Читать книгу Great Mountain Days in the Pennines - Terry Marsh - Страница 11
ОглавлениеNORTH PENNINES
Looking up to the summit of Cross Fell (Walk 3)
The mountain uplands that rise between Hadrian’s Wall and the Yorkshire Dales spread themselves across too broad a landscape to have acquired any true generic name. Most walkers know of Cross Fell, Cauldron Snout, High Cup Nick, High Force and similar honey pots, but the region is almost 50km (30 miles) wide in places, and much the same from its most northerly summit, Cold Fell, to the Stainmore Gap, which runs either side of Brough – 2500 square kilometres (900 square miles) of wild, windy and beautiful moorland where the Pennines rise to their greatest height.
Within this comparatively unknown area lies the largest concentration of hills in England outside the Lake District, and while it does not boast the status of a national park (although there are many who think it should), a sizeable chunk has been designated as the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Here, in these bleak moorland heights, it has been suggested that the valleys rather than the hills form the attraction. Certainly, no walker keen on broadening his or her horizons should turn aside from a skirmish or two with the hills of the northern moors; there are grand days out to be had up here.
Some parts (AONB notwithstanding) are affected by access controls: Mickle Fell, for example, forms part of the Warcop military training area, and vast areas of the region are actively managed grouse moors with all the attendant obligations such conditions impose on walkers. But there is ample room for everyone, and anyone venturing there will find the northern moors too big to ignore, too wild to take for granted.
For this book, the North Pennines provide a useful counterbalance to the Dark Peak of Derbyshire, but are considerably less frequented by walkers and enjoy much greater altitude, in Cross Fell reaching to 893m (almost 3000ft). It may be tempting to dismiss these moors as unappetising fare enriched occasionally by the taste of something more spicy. In the right mood, on the right day, the North Pennines will be seen in their true colours: a place of ever-changing hues and with a subtlety of flavour that will please all but the most jaded of palates.
WALK ONE
Thack Moor and Black Fell
| Start point | Renwick NY596436 |
| Distance | 18km (11¼ miles) |
| Height gain | 525m (1725ft) |
| Grade | strenuous |
| Time | 6–7hrs |
| Maps | Ordnance Survey OL31 (North Pennines: Teesdale and Weardale) |
| Getting there | Roadside parking at Townhead in Renwick, near the church |
| After-walk refreshment | Pubs in Kirkoswald |
The soft, moulded grassy fells that gather to the north of the A686 trans-Pennine Penrith to Alston road are only rarely visited by walkers. Solitude, peace and tranquillity are therefore found here in abundance, along pathways seldom trodden and below massive skies. The Hartside Pass is well known and popular with bikers in particular, but the East Fellside village of Renwick knows no such fame – a small, close-knit community going quietly about its business.
Bothy cottage just below Hartside summit, looking across to Thack Moor
The Route
The ascent to Thack Moor, also known as Renwick Fell, is very direct, barely wavering from a straight line once the open fell is gained. Start off along the road for Outhwaite, a steep little pull. The gradient soon eases, and when the road swings to the right, leave it by going forward onto a stony track. Where the ascending track divides (NY604441), keep left, and continue along a wall-enclosed track. About 100m after the left-hand wall ends, go forward through a metal gate onto Access Land and continue beside a fence.
Setting off up the track from Renwick
When the accompanying fence veers away and is left behind, maintain the same direction, briefly and steeply uphill onto the grassy top of Thack Moor, climbing through reeds for a while before moving onto the sloping summit plateau, the highest point of which is marked by a trig pillar at a meeting point between a wall and fence. The view embraces most of the northern and eastern Lakeland fells that lie to the west, while northwards the dome of Criffel beyond the Solway Firth is visible. But it is the nearer display of soft-shaped hills running to Cold Fell and, even further, to the Cheviot that really commands attention.
On the summit of Watch Hill
Now turn south-east alongside the wall. When the wall changes direction, it’s time to leave it; but take a moment to inspect the nearby sheepfold, which proves to be a useful shelter, if needed, since there is no shelter on Thack Moor. Cross tussock moorland to a stile in a fence (NY616459), beyond which a broad quad-bike track is joined, heading for Watch Hill.
There are two summits on Watch Hill, the first occupied by a pile of stones, a currick, and the other by a ladder-stile spanning a wall, with a 602m spot height just beyond. The former is slightly higher, at 604m.
Cross the ladder-stile, which has a small gate with a formidable spring. Over the stile, now head in a south-easterly direction, keeping to the high ground, devoid of useful tracks, but not unduly difficult to cross. In the distance, a ruined sheepfold and bothy cottage stand out and serve as a useful target. Nearby, another ladder-stile crosses a trans-ridge wall (NY636457), now with the whale-back of Black Fell looming in the distance. Once over the stile, keep beside the wall to a gate, where the wall ends and a fence takes over. Pass through the gate and follow a quad-bike track beside the fence, and ever onwards, since it leads all the way to the top of Black Fell, where the Pennine watershed is joined. It is a sobering thought, but Black Fell actually marks only the half-way point of the walk; the rest, however, is almost entirely downhill.
Retrospective view to Black Fell, Watch Hill and distant Thack Moor
The onward route now follows the watershed down to the Hartside Pass, variously accompanied by a fence or a wall and climbing onto Hartside Height, where a through-stile takes the route over the wall, and then down beside a fence to a kissing-gate just above Hartside summit, with Hartside Top Café (the highest café in England) directly opposite.
Turn right at the road, but leave it almost immediately for a broad stony track that takes a shortcut, crossing the A-road again, lower down. Go through a gate and forward to pass a bothy cottage with a fabulous view across the Eden valley to the Lake District fells, after which a splendid cross-fell track ensues, gradually descending to cross Ricker Gill Bridge and then on to a derelict farmhouse, just after which a gate gives onto a fenced track leading down to a surfaced lane. A short way on, cross Selah Bridge and make a short ascent.
