Silver How and Lang How

Monday 21st August 2023

The weather forecast was not great for this walk so my original plan of going up the Crinkle Crags, which I was never really enthusiastic about, was quietly abandoned and instead I headed along the ridge that I seemingly always do when staying at High Close, the Langdale Youth Hostel. This lovely ridge starts at Sergeant Man and passes over Blea Rigg and Silver How before reaching its lowest point at High Close, where there is a road crossing, and then swells again into the mass that is Loughrigg Fell. Wainwright praised the ridge saying of the route from Silver How to Loughrigg that “there are few more beautiful and interesting” but I came down this ridge from Sergeant Man two years ago so I didn’t want to walk far on this occasion. It was already raining when I left the hostel but it didn’t last long which left me free to enjoy the walk along the ridge through bracken while trying to follow the clearest path that keeps to the highest point on the ridge. Despite low clouds I soon had good views, north to Grasmere, south to Elterwater and south-west all the way to Windermere and this made the walk worthwhile. My first steep ascent brought me to the top of Huntingstile Crag and from there the ridge undulated until eventually another climb took me to the top of Dow Bank whose multiple tops were decorated with cairns. After crossing one of the many paths that traverse this ridge I climbed up to the top of Spedding Crag and was amazed at the complex terrain and the many paths on this ridge.

This ridge is best done from Sergeant Man heading east, downhill, as it can become tedious in the other direction and navigation is very difficult whenever the mist is down, as I had now. Nevertheless, I kept going and after passing the Megs Gill path I climbed up into the clouds and headed towards the top of Silver How. My goal on this holiday was to de-stress, for a rest and recuperation, so I had nowhere I particularly wanted to go and was happy to just wander around wherever I felt like going, perhaps visiting fells I hadn’t done in a while, but I was not going to go out of my way to bag certain fells. Therefore, I was not frustrated by this bad weather and was just happy to wander around. The low cloud and faint paths didn’t make the ascent easy, but the gradient was gentle up grassy slopes and before I reached the top the clouds lifted briefly to reveal a complex undulating plateau with no prominent tops and all too soon the clouds dropped again so I continued on up to the top of Silver How. Although I was enjoying my traverse of this ridge, I didn’t want to stay on it for much longer, espesically as I had seen from that glimpse that the terrain would now be much more difficult to navigate and I knew that the weather was forecast to worsen. For now I kept going along the ridge aiming for Lang How and soon the cloud lifted to confirm that I was going in the right direction.

Steep ground forced me, and the path, around Lang How, but if I was going to reach the top I needed to come off the path to climb the grassy slopes until eventually I reached the cairn that marks the top. Unlike Silver How, Lang How is rarely visited, I am not even sure if I have ever visited the top before, even though it is higher. From Lang How I made my way to a prominent cairn, further west, near Swinescar Pike, though maybe not at the top, which seemed to be unadorned. Beyond there the ground rises about a hundred metres to the Castle How tops, but the wind was now beginning to pick up and soon it started to rain so I decided that it was time to come off the ridge and take a route that I’ve never taken before and descends via Blindtarn Moss. As the rain fell more heavily I followed a slender path past a scattering of stunted juniper trees through an area of the Lake District that sees few people, despite being near Grasmere, above the flat bed of Bindtarn Moss. Later, swathes of tall bracken made for a trickier descent past a waterfall to eventually reach Blindtarn House and enter Easedale where I joined the path from Easedale Tarn which I followed all the way into Grasmere where the rain finally eased. I didn’t stay, but quickly passed through the village and Dove Cottage to join the path known as the Coffin Route that links Grasmere and Rydal.

At a convenient bench I stopped to have my lunch and by the time I set off again it had started to rain. Once the Coffin Route left tarmac behind this was a fantastic walk with a lovely stony surface underfoot and seemed astonishingly popular with many people on it, and since the path was quite narrow it was a tricky to get past everybody. Eventually I reached Rydal and I couldn’t resist taking a look at the picturesque view of the waterfalls at Rydal Hall before continuing on to Ambleside. With the rain now falling intermittently I tried to make my back to the Youth Hostel, which wouldn’t have been a problem if I had been in a car, but I was walking and I did not take a good route. Google Maps suggests going via Loughrigg Terrace, which is an excellent idea and I wish I had gone that way, but instead I followed the narrow A593 road, which doesn’t have a footpath and does have blind corners. I thank all of the drivers who managed to avoid me and for those who came close to hitting me, I don’t blame you. I should never have been there. Eventually I reached the safety of an overgrown path and soon after that I came to a quiet side road, signposted to High Close and the Youth Hostel, so I was then thankfully able to safely make my way up the hill and back to the Youth Hostel. I loved the start of this walk along the ridge over Silver How and Lang How, but once it started raining I lost all enjoyment in the walk and by the end I was soaked.

