The Pennine Way, part 8

Saturday 18th April 2009 

 

South Tynedale to Haltwhistle 

 

This was my last day of walking along the Pennine Way from Gargrave, on the southern edge of the Yorkshire Dales, to Haltwhistle, on the northern edge of the North Pennines. I hadn’t walked the entire 270 miles of the Pennine Way, merely the middle 130 miles, which I considered to be the best section of the long distance path. After a week spent on the Pennine Way, however, it didn’t take me long to abandon it and take a more direct course along the South Tynedale Way to Haltwhistle. Starting from Alston I rejoined the Pennine Way near the river and walked across fields for a few miles passing the meagre remains of a Roman fort at Whitley Castle before dropping back down to the River South Tyne. This was a rather boring and tedious section of the walk as I have no interest in walking through farmland, partly as I feel as if I’m intruding when crossing them. After passing below a viaduct which had a pretty stream passing under it I followed the stream down to the South Tyne. This part of the Way was actually quite good as the walking was interesting underfoot and the views along the river were picturesque. Unfortunately this didn't last long as the Pennine Way soon left the South Tyne for the last time and joined the road into the village of Slaggyford. Here I decided to part company with the Pennine Way for good and walk along the track bed of the South Tynedale Railway. This was a relaxing and interesting walk through woodland and along the top of high viaducts. I was, though, disappointed that woodland flowers were not quite yet in bloom as they would have significantly added to the beauty of the surroundings I was walking in. Another week or two would have made a considerable difference to the walk. The highlight was the spectacular Lambley viaduct which was long, high and narrow. The views from the top up and down the valley and around the surrounding area were extensive and stunning in the bright sunshine that I had been graced. 

 

The path along the railway bed unfortunately was not good underfoot being a level, gravel surface that is good to walk along if wearing normal shoes, but not if wearing walking boots. By the end of the long walk into Haltwhistle my feet were in agony, but I at least eventually managed to reach the place that I had been aiming for all week. It had been a good week even though I don’t usually do long distance paths, but the Pennine Way is something special. It was the first long distance path in Britain, and is probably still the best. I have had a desire to walk part of the Pennine Way for a long time, but the Pennines themselves are not the sort of hills that I prefer to walk. For me the more rugged and rock-covered are the mountain the better; however these heather-clad moorland hills seem to me rather bleak and barren. I enjoyed the wild emptiness of the terrain, but the highlight of the week has to be the many waterfalls I saw; I can't pick my favourite as there have been too many.

The Pennine Way, part 7

Friday 17th April 2009

Cross Fell

The weather for this, the seventh day of my walk along the Pennine Way, was quite a challenge as there was an extremely strong wind coming down off the hills. My host for the night told me that this was the Helm Wind, which used to be quite common but she hadn’t seen it in a few years. Walking out of Dufton along the green lanes I had to battle against the wind even while I had bushes and trees for protection, but once I got out onto the open moorland the wind was quite exceptional and made it really difficult to make any progress. I battled on up the hill taking one step at a time, plunging into the clouds and eventually reached the top of Knock Fell after a long, tiring climb. I had climbed up there three years ago, also in poor weather, but on that occasion I had turned south from the top of Knock Fell towards High Cup Scar.

Now I ventured north along the tops of the hills, but it can’t really be considered a ridge as it’s too wide to deserve that name. Following the path I kept an eye on my compass to ensure I was going in the right direction across the murky, wind-swept grasslands. I passed a tarmac road (the highest in Britain) and eventually arrived at an amazing, ominous looking building, a radar station at the top of Great Dun Fell. This is the second highest hill in the Pennines and it’s blighted by a huge building with tall aerials and enormous white golf balls! Fearing that they were going to fry my testicles any minute (!) I quickly walked past the monstrosity and continued along the path over the exceptionally windy top of Little Dun Fell. My previous visit to these fells was five years ago when I walked from the River South Tyne across the bleak moorland up to the Pennine Way just south of Great Dun Fell. On that occasion the weather was also terrible (I don’t have much luck with this area!), and I remember it being exceptionally windy at the top of Little Dun Fell then as well. At the top of Little Dun Fell I sheltered behind a wind break for a moment to get my strength back after the pounding and noted that the shelter was the wrong way round, because, of course, the wind was the wrong way round. Most of the weather in Britain comes off the Atlantic so the wind across Dun Fell is usually a westerly and that’s the direction the shelter pointed away from. But this wind was coming from the opposite direction, so I was having to shelter on the wrong side. . I pressed on and continued along the path starting to climb up to the top of Cross Fell, the highest point in the Pennines. Five Years ago I remember having a little difficulty finding the top on the broad summit plateau and this time was no different as the weather was no better. After passing a well-made cairn I eventually managed to find the trig point at the summit where I had my meagre lunch while sat at a cross shelter near the summit before setting off again. Descending the pathless terrain north of the summit I found my way to a bridlepath that crosses these hills and turned right onto the clear track, which I followed for many endless miles across the vast, bleak moorland of Milburn Forest all the way into the small village of Garrigill; this was a long and boring walk but somehow I was able to amuse myself throughout the walk. The wind, which was significantly lighter on this side of the tops, and the good path, made this section quite easy to walk along so I could just relax, take my time, and enjoy the walk and the wide views across South Tynedale. Beyond Garrigill I followed the River South Tyne all the way into the small market town of Alston. This was a pleasant walk beside the river with intermittent sunshine and was a nice end to the day. What had looked like being a horrible day turned out quite enjoyable, especially once I got out of the strong wind. It was quite satisfying to have successfully braved the harsh weather at the summit of the Pennines and I was rewarded with good weather in South Tynedale.