At the top of the ascent, an alternative section of track saves about 1 mile of road walking, rejoining the road just past the cluster of buildings at Haresceugh.
Stroll along the road, which is generally quiet, largely traffic free and a delight to walk, with a fine view northwards to the summit tackled at the start of the walk.
From Raven Bridge, where Raven Beck eases through a dark ravine, a rough path offers a variant finish across fields back to Renwick, but stay on the road to a T-junction. Turn right and walk towards the village centre, and at another T-junction turn left (for Croglin) to complete the walk.
Thack Moor from below Hartside summit
WALK TWO
Melmerby Fell and Fiend’s Fell
| Start point | Melmerby NY616373 |
| Distance | 16.5km (10¼ miles) |
| Height gain | 546m (1790ft) |
| Grade | demanding |
| Time | 6hrs |
| Maps | Ordnance Survey OL31 (North Pennines: Teesdale and Weardale) |
| Getting there | Limited off-road parking near Shepherd’s Inn |
| After-walk refreshment | Shepherd’s Inn pub, Melmerby |
Melmerby is a pleasing red-sandstone village tucked into the area known as East Fellside, and it proves to be a perfect starting point for this assault on the Northern Pennines. There is a tranquillity about both the village and the fells to the east, and while navigational skills may well be needed in poor visibility, on a good day the sense of well-being that comes from striding out across spacious fell moors will refresh most souls.
Melmerby Fell from the stony track above the village
The attractive village of Melmerby is thought by some to have Danish origins, being named after a certain Melmor, who lived nearby in the ninth century. A person called Melmor, however, also appears in Gospatric’s charter in the 11th century as a landowner in Allerdale. The likelihood is that there was more than one Melmor, although the name Melmor is believed to be Gaelic rather than Danish. In the 14th century, John de Denum of Melmerby Hall petitioned Edward II for ‘help in the form of wages or otherwise until times change, because all the country around would suffer great loss peril and loss if it were taken through lack of garrison’.
The Route
Leave the village on the Ousby road, passing the Shepherd’s Inn, and turn into the first lane branching on the left (signed for Melmerby Fell and Gale Hall). Continue up the lane until it swings to the right, and there leave it on the apex, going forward onto a stony track between walls and along the edge of a plantation.
The route as it heads towards the high fells after leaving the plantation
The track leads up to enter the plantation and crosses a stream at a footbridge. On leaving the plantation, the route continues towards the high fells, bounded by fences. At another gate, it reaches Access Land, and then makes a circling loop to the north to gain a gently rising track onto Melmerby Low Scar. Here, the track passes between the scar and higher rocks to the east, and eventually runs up to a gate in a wall giving onto open moorland.
Beyond the wall, the route passes through spreads of small boulders, initially as a green trod and heading up towards a large cairn. From the cairn, continue in an easterly direction. There is an indistinct path, but choice of route will be determined by how wet the ground is underfoot. The target is another prominent cairn on the eastern skyline; this is the location of Knapside Hill, the summit of which is marked by a substantial shelter-cairn.
Looking north from the top of Knapside Hill
Melmerby Fell rises to the south-east as an unpromising moorland mound, easily reached and barely 1km distant; its top is marked by a large cairn. Return from Melmerby Fell to Knapside Hill, from where a narrow but distinct path leads northwards to Little Knapside Hill.
Pass through a kissing-gate in a fence (NY645392). Another narrow, grassy path then runs on across surprisingly firm turf (for a while). Continue down to another gate (NY644399) and fence (new, and in the middle of a quagmire in 2012). From it cross rough ground towards Fiend’s Fell, crossing an shallow ravine to gain a quad-bike track that circles around a low shoulder and leads to one final gate (NY642404), from where it is a short pull up onto Fiend’s Fell, marked by both a low shelter and a trig pillar.
Fiend’s Fell was the original name for Cross Fell, some 5 miles away, which seems possible since the name Cross Fell derives from the erection of a cross there to ward off evil spirits. That, however, does not explain why the name was transferred to an otherwise innocent location nearby.
From the top of Fiend’s Fell, a solitary stone pillar is in sight, as is the café at Hartside Pass (the highest café in England). Head down to the pillar following quad-bike tracks, and gradually the return route, a clear stony track, comes into view. Walk forward towards a fence, and then bear left to a kissing-gate when it comes into view, beyond which a short section of rough ground leads to the track. Turn left.
Simple walking now ensues, following the stony track down to cross the A686 and continuing into a walled track opposite (signed for Hazel Rigg Farm). Just after passing Hazel Rigg, join a surfaced lane at a bend. Bear right for a short distance and then, opposite a side road to Unthank, turn left onto a stony track enclosed between walls. Over a distance of about 2.75km (1¾ miles), and keeping forward at all track junctions, this track leads unerringly and agreeably, if in places muddily, all the way back to Melmerby – a remarkably pleasant concluding stretch of the walk.
The way north to Fiend’s Fell
WALK THREE
Cross Fell
| Start point | Kirkland NY645325 |
| Distance | 15km (9¼ miles) |
| Height gain | 683m (2240ft) |
| Grade | strenuous |
| Time | 5–6hrs |
| Maps | Ordnance Survey OL31 (North Pennines: Teesdale and Weardale) |
| Getting there | Limited off-road parking near the church at Kirkland |
| After-walk refreshment | Pubs and cafés in Langwathby and Penrith |
Although its summit plateau is largely devoid of features, Cross Fell remains the highest summit in the Pennines, and is worthy of a visit on that count alone. Moreover, there is a calming, pastoral beauty about the Eden valley; the villages, built from lovely red sandstone are small and isolated, and the general ambiance is quite at odds with the proximity of mountains that reach almost to 3000ft.