Harrison Stickle and Ullscarf

Sunday 20th August 2023

On my second day in the Lake District I set myself a target of reaching Ullscarf, which is a hill that I had not climbed in a long time but was also a long way away from where I was staying. Another problem I had with where I was staying was that it was not far from the campsite that I had stayed at two years ago, the last time I spent a sizable time in the Lake District, so I was in danger of repeating what I had recently done. Soon after I left the Langdale Youth Hostel it started to rain, which at this point it looked like it was going to do a lot on this holiday, but fortunately the forecast for this walk was for the rain to clear so I proceeded with my planned walk despite the rain. After buying some things for lunch from the Chapel Stile shop I made my way through the village and past the campsite that I had stayed at two years ago. I was looking for some rest and recuperation from this holiday in the Lake District to help me recover from a stressful year, but if one is already stressed, then it is amazing how even seemingly innocuous things can have the potential to be a source of stress. If I had thought about my lunch earlier I would not have needed this diversion, but I tried to not let that stress me. From Baysbrown Campsite I followed the route of the Cumbria Way, which I have been using to get down Great Langdale for twenty years ever since I first came to the Lake District.

With the Langdale Pikes ahead of me I slowly made my way along the valley, including on the uncomfortable, bouldery path below Oak Howe so I was relieved when the conditions improved underfoot and with awesome views to the Langdale Pikes I descended back down to Great Langdale Beck and across the valley to the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel. When I was in Langdale two years ago I climbed almost all of the fells in the area, including the Langdale Pikes, so I was repeating myself, but before crossing the Dungeon Ghyll stream I branched off from my previous route and headed up to Pike Howe. I came down this way in 2013, but I had never climbed up this way before so I was looking forward to the ascent even after it started raining heavily. Slowly, I soldiered on up the steep path until eventually I reached the windswept top of Pike Howe where I turned my back on the views down Langdale towards Windermere to cross the grassy slopes below the impenetrable crags of Harrison Stickle. Throughout my climb I had great views into the ravine of Dungeon Ghyll and these continued as the path turned to cross the steep rocky ground between the waterfall-filled ravine and the cliff face looming above me.

Wainwright described a route up the ravine and I had considered ascending that way, but not in this weather and not in my condition. I was too tired for such a strenuous climb. After crossing the scree slope I entered the bowl that lies behind the Langdale Pikes with Harrison Stickle rising steeply on my right, but I ignored the rough paths that climb straight up in favour of a better, easier path that climbs to the col north of the summit. From there I turned back to reach the top of Harrison Stickle, which on previous occasions has been packed with people, but now was empty. Even though the rain had stopped it was still very windy, so I didn’t linger and headed back down to the col across the rocky terrain towards Thunacar Knott. I didn’t really need to visit this top, but it was on my way so I stopped at the summit cairn and then continued onto the dreary, grassy terrain that led me all the way up to High Raise. There, I took advantage of the shelter to have a quick lunch before continuing north, passing Low White Stones and descending to the broad plateau of Greenup Edge where the Coast to Coast path crosses from Borrowdale to Grasmere and now looks much clearer than I previously remember.

I crossed the path and headed towards Ullscarf which I have been avoiding for many years. I first crossed the horrendously wet quagmire to the south of Ullscarf in 2006 and only returned when there was snow on the ground in 2010. I have not been back since, which makes this the highest fell I have not visited in over ten years, but first I had to brave the bogs and my new walking boots helped me enormously to keep my feet dry. The sun was now beginning to break through the clouds and spurred me on through the swamp to eventually take me up to the summit of Ullscarf. The sun was now shining in the north and east of the Lake District, but dark clouds lingered in the south and west while I stood in the middle of the Lake District enjoying it all as I made my way across the top and onto a route that I have wanted to do for many years, probably ever since I first saw it on Wainwright’s guides. I knew it would be best in descent and that I would need good weather, which I had so with fantastic views north I aimed for the outcrop of High Saddle. Beyond, on Low Saddle, I had amazing views with Watendlath Tarn, Derwent Water and Bassenthwaite Lake appearing to line up one above another.

