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5

Clough Head 726m/2386ft

Start
Climb it from	Threlkeld 1 or Wanthwaite 2
Character	Northernmost sentinel of the range
Fell-friendly route	6
Summit grid ref	NY 334 225
Link it with	Great Dodd
Part of	Great Dodd Ridgeway

The western crags on the arresting prow of Clough Head form one side of the dramatic view of Blencathra from the south through St John’s in the Vale. Paragliders can frequently be seen chasing along this facade having launched themselves from the Old Coach Road.

It is largely as a viewpoint that Clough Head excels but the fell cradles important history too. The Threlkeld British Settlement has survived remarkably intact since its desertion soon after the Romano-British period, and is mercifully now safe from the advances of the quarry below. The adjacent quarry has also been redeveloped by Ian Hartland and his team of enthusiasts into a fascinating exhibition of Lakeland industrial heritage as the Threlkeld Mining Museum.

Clough Head is both the final nail on the 20 mile end-to-end ridge walk from either Ambleside or Kirkstone Pass and the first bag on the popular 20km grassy round of the Dodds, destination Dockray. Arguably the best fell-walking moments focus upon the crags, with Fisher’s Wife’s Rake (5) and the traverse of Buck Castle (7) special delights.

Clough Head from Scales

Ascent from Threlkeld 1

Three routes lead pathlessly up from the Old Coach Road. Mix and match to make any one of three ‘lollipop’ excursions from this well-appointed village.

Via Threlkeld Knotts →4.7km/3 miles ↑610m/2000ft 2hr 10min

1 Across from the eastern entry to the village of Threlkeld, across the A66, find a minor road signposted ‘Newsham’. This lane leads over two bridges, crossing respectively the River Glenderamackin and the track-bed of the former Penrith–Cockermouth railway. Short of the entrance to Newsham, go through the fence-gate to the right to join a rough track in equally rough pasture. Ascend with the tree-screened Threlkeld Quarry on the right and, glancing by a small walled enclosure on damp ground, curve right to a gate in the fence. Straight ahead lies the site of the ancient Threlkeld Settlement. Turn left when you reach it to climb directly to the Old Coach Road. Follow the open track, left.

Just before the next gate three options present themselves. 2 Bear right passing Clough Fold, swinging up the stony ridge onto Threlkeld Knotts’ northernmost crest. Small cairns mark its two minor tops. Walk down south off the knotts to meet and turn left along a cairned path to the foot of the scree. Switch right on a diagonal traverse and cross two fans of loose scree to the cairn on the scarp brink. Here turn back northeastward (left) to the summit on an intermittent path.

3 Alternatively, keep company with the rising hollow (or slack) ascending to the saddle beneath Red Screes and turn left to join Route 2 here just before it tackles the scree slopes. 4 Or, with White Pike as your objective, pass to the right of the gate on a green path angling above the fence parallel with the track. Branch off pathlessly onto the wide, indefinite ridge, keeping left of the scree, to reach the subsidiary rocky outcrop of White Pike – a splendid viewpoint. From here, follow the ridge path southwest to reach the main summit.

Blencathra from White Pike

Ascent from Wanthwaite 2

A clutch of less-trafficked lines lead up from here, through the western crags and the scree slopes, with Route 6 the most orthodox of the three.

Start out along the Old Coach Road, signposted ‘Matterdale, unsuitable for motor vehicles’. Follow the gated lane, flanked by a shelter belt, that rises beyond Hilltop Farm as a walled lane. Watch for the small stile on the right at the left-hand bend. Cross this and clamber up a hollow beside a spoil bank to the level green track, bear half-right after 25m and cross the second track-bed. Take the path up beside the young conifers and a light fence shielding the edge of Spion Kop Quarry to a ladder-stile. Continue uphill to a ladder-stile in the intake wall. Three routes lead up from here.

Via Fisher’s Wife’s Rake →4.5km/2¾ miles ↑590m/1930ft 2hr 30min

5 To reach this intriguingly-named old route contour right from the ladder-stile above Spion Kop Quarry. A well-defined sheep path leads above a shallow hollow to come under the crags. Clinging to the under-cliff, the path deftly avoids further scree to reunite with the original sled-track in picking up a grass path zig-zagging onto easier ground at the head of Sandbed Gill. The path fades into the rushes approaching Jim’s Fold. Thereafter follow the edge northeast up the grass (no path) to join Route 2 to the summit.

Via Buck Castle →4km/2½ miles ↑580m/1900ft 2hr 20min

6 Climb the pasture with the peat sled-track, taking either of the two parallel paths up through the cutting and spurning a faint path bearing left for the top of Threlkeld Knotts. A little further on you have a choice of two lines to the ridge. Take the upper route to fall into step with Route 2 as it switches right and up to the ridge. Or, 7, branch off right to contour on a narrow path to the base of the scree. At an eroded section of earthy scree angle left. Keep on the top side to clamber up to the prominent stumpy shoulder of Buck Castle. Make sure to avoid the contouring sheep path which is consistently less comfortable. From Buck Castle contour above Wanthwaite Crags enjoying views down to St John’s in the Vale until you reach Jim’s Fold and turn left with Route 5.

The summit

A stunted windbreak clings to the stone-built Ordnance Survey pillar marking the summit, a place of superlative views. From here you can catch sneak glimpses of both Morecambe Bay and the Solway Firth, a gracious sweep of central Lakeland and, as the piece de resistance, Blencathra, the one true mountain in the Northern Fells. If you have time, make a point of visiting White Pike, an even better spot for a quiet contemplation of all things scenic.

Summit column looking to Skiddaw and Blencathra

Safe descents

As a rule of thumb Clough Head is precipitously craggy to the W and crag-free to the E, so the sane course of action in poor visibility is to head NE for the subsidiary summit of White Pike (4) and the Old Coach Road. Note: there are stiles evenly spread along the bounding multi-wire fence between Mariel Bridge and Clough Fold to ease access onto the track. Western approaches make poor escapes in anything but fine weather.

Looking back from Calfhow Pike

Ridge route

Great Dodd →3.2km/2 miles ↓100m/330ft ↑230m/750ft 1hr 30min

A clear path leads SSW over the grassy prairie bound for the lonely outcrop of Calfhow Pike which in itself merits a pause in your stride. Beyond pass by pools, the result of peat extraction, before angling SE on a worn path that climbs without distractions. Glancing by the cairn on Little Dodd, it curves NE to the cairn on the bald summit.