Cross Fell from the upper part of the corpse road
The Route
Drawing to their greatest height at the very spot where the River Tees begins its long journey to the North Sea, and overlooking the massively broad Eden valley, the Pennines form a seemingly impenetrable barrier between the Lake District and the moorlands of Cumberland and Westmorland, and what used to be the North Riding of Yorkshire.
The ascent route uses an old corpse road linking the church and graveyard at Kirkland with the distant community of Garrigill. In the 17th century, one funeral party, caught in a blizzard high on the mountainside, abandoned its burden, scurrying back to Garrigill and returning only two weeks later for the coffin when it was finally considered safe to retrieve it. The mourners then brought the coffin back to Garrigill, where it was buried in a piece of glebe land. The land was subsequently consecrated by the Bishop of Durham as a burial ground, and thus the need for the corpse road came to an end.
In fine weather, the mountain has an avuncular appearance, and seems a calm, endearing place to visit. Alas, all is not as it seems, for its repertoire of dirty tricks includes subzero temperatures on at least a third of the days of the year, rain on two-thirds, and snow often well into summer. If that isn’t enough, its pièce de résistance is a phenomenon known as the Helm Wind, a remarkably ferocious and localised gusting of the wind.
The precise nature of the Helm Wind is neatly summarised in Legends and Historical Notes of North Westmoreland by Thomas Gibson: ‘the air or wind from the east, ascends the gradual slope of the western (sic) side of the Pennine chain... to the summit of Cross Fell, where it enters the helm or cap, and is cooled to a less temperature; it then rushes forcibly down the abrupt declivity of the western side of the mountain into the valley beneath, in consequence of the valley being of a warmer temperature, and this constitutes the Helm-Wind. The sudden and violent rushing of the wind down the ravines and crevices of the mountain, occasions the loud noise that is heard.’ As for its force, Thomas Wilkinson of Yanwath, a Quaker friend of Wordsworth, describes in his Tour to the British Mountains (1824) how ‘if I advanced it was with my head inclined to the ground, and at a slow pace; it I retreated and leaned against it with all my might, I could hardly keep erect; if I did not resist it, I was blown over’.
In spite of its unappealing summit and the high incidence of clouds which bedevil the mountain, Cross Fell is a superb viewpoint, taking in the fells of Lakeland, dotting the horizon beyond the Eden valley, and extending far across the northern countryside into Scotland, and east to the North York Moors.
From the church at Kirkland, walk to the nearby road junction and turn left to follow a road and later a good track along Kirkland Beck, leading out onto the moors and gradually curving north to skirt High Cap, a prominent bump due west of Cross Fell’s summit. A little further on the route swings eastwards above Ardale Beck and starts the climb to the plateau above. The gradient, nowhere unduly steep, is eased by a few bends, and on reaching gentler ground a few old pits might be found.
Within sight of the summit plateau, the corpse road bears sharply left. Here leave it and continue ascending eastwards on a cairned and grassy path, passing ultimately around the northern scree slopes of Cross Fell to intercept the Pennine Way (NY684352) on its descent to Garrigill. On a clear day it is possible to make for the summit as soon as you feel happy about it, although this entails negotiating a broad stretch of loose scree and some wet ground. But the line taken by the Pennine Way to the summit is clear enough, although very wet underfoot as it climbs away from the descent to Garrigill. It soon dries out, and a line of cairns leads uneventfully to the summit of Cross Fell, with its shelter-cairn and trig point.
Having ascended to the highest point of the Pennines, press on across the summit plateau aiming for the summit of Great Dun Fell and its conspicuous masts and globular radar station. In poor visibility this will call for good navigation, although the line of the Pennine Way is marked by low cairns. Near the edge of the plateau a couple of larger cairns indicate the way down to Tees Head. This proves to be the key to the completion of quite a pleasant round-trip.
Brown Hill and the upper reaches of Ardale Beck
From Tees Head (NY697339), a cairned path (not immediately obvious, narrow in places and crossing numerous spring streams) heads south-west across what is initially bouldery terrain to the edge of Wildboar Scar (NY679326). This stretch is open moorland, and there is an invigorating sense of freedom, with the whole place to yourself (more than likely), the Eden valley rolling away ahead, and the Lakeland fells sitting like a frieze on the western skyline.
Wildboar Scar is nothing more than an abrupt escarpment, grassy, rounded and sporting a much clearer path curving below it. Ahead lies the mound of Grumply Hill, and the path keeps north of it (right) to enter Littledale, one of the tributaries of Crowdundle Beck. At the right time of year this enchanting section of moorland resounds to the piping call of the golden plover, as white-rumped wheatears dart about and chatter busily, and curlews bubble a constant accompaniment.
Onwards the path descends easily to and through a sheepfold and across a wide, walled tract of rough ground, scented in spring and early summer with gorse, to a large ruined barn and farm building at Wythwaite (NY654317), from where there is a fine retrospective view of Great Dun Fell in particular. Once at Wythwaite, turn through a gate and follow a surfaced lane to pass a curious feature marked on the map as the Hanging Walls of Mark Antony.
Precisely what are, or were, the Hanging Walls of Mark Antony is open to question, but the generally accepted view is that they are cultivation terraces, possibly as much as 3500 years old. There is a contrary view, however, which suggests that while they are indeed agricultural terraces, they date only from the seventh century, and that the naming of them on maps is a mistake, which ought to place them nearer to Culgaith. William Camden in Britannia refers to ‘the river Blencarne’ and ‘the confused ruins of a castle called the Hanging walls of Marcantoniby’.
