenclature problem.

Hawk Rigg is listed Bill Birkett’s book (NY300015, 441m) and also in Tim Synge’s book (NY300017, 428m) but both details can’t be right.  Synge’s Hawk Rigg is listed in Birkett’s book as High Fell which I didn’t realise until I got home to update my log – more diligent research will be needed if I decide to tick off any more Birketts or Synges !  The DoBIH data coincides with Birkett’s.

I reached Birkett’s Hawk Rigg and descended a short but steep fellside before the final ascent to Blake Rigg.  Another steep descent to the main Tilberthwaite path was the prelude to the last easy stroll back to the car.

Starting the Second Half

The three Peak District Nuttalls lie some distance from the main groups of other 2000-foot mountains in England and along with Dartmoor and the Cheviot hills I’ve regarded them somewhat as “outliers”.  I had already ticked the two Bleaklow summits so a walk up Kinder Scout would complete the group.

Kinder Scout is also a TRAIL 100 summit and it would be my 51^st tick, marking the start of the second half of this geographically diverse list of mountains.  But the remainder are mostly Scottish summits and the logistics to complete the list are going to have a significant influence on how I approach ticking the 49 outstanding summits.

I had never really looked forward to climbing Kinder Scout with discouragement due to the many tales of interminable bogs on the plateau.  I swore that I would only do it in the winter when the ground had frozen or after a significant dry spell.  But the first couple of weeks of September had been highlighted by the weathermen as particularly dry and with a forecast of light winds, sunshine and only a tiny chance of rain I decided that a quick excursion could be made to bag it.

I parked at the Bowden Bridge car park, underneath a plaque commemorating the Kinder Trespass in 1932 and set off on a relaxed stroll to gain the open moorland at Kinderlow End.  At the Edale Cross I left the main path and headed towards to plateau.

Bowden Bridge car park - memorial plaque

The trig point soon came into view and then the hunt was on for the true summit.  I’m sure that many assume that the trig pillar is the highpoint but a comprehensive survey in 2009 found a number of points in contention for the honour and managed to narrow it down.  I headed northeast to a point marked with some embedded rocks.  Although not the summit, it will become so if there is a change of terrain, not unlikely in this peaty expanse.

Kinder Scout trig point

Further northeast is a cairn with poles placed in it, and this has become known by many as the true summit – but it isn’t !  The actual high point is a peat hag 35 metres further on.  The hag is about a foot high, and measures about 4 feet by 2 feet.  If it ever erodes down to its base, the previous point marked by stones will become the summit of Kinder Scout.

false summit cairn - summit hag in the background!

the true summit

In mist, the plateau is a place to avoid and only exceptional navigation or a GPS would locate the true summit.  Also, the top is surrounded by many bogs, which were luckily fairly dry for me – I’d picked a very good day to tick this hill !

After visiting all of the points that are candidates for the summit, I headed due west to pick up the path skirting the edge of the plateau.  Walking north took me past some good viewpoints for the Mermaid’s Pool and eventually I stopped for lunch at a point overlooking the famous downfall.  Kinder Downfall is well known for its water travelling uphill in high winds, but today’s trickle wasn’t impaired by any such weather.

Kinder Downfall

I came away from Kinder with an better opinion of it than I had before.  It’s a better “mountain” than Bleaklow and the views along its edge make it a good objective for those seeking a summit that is not too challenging.  But despite that, I think that I’ll only come back to climb a frozen Kinder Downfall which has been an ambition for a few years.  There are bigger and better hills on my list that now need my attention !

TRAIL 1000 metre peaks – part 2

Following the publication of a new tick list in the June 2013 issue of TRAIL magazine;

“THE 1000m PEAKS OF THE BRITISH ISLES”

I wrote a blog about its composition and some possible exclusions.

The list was linked to an article of Mike Cawthorne’s walk over the 135 Scottish 1000 metre summits as described in his book “Hell of a  Journey” I managed to separate Mike’s summits from TRAIL’s list, coming to the conclusion that Mike’s list was specific (see my previous blog) and that the TRAIL list has no specific link to it, other than a common “1000 metre” criterion.

Of the 141 summits in TRAIL’s list;

            135 are Scottish

            5 are Welsh

            1 is Irish.

The Welsh summits

The 5 Welsh summits are the four 1000 metre Furths as listed in Munro’s tables plus Glyder Fawr (itself a Furth summit) whose height is listed as 999 metres in the tables but has been resurveyed resulting in a new height given as 1001 metres.

