The weather was fine the Sunday before last and I had intended getting out for the day but by the
time I had worked out that I would have to put in 4 to 5 hours driving in order to walk up 3 or 4
not particularly attractive Marilyns I had persuaded myself it just wasn’t worth the effort.
Today (Monday) was forecast to be dry so with some reluctance I turned my attention to the Outlying
Fells. ("Those walkers who, because of age or infirmity, must be content with milder expeditions on
lesser fells"😉. I am not sure I have got the hang of things in this book as yet. As soon as I dipped
into it I came across references to avoiding summits on private ground and one summit, Finsthwaite
Heights ("no definite summit"😉, not only seems overshadowed by much higher ground but also has in
the vicinity Chapman House, Chapman Brow Wood and Roger Height. I decided to give that one a miss,
at least for the moment.
After some consideration I opted to start with the Top o' Selside ridge if only because there was an
implied challenge in his route up a nameless peak (marked as Brock Barrow on later maps). "An
initial very steep and arduous scramble". Definitely not a scramble (not one solid rock hand or
foothold to be seen but definitely a VS among walks. I hadn’t got very far before I was damning
myself for rising to the bait when the map showed a ROW circling round and approaching from the
other side at a gentle gradient. The heart rate monitor was soon giving readings in the 160s (bpm)
and although there was frost on the ground I was sweating profusely.
Brock Barrow was followed by Low light Haw and that by High Light Haw after which I consulted the
map and decided to take in the nearly summits that Wainwrights suggested route avoided and was
rewarded by a path most of the way rather than the bundu bashing promised by Wainright.
It really was a cracking morning. Hardly a breath of breeze and not much cloud other than a standing
cloud over the Old Man that seemed to get bigger as the morning progressed. Coniston Water was
largely out of sight and anyway in shadow that early in the morning but the rest was glorious. I
even took a photo and another one on the way down. A sharp turn left at the summit (after a
significant pause) and an easy path down to the "cart track" leading back to High Nibthwaite and a
billet-doux in large angry letters under a windscreen wiper: "WARNING NO PARKING THANK YOU". I saw
no one on the hill apart from a 4x4 driver parked and reading a newspaper part way along the cart
track which, incidentally, is a byway and somewhat churned up as a result.
Next on the agenda was a gentle stroll up Gummer's How from the nearest road. A good viewpoint of
Windermere this time but for some reason the camera didn’t come out. In contrast to Top o' Selside I
met 7 or so walkers on the half mile return to the car one of whom asked me how far it was still to
the summit.
I now made what turned out to be a rather rash decision. Seeing how close Staveley Fell was to my
parked car (about 0.6 miles in a direct line) I decided to leave the car where it was and fight my
way through the pine forest if I couldn’t find a path. Needless to say I couldn’t find a path and
the easiest way forward never seemed to be in the right direction. Progress was slow and at one
point I even contemplated giving up on the peak as it was eating into the afternoon which had been
reserved for another summit. Anyway I eventually reached the summit and set about returning. One the
way down I reached a path of sorts that I had noted on the way up. It was at rightangles to the
direct line back but it went downhill so I followed and eventually (but without difficulty) gained
the road a good way below my car. For once road walking, even up a steep hill, wasn't such a bind.
The afternoon trip was Whitbarrow from Mill Side described by Wainwright as "the most beautiful in
the book". There were some cars parked at the start of the approach road so I didn’t even try to
drive into Mill Side. A wise choice as it turned out, no obvious parking spots anywhere to be seen.
The Summit was obviously having trouble with its autocalibration as it put my parked car more than
20 feet below MSL.
The climb up the lower end of the Whitbarrow ridge was steep, steep enough to get my heart rate up
to the 160s again and without much of a view before it levelled out due to tree cover. The waymarked
route doesn’t appear to follow Wainrights route all the way but when I came to the parting of the
ways his route looked so overgrown I kept to the waymarks.
Once on top the view was good except for the south where the low angle of the Sun made it
difficult to see anything at all. Underfoot there was still frost in the shade and even the odd
patch in the sun. The going was good all the way to the Lord’s Seat which was the summit. On the
way the track entered the Hervey Nature Reserve. At this point there was a notice welcoming
careful walkers and, face down until I turned it over, a Foot & Mouth Prohibition Order looking as
bright today as the day it was posted. Like Gummer's How this ridge was popular with walkers and I
again met a total of 7 coming the other way. I thought I saw more on the summit from a distance
but only 2 of those came my way.
Another summit, another abrupt left turn, with pause, a relatively short pause this time as I
rummaged in my rucksack only to find that I had left my camera in the car boot. After a bit the path
turned with a diagonal descent into a wood and then a woodland track along the base. The track
showed frequent use by horses and was a bit cut up in places. At the point the track joined a
bridleway there was a notice saying the landowner requested dogs on leads and no bicycles or horses.
Must be a disappointed landowner.
At Beck Head (a resurgence and hamlet) the track turned into a road and the continuation up from the
beck was distinctly slippery with ice in places.
On my way out of Mill Side I was just overtaking a pair of walkers walking side by side when a car
appeared coming the other way and I had to move smartly to get out of the way (as presumably did the
2 ladies behind me). The woman driver wasn’t going particularly fast but she didn't appear to alter
her line an inch and gave me very little room.
For those interested (anybody?) the statistics.
1. 4.35 miles and 1250 feet of ascent in 1 hour 51 minutes
2. 1.12 miles and 400 feet of ascent in 31 minutes
3. 1.60 miles and 500 feet of ascent in 54 minutes.
4. 4.97 miles and 850 feet of ascent in 1 hour 47 minutes.
Pure coincidence that 3 of these 4 walks included a Marilyn. :-)
--
Roger Looking North over the Aire Valley (and Marley Gasworks) to Rombolds Moor Top Posters
killfiled on sight