From this enigmatic place it is only a short walk along the access lane, and back to the church at Kirkland.
The stone shelter on Cross Fell, looking north to Scotland
WALK FOUR
High Cup Nick and Backstone Edge
| Start point | Dufton NY689249 |
| Distance | 15.5km (9½ miles) |
| Height gain | 592m (1940ft) |
| Grade | strenuous |
| Time | 5–6hrs |
| Maps | Ordnance Survey OL19 (Howgill Fells and Upper Eden Valley) |
| Getting there | Dufton village car park (toilets) |
| After-walk refreshment | Stag Inn in Dufton; pubs, cafés, snack bars and restaurants in Appleby |
High Cup Nick will be no stranger to those who have walked the Pennine Way, and its dramatic and sudden appearance for those travelling south to north on that route is a memorable moment. For walkers ascending from Dufton, however, this remarkable geological phenomenon eases into view gradually, but reserves its full impact for those who continue to its head, where sometimes a river cascades down the shattered rocks of the Whin Sill.
The Route
Unlike many mountain ranges, the Pennines, being gentle, moulded moorland hills, offer few dramatic, sharp-edged profiles to catch the eye and lodge in the mind. One of the few exceptions to this is the impressive sculpted escarpment of High Cup Nick, formed by forces cold, wet and windy, where outcrops of igneous Whin Sill dolerite have intruded into the thick layers of mountain limestone and gritstone.
The walk starts from the rural cluster of cottages that forms Dufton, a charming, friendly oasis, contrasting sharply with the mountain wilderness high above it, and owing its place on the walkers’ map to an idiosyncratic kink in the Pennine Way, which here quits the high ground for an overnight halt before pressing on to the highest Pennine summit, Cross Fell. Ironically, the day which transports Pennine Wayfarers heading north from Teesdale to Dufton lands them further removed from their destination, Kirk Yetholm, than when they began the day.
Pennine Way signpost
From the small car park, turn right and follow the road through the village. At the bottom of a dip, the Pennine Way is signposted and leads up along the lane to Bow Hall Farm, set on gently sloping pastures. There is invariably a red flag mounted at the entrance to Bow Hall Lane, signifying activity on the Warcop Artillery Range, part of the Warcop Principal Training Area.
Firing on the artillery range is unlikely to affect anyone ascending to High Cup Nick, but walkers tempted to stray onto Murton Fell could be walking into trouble. Activity, with no concession to walkers, occurs every day except Mondays.
The onward route beyond Bow Hall lies along a walled green lane, and beyond climbs high onto the hillside. On passing through the intake wall, the views open up across the Eden valley to the fells of Lakeland and southwards to the Howgills. The path eases up to a sheepfold. Pass through this, and a short way on enter a natural hollow with a large cairn at its centre, just below Peeping Hill. From here, take the high route up to a cairn, from where the ongoing Pennine Way route is clear throughout.
Continue easily along the edge of a developing escarpment, which drops in precipitous green slopes to unseen High Cup Gill. As the gill narrows, so the scenery assumes a more inspiring and dramatic aspect, and the Pennine Way, crossing a couple of cascading streams, then relaxes to form a gentle greenway around the craggy amphitheatre to the Pennine watershed ahead. The path, as if possessing no head for heights, maintains a respectable distance from the escarpment, but as the crags become more evident a cautious diversion will reveal an architecture of shattered pinnacles and precarious columns of basalt.
Nichol’s Chair
High Cup Head
The most notable of these pinnacles and columns, Nichol’s Chair, is named after a cobbler who used to live in Dufton, and who not only climbed the pillar but is reputed to have repaired a pair of boots while on its top. Any ascent now runs the risk of precipitating the collapse of the whole column.
For all its comparative lack of stature, the stream that flows (sometimes) lemming-like over High Cup Nick will, when caught by a westerly wind, often plume high into the air, reminiscent of Kinder Downfall in the Peak District, and nearby folds in the grassy shoulder of the escarpment offer lunch-time shelter. While recovering from the effort required to reach this point, it’s worth bearing in mind that the best fell-runners start in Dufton and come up to High Cup Nick, and back down, in just a fraction over one hour!
High Cup Nick is a classic U-shaped valley on the western flanks of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A deep chasm on the Pennine fellside, this famous geological formation at the top of High Cup Gill is part of the Whin Sill and overlooks the best glaciated valley in northern England, displaying grey-blue dolerite crags of the type that also form High Force and Cauldron Snout.
Here the walk leaves the Pennine Way, which presses on eastwards to Cauldron Snout and into Teesdale. To continue to Backstone Edge, about-face to ascend the easy grassy slopes north-east of Narrowgate Beacon, which has overlooked much of the route thus far and is crowned by a large cairn.
From the beacon there are two choices: one (shown on the map) to pursue an intermittent gritstone edge around the lip of the high moors; the other to tackle a section of bogs, giving way eventually to heather and tussock grass. A clear day in winter, when the ground underfoot is frozen in its grip, may well be the best time to tackle these featureless moors; following prolonged rain is certainly the worst.
The immediate objective of both routes is the trig pillar west of Seamore Tarn, a lonely sentinel in an austere landscape made auspicious by its position on the watershed of Britain, for here the waters of Little Rundale Tarn gush westwards to the Eden and on to the Solway, while those of nearby Seamore and Great Rundale tarns empty to the North Sea. The highest point of Backstone Edge lies a short way north-east of the trig, marked by a cairn of large boulders.
Hidden from the summit, the return route follows the deep valley of Rundale, which sports a broad track that descends from the col with High Scald Fell along the line of Great Rundale Beck to Dufton. Quarry workings are shortly encountered, relics of the search for barytes.