The Irish summits

The exclusion of two Irish summits gives rise to an inconsistency.  If the Welsh summits give any precedent, the list should include the Irish Furth summits of at least 1000 metres.  These are Carrauntoohil, Beenkeragh and Caher.  But only Carrauntoohil is included.  Why?

Both Beenkeragh and Caher have a significant drop so it’s not as if they are insignificant summits.  There are quite a few Scottish summits in the list with less!

I have a theory that Carrauntoohil was included so that the list would be a “British Isles” list and whoever compiled it didn’t think to include the other two Furth summits.  Or maybe their research just wasn’t thorough enough.

The Scottish summits

The Scottish summits that make the list are the 1000 metre Munros as listed in the 1997 edition of Munros tables – except for two!  The two missing peaks are the lower Munros of An Teallach (Sgurr Fiona) and Liathach (Mullach an Rathain).

I’ve always found that TRAIL doesn’t seem to recognise that An Teallach and Liathach, both magnificent mountains in their own right, each contain two Munros.  And I’ve always wondered why.  Is it because they are both generally known as a single entity in the eyes of many?  I can’t think of any other reason.

The complete list

TRAIL’s list was published with no specific prominence criteria which means that it can be considered complete.  But it is inconsistent!

If I ever get around to ticking the 1000 metre Peaks of the British Isles, my list will have 145 summits!

“Hell of a Journey”

Last year I wrote a blog about TRAIL magazine’s list of 1000 metre peaks in the British Isles and the accompanying article about Mike Cawthorne’s winter traverse of the Scottish 1000 metre peaks.  Mike’s book, “Hell of a Journey” quoted that this walk took in 135 such summits, but he didn’t specifically list them.

I managed to buy a copy of his Boardman Tasker award shortlisted book and as I read it I came to the conclusion that this is as good as any mountaineering book that I have previously read.  The title describes the Mike’s endeavour perfectly and I can thoroughly recommend it, particularly to Munro-baggers, winter-walkers, wild-campers and mountaineers.

But back to the list.

There are 137 Munros that are 1000 meters or higher and I wondered where the other two had gone.

Mike started his walk in November 1997 and the most recent edition of Munro’s tables was published in 1997 which implies that two are missing.  But Sgurr Breac in the Fannichs was the clue as it was detailed in Mike’s text as one of his 135 summits with a height of exactly 1000 metres.  But in the 1997 tables it is listed with a height of 999 metres!

This got me thinking – when was it likely that Mike planned his walk?  I came to the conclusion that he used the 1990 edition of the tables, before the 1997 edition was published.  Would the numbers now tally?

The 1997 update to the tables was a significant one with quite a four “new” 1000 metre summits being classified as Munros and one 1000 metre summit being demoted to a Top.  Some research confirmed that Sgurr Breac was listed in 1990’s tables with a height of 1000 metres; the 1997 update had demoted its height to 999 metres.  All of which explains the number of summits increasing from 135 to 137.

So clarity has resulted – Mike’s round was of the 1000 metre Munros (known as Metros in some hillbagging circles) as listed in the 1990 edition of Munros tables.

Glyders in the mist!

The weather forecasters got it right – the remains of Hurricane Bertha arrived and the weather took a turn for the worse.  Although there was some blue in the sky to be seen, it didn’t last for long !

Creigiau Gleision and Craig Wen

Gallt yr Ogof looks impenetrable from the A5 but I during my Carneddau walk I planned a route up its western flank through the bands of small crags.  The midges were out in force as it was still quite warm but as I reached the ridge, the rain arrived.  The view disappeared as quickly as the waterproofs appeared and I started to make my way towards the summit as the mist came and went.  At least I wasn’t going to add to yesterday’s sunburn !

I passed the fore-summit and was soon at the top.  Views of Y Foel Goch were tantalisingly brief and I walked to the col, passing the wrong side of the tarn and ending up knee deep in bog, although I got out of it very quickly, minimising the soaking my right leg got.

Y Foel Goch is the higher summit but is not well defined, being quite a large plateau.  I bagged the cairn and the other two possible contenders for the summit before making my way down towards Llyn y Caseg-fraith.  I was hoping for the classic view of the east face of Tryfan but Bertha put paid to that.  I contoured around Drws Nodded to the Braich y Ddeugwm ridge, trying to stay out of the now gusting winds, and followed this down towards the valley.

Conditions eased as I neared the valley, giving a reasonable view of Tryfan.

Tryfan

Despite the conditions and walking solo again, I enjoyed this walk despite the weather; it had been a long time since I had been out in conditions like this and despite the damp, any day in the hills is a good day.