My onward route crossed dull, pathless, grassy slopes that led me all the way towards Great Crag which looked beautiful with its purple-flowering heather covering, but unfortunately the descent didn’t live up to long wait as the terrain below Low Saddle is too broad, though interest returned as I approached the heather covered ground around Green Combe. Despite this area east of Dock Tarn being little regarded, I explored the heather covered tops including one that is higher than Great Crag itself, before eventually wading through the heather to find a good path that would took me to Dock Tarn. From there I tried to reach the top of Great Crag, but somehow I ended up back at Dock Tarn which prompted me to expend much energy crashing through the heather until eventually I reached the cairn that marks the summit of Great Crag. This is another fell that I hadn’t visited in a long time, so I was happy to have returned, but soon I was descending off the fell and around a wetland area that had left the path itself waterlogged. When I eventually emerged from the bogs I realised that I was approaching Watendlath even though I had intended on taking the path to Puddingstone Bank and thence to Borrowdale.

Therefore once I reached Watendlath I had to turn around and take the bridleway that climbs back up to Puddingstone Bank before continuing down to Borrowdale. This was a fabulous walk even though the weather in the morning was not great, but after lunch the weather enabled me to enjoy a good walk over Ullscarf. I had not done a long walk since I had been in Scotland almost three months earlier due to various problems, mainly stress, so it was wonderful for me to do this walk which was exactly what I needed. Ideally I would now be staying in the youth hostel in Borrowdale, but for some reason it didn’t have any shared dormitories available so I needed to return to Langdale. At first I had planned to walk all the way back but eventually I realised that the best option was to catch a bus from Borrowdale and another from Keswick, which previously would have been prohibitively expensive, but now thanks to the bus fare cap, only cost me £4.

Loughrigg Fell

Saturday 19th August 2023

I had hardly done any walking over the summer, since leaving Scotland at the beginning of June, so for my next holiday I needed somewhere I could relax, not push myself too hard and allow myself to recover from the difficulties that I have had this year, and there is nowhere better for that than the Lake District. Part of me would love to spend all the time there, but it is very crowded, which puts me off and I try to stay away so I am not adding to those crowds and the erosion on the fells that they cause. The last time I was in the Lake District for a major holiday was spring 2021 when Covid was still at the forefront of everyone’s mind, which led to me camping every night, but now with Covid, hopefully, a distant memory the restrictions as a result of the pandemic have been largely lifted. Therefore, this is my first chance since spring 2018 to do the Lake District as I used to in the past. I have very fond memories of walking in the Lake District over the last twenty years and a repeat of those holidays is just what I needed to revive my spirits. The train arrived at Windermere station on time, which is surprising, and I decided that I would immediately start walking from the station, even though that is not what I have done in the past when I have always first caught a bus to Ambleside or Grasmere. However, when I was in the Lake District for a couple of days last Christmas, I walked all the way from Ambleside to the station and it didn’t seem too far, though in a little change to my route of last Christmas, I initially headed up the Orrest Head path.

Behind me were many people chatting noisily away, but, thankfully, at the junction where the path up to Orrest Head turns right, I kept straight on along a lovely path with a wall on my left above gardens and woodland on my right. The weather was warm but overcast with a strong wind that was not a problem at the moment, though it would definitely prove a problem higher up. The sun was trying to break through the clouds, but ultimately failed. The path took me into High Hay Wood, which I had a quick look around, but soon I retreated and followed the path out of the wood and onto the Patterdale Road. A side road took me down to the Ambleside Road, which I would follow all the way to Ambleside, but when I reached the Brockhole National Park Visitor Centre I thought I’d have a look around as in all my years of coming to the Lake District I had never been before, but it is just something for the tourists, an activity park for those who are not interesting in walking over the fells, as if anybody would not want to do that. There was nothing for me except somewhere to sit and have my lunch and after eating I returned to the road to resume my walk to Ambleside.