Wild and rugged, and despoiled by man, Great Rundale is less open than High Cup Gill, the view westwards restricted by the pyramid of Dufton Pike, one of a number of distinctly different little summits dotted along the western side of the Pennines here. These are actually formed from older, Ordovician (formed 495–440 million years ago) and Silurian (440–415 million years) Lake District rocks, which elsewhere have been overlaid with those of the Carboniferous period (350–290 million years old).
But for all the damage that has been done in Great Rundale’s upper reaches, the lower valley is quite a charming end to the day. On approaching Dufton Pike, pass south of it on a broad track, finally to regain Dufton not far from the starting point.
Dufton Pike: the walk concludes along the track across its base
WALK FIVE
Cauldron Snout and Widdybank Fell
| Start point | Cow Green Reservoir NY811309 |
| Distance | 13km (8 miles) |
| Height gain | 145m (475ft) |
| Grade | moderate |
| Time | 4–5hrs |
| Maps | Ordnance Survey OL31 (North Pennines: Teesdale and Weardale) |
| Getting there | Weelhead Sike car park |
| After-walk refreshment | Pub at Langdon Beck and along the B6277 to Middleton-in-Teesdale, where there are also cafés |
Anyone who visualises the Pennines as dark, gritstone-bound uplands of peat bog and bleakness will be heartily surprised by this circuit of Widdybank Fell. It lies within a spectacular National Nature Reserve, one of great importance, and is a delight to explore. The walk takes in the powerful falls at Cauldron Snout, and then uses the Pennine Way alongside the River Tees, and these treats offset the hard-surface walking that concludes the walk.
Cauldron Snout
The Route
Once a remote corner of the North Riding of Yorkshire and part of the ancient Forest of Teesdale in which deer roamed freely, the landscape this walk crosses is now embraced within the Moor House–Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve. Apart from a little awkwardness scrambling down beside Cauldron Snout and a few short sections crossing boulders, the walking is easy throughout.
From the car park overlooking Cow Green Reservoir, way up on the moorland of Widdybank Fell, an undistinguished summit that the walk encircles, walk back along the road to a signed path on the right for Cauldron Snout (NY813308) and here leave the road. When the path intercepts a track, turn left briefly to a gate on the right giving into the Nature Reserve.
Stretching across the upper reaches of the River Tees, the Moor House – Upper Teesdale National Nature Reserve comprises 8800 ha and embraces an extensive range of upland habitats typical of the North Pennines. These include hay meadows, rough grazing and juniper woods, as well as limestone grassland, blanket bogs and summit heaths on the high fells. What makes Upper Teesdale so important is that nowhere else in Britain is there such a diversity of rare habitats in one setting.
The reserve is renowned for the plants that originally colonised the high Pennines after the last Ice Age (about 10,000 years ago) and have survived here ever since. There are also rare rock formations, such as outcropping sugar limestone and the Great Whin Sill.
The diversity of wildlife and plantlife is quite remarkable. Spring gentian grows here, the only place in England, while the country’s largest juniper woodland is here, too, in great abundance near High Force (see Walk 6), but also growing alongside the River Tees in a few places. An early morning visit is necessary to spot the black grouse, but at any other time there is a wealth of birdlife – skylark, lapwing, curlew, snipe, red grouse, redshank, common sandpiper, dipper, golden plover, pied and yellow wagtails, and ring ouzel – all of which tends to contribute to slow progress.
The River Tees below Falcon Clints
The ongoing track (surfaced) speeds on towards the dam of the reservoir.
Cow Green Reservoir is 3km (2 miles) long and was built between 1967 and 1971 to supply the industries of Teesside. The reservoir acts as a river regulation reservoir, releasing water into the River Tees during dry conditions so that it can be abstracted further downstream.
The reservoir, which rests against a backdrop of Dufton Fell and, further to the north-west, Cross Fell and the two Dun Fells, lies within the North Pennines AONB and European Geopark. The AONB was designated in 1988, and it became Britain’s first European Geopark in 2004.
Walk down from the dam to the bridge spanning the Tees as it gushes from the base of the dam wall. Now, joining the southbound Pennine Way, take care descending the eastern side of the river for a fine view of Cauldron Snout, more a long cataract than a waterfall, and at 180m reckoned to be the longest waterfall in England. The awkwardness is short-lived, but care is needed while traversing slippery rocks until the level ground beside the river is reached.
Once below the falls, at the confluence of the Tees and Maize Beck, turn eastwards below the impressive crags of Falcon Clints, the southern escarpment of Widdybank Fell. A clear path leads on, parallel with the river, the worst ground spanned by boardwalks, but with a few sections where care is needed traversing boulder downfall. Cronkley Scar on the other side of the river combines with Falcon Clints to create the narrow defile known as Holmwath.
At the approach to Widdy Bank Farm, a gated stile gives into an enclosure, then go shortly left at another stile, beyond which a grassy path runs on above the river. As the river swings to the south-east, the path bears away across rough pasture and a few walled fields before heading down to Sayer Hill Farm.
Here, turn right, using the farm access to walk to Saur Hill Bridge, which spans Harwood Beck. On reaching the bridge, turn left before it, leaving the Pennine Way and taking to a path alongside the beck, and follow this beckside path to a crossing point on the road from Langdon Beck. Now, turn left, and simply follow the gently rising road across undulating pastures for 4km (2½ miles) back to the car park overlooking Cow Green. There is an air of openness about this return section, enlivened throughout by bird song and, in spring especially, a wealth of wild flowers, both of which combine to speed the return journey.
The River Tees below Cronkley Scar
WALK SIX
High Force and Cronkley Fell
| Start point | Bowlees NY908283 |
| Distance | 20.5km (12¾ miles) |
| Height gain | 372m (1220ft) |
| Grade | demanding |
| Time | 6hrs |
| Maps | Ordnance Survey OL31 (North Pennines: Teesdale and Weardale) |
| Getting there | Bowlees picnic area car park |
| After-walk refreshment | Pubs, cafés and restaurants in Middleton-in-Teesdale |
For much of its long journey the Pennine Way is charted across desolate acres, the preserve of experienced walkers. But for a while, as it progresses northwards from Middleton-in-Teesdale, it relaxes its challenge and injects a soft, pastoral interlude of riverside meadows before heading for the highest ground of all on Cross Fell. In this gentler stretch, the River Tees holds sway, just a few miles from its source. In places it meanders smoothly over a wide bed of rock; elsewhere it cascades forcefully with all the might of a major river over rocky downfalls.
The Route
Once a remote corner of the North Riding of Yorkshire and part of the ancient Forest of Teesdale in which deer roamed freely, the area that the walk passes through now lies entirely within the county of Durham. Middleton-in-Teesdale is the largest town hereabouts, formerly a local centre of lead-mining activities.
From a long trail of boulders, it is possible to chart the course of the glacier that fashioned this region more than 10,000 years ago. It swept over gaps from the Eden valley, the Lake District and even the south of Scotland, carrying Shap granite and Borrowdale lava as far as the mouth of the Tees, where an accumulation of granite pinpoints what must have been the terminal moraine of the Tees glacier.
The walk begins from a parking and picnic area at Bowlees. From here take a nearby footbridge and walk through Bowlees to the main road. There, opposite the telephone box, take to a clear path towards woodland flanking the unseen River Tees. Once in the woodland, a clear path leads down to cross the river by Wynch Suspension Bridge. The original Wynch Bridge was built in 1704 for miners, but it collapsed in 1820 and had to be rebuilt 10 years later.
Immediately, the Tees puts on a show in the form of Low Force, a place where the riverbed is wide and punctuated by islands of dolerite. Set against a backdrop of dark woodlands, this is the Tees at its most beautiful.
Climb the steps beyond the bridge and set off beside the Tees. This is a delightful stretch of the Pennine Way, which, at the right time of year, produces a display of plants that has given Teesdale an international reputation among botanists. Globe flower seems to grow everywhere, while among the rocks shrubby and alpine cinquefoil have found root. The most famous of Teesdale’s plants is the spring gentian, making its home here among other rarities, the alpine forget-me-not, bitter milkwort, bog sandwort, bird’s-eye primrose and others.
Why such great plant diversity should appear here seems a puzzle – but the answer lies in the study of geology and early land formations. Teesdale (and parts of Scotland) were grassy islands in a vast forest, fragments of the carpet of tundra that covered Britain after the Ice Age. Later, when the climate improved, these areas were shaded out by trees. Carbon dating of pollen remains in the underlying peat reveals a history going back to the last Ice Age.
Further on, juniper bushes cloak the slopes of Keedholm Scar. Juniper wood was once gathered to make high-quality charcoal, and the berries to flavour London gin.
Looking along the Pennine Way to Cronkley Fell
The river bends sharply just past Keedholm Scar, and suddenly the air is filled with a distant rumbling, the sound of the most famous of Pennine waterfalls, High Force. A slight diversion at metal railings is necessary to get a decent view from this side of the river, but care is needed this close to the edge. The Force is a dramatic plunge over a shelf of dolerite and shale of some 21 metres (70ft), dark brown and peaty, often lost in a fine mist of spray. This is not the highest waterfall in the country by any means, but it is the biggest, and a sight everyone should see.
Upstream, the sound of the falls soon dies away and the Tees resumes a more docile air, rising in restless moorland wandering to its source high on the southern flanks of Cross Fell. The double falls of Bleabeck Force are nothing by comparison, a mere ripple. Ahead the route follows the Pennine Way as it climbs onto the shoulder of Bracken Rigg to an old Pennine Way marker post. From here it descends to a step-stile near a wall corner, beyond which the Way is paved for a while before reaching Cronkley Farm.
Anyone looking for a short-cut can leave the route at the high point of Bracken Rigg and take a path down (left) to pass through a wall. A short distance further on, the later stages of the walk are joined. Turn left towards Skyer Beck, and pick up the route from there.
Now continue north along the Pennine Way to a farm-access bridge, but remain on the south bank of the river following a good path that circumnavigates Cronkley Scar and squeezes through a relatively narrow valley. Continue until almost level with the cliffs of Falcon Clints on the north side of the Tees. At (or just before) NY825281 turn sharply back on yourself to take an ascending bridleway up onto and across Cronkley Fell (a diversion is necessary to reach the trig pillar to the north).
Press on across the fell, with the view down Teesdale improving with every step. The bridleway drops as a broad grassy track through bracken (and heather lower down), but is less pronounced as it parallels Bracken Rigg, passed earlier in the walk. Ford Skyer Beck (stepping stones if needed), and then climb beside a wall. When the wall changes direction, keep climbing a little further to a clear track, now striking eastwards. The track runs on to pass through a line of shooting butts and climbs to pass a large cairn, from which the route crosses rough pasture to a gate and stile in a fence. More wet, rough pasture lies beyond, along with another stream crossing.
Press on to a gate giving onto a gravel vehicle track, and now follow this to a point where it circles round to descend to Holwick Lodge. Here, leave the track by branching right at a couple of stone sheep to a track that descends through a disused quarry area below Holwick Scars. The ongoing track leads out to a surfaced lane. Walk past cottages and turn left at the first road junction. Follow the lane to a cattle grid at the boundary of Strathmore Estate, and just after the grid leave the lane at a signpost for a waymarked route across a flower meadow.