The road was very busy with slow moving traffic that made me glad to be walking and eventually I reached Ambleside where I bought something for my dinner before heading across Rothay Park to Under Loughrigg Road. My overnight accommodation was on the other side of Loughrigg Fell and I could have just walked around, but it was much more interesting to go over the fell even though I’ve been over Loughrigg many times. A look at Wainwright’s guidebook revealed a route up that I’d never taken before so I ignored the bridleway that starts opposite Rothay Park and followed the road beside the River Rothay until I reached Foxghyll where a lovely, little path heads up the side of the hill, initially through woodland and with great views behind me, across the valley and towards the Fairfield Horseshoe. On emerging from the wood the path continued to climb beside the Fox Ghyll stream, passing a bank of bramble that provided me with many tasty blackberries before eventually I reached a shallow depression that Wainwright calls the Amphitheatre and the Ordnance Survey calls Black Mire. I had never been this far into the Amphitheatre before and, of course, it was very wet underfoot. On the other side a steep climb brought me up the hill and I stopped many times to turn around and look at the view across the valley towards Wansfell and the Rydal valley.

Even though the weather was poor, it was great to be back in the Lake District and as I absorbed the tremendous views I could feel the stresses of the year already leaving me. I took my time to enjoy that view and to not push myself to climb the hill quickly, plus at this moment I was sheltered from the strong winds, and when I eventually reached the top of the ridge I was exposed to the full might of Storm Betty. Despite the strong winds and grey skies I had awesome views over Loughrigg Tarn and up Langdale, but I didn’t linger and after taking a few pictures I returned to the main path and followed it across the fell, branching off to visit the windswept south summit before continuing up to the highest point on Loughrigg Fell. I tapped the trig point and hastily continued to the northern slopes, which were a little more sheltered and now afforded me with views across the village of Grasmere with Dunmail Raise pass in the distance. Soon, I branched off the main path down to Grasmere to take a route that I’d never taken before and descends north of Intake Wood. This was very steep, but afforded me with views over Grasmere to the north and west into Langdale with the youth hostel in plain sight. Unfortunately it wasn’t yet four o’clock and the reception at the hostel doesn’t open until five so I had some time to kill. Fortunately the grounds at High Close are quite extensive and I was able to follow a trail through the woodland which provided me with a lovely, relaxing walk until eventually I returned to the hostel. This was a good, gentle walk that helped me to get used to walking again, and with the strong winds I couldn’t really do anything else. 

Southern Upland Way: The Lammermuir Hills

Thursday 1st June 2023

To finish describing my trek along the Southern Upland Way, I started my penultimate day at a beautiful wild camp beside the Blythe Water at the junction with the Wheel Burn on the edge of the Lammermuir Hills. The previous evening had been sunny, but now I woke to cold, overcast skies and I could feel light rain in the air, so the fabulous sunshine that I had enjoyed for much of the holiday was now gone and the weather was finally feeling more Scottish. A footpath took me over Scoured Rig, and past an area of felled conifers, down to Braidshawrig. The clouds were very low, covering the tops of the Lammermuir Hills, which form a barrier between East Lothian and the Scottish Borders of high heather moorland, but without any significant peaks, though deep-sided valleys penetrate the hills. I had never been in the area before and the Southern Upland Way merely skirts the southern edge and I was not seeing it in the best of weather. However, the heather moorland was a welcome change from the tedious, grassy farmland that I had walked through the day before, even though I couldn’t help anticipating the approaching end of the trail. A track slowly took me up onto the moor through featureless terrain that was still quite enjoyable to walk through compared with the farmland of the day before. Swathes of cotton grass decorated the landscape, along with some sheep, and as I climbed heather became more abundant. 