Stone sheep on boundary of Strathmore Estate
The path is waymarked across a number of fields and leads back to Wynch Bridge, from where the outward route is retraced to complete the walk.
Crossing Skyer Beck
WALK SEVEN
Harter Fell and Grassholme
| Start point | Middleton-in-Teesdale NY948254 |
| Distance | 13.5km (8½ miles) |
| Height gain | 317m (1040ft) |
| Grade | moderately demanding |
| Time | 4–5hrs |
| Maps | Ordnance Survey OL31 (North Pennines: Teesdale and Weardale) |
| Getting there | Large long-stay car park at the old school on Bridge Street, Middleton-in-Teesdale, and a smaller car park just beyond the bridge over Hudeshope Beck at the northern end of town |
| After-walk refreshment | Pubs, cafés and tearooms in Middleton-in-Teesdale |
Looking back from the Pennine Way towards Middleton-in-Teesdale
There is a soothing gentleness about this walk, which in its first half follows the route of the Pennine Way. Few Pennine Wayfarers visit Harter Fell itself, even though it is only a short, easy pull up from their route, but the wide landscapes of Teesdale that embrace gently rolling moors in all directions, rippling away to distant horizons, make it worthwhile.
The small market town of Middleton-in-Teesdale is clearly comfortable with itself, possessing neither airs nor graces, or needing to. It expanded in the early 19th century, when the London Lead Company moved its northern headquarters here from Blanchland in Northumberland, and much of the architecture from its days as a company town is still clearly visible. This includes Middleton House, formerly the headquarters of the company, the school (which is now an outdoor centre, and part-time car parking area) and some company houses.
The Route
From the centre of town, walk down Bridge Street and cross the lovely bridge spanning the Tees. Walk up the road until it bends to the left, and there leave it for a side-lane on the right, for Holwick. Almost immediately, leave this lane for the Pennine Way, on the left, climbing initially on a gravel track up a field to a gate. Beyond this, just after the gate, as the track divides at a small cairn, bear right.
Higher up, after the next gate and stile, bear right along a broad grassy track towards the lower slopes of Harter Fell. Off to the left is a conspicuous knoll topped by a stand of trees; this is Kirkcarrion, a Bronze Age tumulus said to be the burial place of a chieftain called Caryn.
The route lies across the eastern and southern slopes of Harter Fell, traversing wall-enclosed pastures. Eventually, Grassholme Reservoir comes into view, and then Selset. On entering a large pasture with a group of three trees off to the right, turn up towards the trees, which are found to be within a collapsed enclosure known as Pin Gate. From here it is an easy walk up grassy slopes to the trig pillar at a collapsed wall corner on the summit of Harter Fell. Return to Pin Gate and rejoin the Pennine Way, now heading towards a derelict barn nearby.
Carry on across a gated pasture, after which there is a stony track. Within a few strides, turn left at a through-stile and gate. Walk for less than 100m, and then leave the track by branching right on an indistinct path to a wall-gap and stile. Press on across a low ridge, descend obliquely right to a wall corner at the bottom of the pasture and cross a stone stile. Go across the ensuing field diagonally left towards a walled track. Pass through a dip, and walk up the track to pass Wythes Hill Farm, then take its access track out to the B6276.
Kirkcarrion: Bronze Age tumulus
Walking beside Grassholme Reservoir
The final climb of the day
Cross the road and go over a stone stile. In the next field bear half-right, through a dip, and then climb beyond to a stile at a wall corner. Now keep forward on a clear descending, grassy path not far from a wall on the right. Press on across two more pastures towards Grassholme Farm, beyond which the route joins a lane running down to Grassholme Reservoir.
Continue across the end of the reservoir, climbing briefly, then leaving the lane to pass through a metal gate onto the South Shore Path. Now enjoy the waterside path that continues until it meets a surfaced lane near the visitor centre, which is worth visiting (exhibition, refreshments and toilets).
Continue across the centre car park and follow the lane up to meet a quiet back lane. Follow this, left, for about 600m, as far as a footpath signpost opposite a lane on the right. Leave the lane here and head diagonally right, down-pasture, towards a wall and a waymarked stile. Through the stile, keep left beside the wall and walk down to the bottom of the field, crossing a couple of step-stiles on the way.
At the bottom of the field, cross a stile and the bottom corner of a sloping pasture. On the other side, from a gate climb a clear path and then pause for a moment at the high point to enjoy a retrospective view of the route followed. A field-margin path now leads out to a lane at West Field Cottage. Turn right and walk as far as a gate on the left giving onto the Tees Railway Walk. Cross the viaduct ahead, spanning the River Lune, and then make the most of a delightful, tree-shaded railway trackbed, bright in spring and summer with wild flowers, including purple vetch, field scabious and foxglove.
Continue as far as a concrete ladder-stile on the right, and from it move half-left across a farm enclosure to a gate and stile giving onto a lane at Lonton South Farm. Walk briefly along the lane, then leave it at a signpost and gated gap-stile. Cross a meadow (diagonally left to a stile by a gate) and the corner of the next field to pursue a clear route across more fields eventually to reach the Tees. Now follow the river, upstream, but before the broad farm track underfoot reaches the Middleton road, bear right with the river to Bridge End Steps. Turn right up into Middleton to complete the walk.
WALK EIGHT
Bowes Moor
| Start point | Bowes NY996134 |
| Distance | 16.7km (10½ miles) |
| Height gain | 205m (675ft) |
| Grade | moderately demanding |
| Time | 5+hrs |
| Maps | Ordnance Survey OL31 (North Pennines: Teesdale and Weardale) |
| Getting there | Parking opposite Bowes village hall, and roadside parking on nearby road to Scotch Corner |
| After-walk refreshment | Ancient Unicorn pub in Bowes |
Making use of both the Pennine Way and the Bowes (Pennine Way) Loop, this walk starts out in the agreeable company of the River Greta before heading up onto the grass and heather moors to the north, known locally as Bowes Moor. There is an openness about the moors that allows extensive views, which in turn bring a great sense of freedom, while the grassy ridge that links the two arms of the Pennine Way is a joy to follow.
Striding out across the top of Bowes Moor
Bowes has long served travellers crossing the Pennines; it sits at an obvious gap (Stainmore) that facilitates an east–west link. The Romans had a fort here (Lavatrae), although all its masonry went into building Bowes Castle in the 12th century. This was a lawless and unsettled region, and the castle was intended to bring some form of regulation.
The only pub in the village, The Ancient Unicorn, is said to be haunted. This 17th-century coaching inn was visited by Charles Dickens, who found inspiration in the village academy (Shaws), which he immortalised as Dotheboys Hall in Nicholas Nickleby. In the north-east corner of the churchyard is the grave of William Shaw, headmaster of Shaws Academy. Dickens met Shaw, who is generally accepted to be the prototype of Wackford Squeers, the brutal headmaster at Dotheboys Hall. In the south-east part of the churchyard is the grave of George Ashton Taylor, who died while a pupil at Shaws Academy. Dickens said that he thought it was on this spot that he conceived the idea of Smike, the boy who ran away from Dotheboys Hall.
The Route
Walk up through the village street as far as the church, and then turn left into Back Lane (signed for Bowes Castle). The castle, which soon appears, stands in the north-west corner of the Roman fort.
Immediately on passing the castle, leave the lane and turn right at a gate/stile, and then go through another gate onto a signed path for the Pennine Way. Follow this as it runs around the castle boundary, through a dip and over a wall-gap stile and on across two fields to a narrow stile beside an ash tree. Keep on alongside a wall at a field boundary, cross another stile, press on beside a fence and shortly cross the top end of a sunken track and the field beyond to a lane at a Pennine Way signpost.
Turn left, up the lane, and then keep on past Swinholme Farm, beyond which the route descends to cross the River Greta by a footbridge. On the other side, cross a meadow to a gate, and just after this join a lane to go past Lady Myres Farm. The route then continues as a rough track, and runs around West Charity Farm to a footbridge spanning Sleightholme Beck. A good path now leads round towards East Mellwaters, which conceals a considerable history of farming in the area, probably going back as much as 5500 years, but today offers specialist accommodation and holidays for less-abled people, for whom a network of trails has been constructed. Follow one such as it runs from a lane near a single-arch bridge and follows the River Greta all the way to the limestone feature known as God’s Bridge.
Bowes Castle
God’s Bridge, a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), is a natural limestone bridge formed by a process of cave development in the limestone beneath the river bed. It is the best example in Britain of a natural bridge formed in this way. The SSSI covers a portion of the river above and below the bridge where shallow cave development by water erosion is still taking place.
Cross the bridge and walk up through obsolete railway abutments (the line closed in the 1960s) to pass a nearby cottage. Follow a track up to the A66, where a path diverts left to an underpass. On the other side, turn right through a metal gate and walk across to Pasture End Farm. On reaching the farm, turn left along its boundary (Pennine Way sign for Clove Lodge) and walk up onto the moor. When the boundary wall changes direction, leave it and strike across open moorland.
Initially the way is not abundantly clear, but a path soon materialises and now leads northwards onto Ravock Moor, crossing Rove Gill and continuing through heather to the pile of stones that marks the site of Ravock Castle. Any aspirations to castle-like status are misplaced; this was probably never more than a hut or sheep enclosure, but its setting is magnificent, with the broad depression of Deep Dale ahead and the onward moor rising easily.
God’s Bridge
Descend to a prominent hut/shelter and a footbridge spanning Deepdale Beck. Pass through a gate on the other side, and then simply walk straight up the moor, parallel with a wall on the right.
Just before reaching the high point of Cotherstone Moor, turn right through a field gate that gives onto a broad track running eastwards, initially through reeds. To the north-east, a trig pillar marks the top of West Hare Crag, which can be reached by continuing first with the Pennine Way to a stile at Race Yate Rigg, and then crossing rough ground. Return the same way. The crag marks the highest point hereabouts.
Ravock Castle and Deep Dale
Continue eastwards across the moor on an improving track that eventually leads to a gate at a wall-end. Here, the Pennine Way moves away in a south-westerly direction, but is not always clear underfoot. A surer guide is to turn right at the gate (do not pass through it) and pick up a clear, narrow path descending to cross Hazelgill Beck. When the accompanying wall changes direction, move to a south-westerly direction and aim across reedy ground for the conspicuous, isolated farm at Levy Pool, set in the middle of a stand of trees. A footbridge gives onto a track around the building and then out along a stony track.
The ongoing track passes through a gate near the end of a surfaced lane. Here, branch right on the Pennine Way at West Stoney Keld Farm. Just before reaching the farm buildings, turn left through a field gate and walk alongside a wall. Turn with the wall when it changes direction, but then drop obliquely left across a low slope to cross a corner of rough pasture towards a fence. Walk up beside the fence to a gated gap-stile. Cross the ensuing field towards the left-hand side of a barn; a short way on, another wall-stile gives into a field, across which a path leads out to join a lane.
Turn right to follow the lane, and when it ultimately divides near a compound of radio masts, bear right, descending, towards Bowes. The lane feeds into the western end of the village street, which is now followed back to the start.