 

 

After climbing onto Blythe Edge a word appeared on a trail post that had been exciting me throughout the Southern Upland Way: “ultreia”, which indicates that just beyond is a hoard of specially minted coins hidden in a sculptured kist. Therefore I kept my eyes peeled for the kist and eventually I found it and the slightly rusty coins inside. I was glad to find this kist as I had missed a few recently and I had feared I would not find anymore. Ahead of me were the two cairns of Twin Law so I climbed to the top of hill and explored the two magnificently constructed structures there, complete with porches that include a metal case containing a logbook. After entering my comment in the logbook I turned into the cold wind coming off the sea and headed back down the hill where, if the weather was good, surely I would have had my first glimpse of the sea, but that was not to be. Eventually I reached Watch Water Reservoir where I had my lunch before continuing along a road for an extended plod as the excitement of crossing the Lammermuir Hills was soon over and the rest of the trail descended into tedium.

After passing through the village of Longformacus I climbed toward Black Hill Wind Farm but before reaching the top I turned north and descending into the valley of the Whiteadder Water. The views under the dull, grey skies were mainly of farmland so were not interesting to me, though the conical peak of Dirrington Great Law had grabbed my attention, but mostly I was just counting down the moments until I could finally reach the end of the trail after walking such a long way. On the northern tip of Black Hill I crossed the thousand feet mark for the last time on the trail and I realised that that was the last hill on the Southern Upland Way. A forestry track eventually brought me into Abbey St Bathans which was a delightful place, but completely deserted, so I turned up beside the Wharfe Burn and on the recommendation of the rambling man website, which had recommended the previous night’s wild camp, I stopped beside the path in delightful surroundings for my final night on the trail. My walk over the Lammermuir Hills was enjoyable and had helped me recover from the previous day’s tedium, but after lunch there had been no interest though a little variety prevented the tedium of the day before.

After a peaceful night I set off along the track and immediately climbed away from the Wharfe Burn onto boring farmland which continued over a hill, past Blackburn Mill, until eventually I descended into the valley of the Pease Burn, which contains both the A1 trunk road and the East Coast Mainline. After a death-defying dash across the A1 I discovered a mown path through the undergrowth between the road and railway and eventually crossed the line into Penmanshiel Wood, which is yet another conifer plantation on the Southern Upland Way, but thankfully the last. The last of the hoards of hidden treasure should be in this area, but I didn’t see any sign of the kist that marks the location, though the track beside the river had been recently widened which may have damaged it. The vegetation beside the Pease Burn was lovely with wild garlic dominating but the destruction from the wide forestry track ensured that this was hardly noticed. Eventually I came off the wide track to climb through the plantation for an extended walk among the conifers before finally descending and entering Pease Dean Nature Reserve. 

 

 

This was a beautiful place, gloriously overgrown, but with still no sign of the sea. I could hear it and even smell it, but the thick woodland prevented me from seeing the North Sea until eventually at the top of a flight of steps the sea emerged above the trees. The path descended into a deep woodland valley and I emerged from the reserve on the edge of a holiday park which I skirted before climbing to the top of the cliffs overlooking Pease Bay with the red rocks of the cliffs further up the coast. It was exciting to be finally at the North Sea after twelve days on the Southern Upland Way crossing from the west coast of Scotland all the way to the east coast. The end was within reach. First I made my way along the top of the craggy cliffs high above the sea and past tiny Cove Harbour which seemed like a fitting counterpoint to Portpatrick where I had started the trail. Even though the views up the coast included the large white building of Torness Nuclear Power Station and the chimneys of a cement works, the views under sunny blue skies were fantastic and spurred me on to complete the last little section of the Southern Upland Way which bizarrely now turned back west towards Portpatrick. 

 

 

Eventually, after passing under both the A1 and the railway line, I reached the small village of Cockburnspath where an information board on the junction of the Edinburgh Road and road into the village announces the Southern Upland Way that according to the trail website ends at the war memorial opposite. However other sources claim the market cross in the centre of the village is the end of the trail, though there is no acknowledgement of that there. I have wanted to do this trail for a long time, it is something I have aspired to do and now I have done it. There is a lot of variety, many good bits and many bad bits, but almost all of the best bits were in the county of Dumfries and Galloway and I felt the trail started to deteriorate once I entered the Scottish Borders, which is a shame as I’m sure the county has many interesting walks. The highlights on the Southern Upland Way for me were the bluebells in Glen Trool and also in many other places, plus the many ranges of hills and the beautiful wooded valleys. I didn’t mind the large number of conifer plantations but I don’t enjoy walking through farmland and there seemed to be increasingly more of that as the trail reached its last few days. The weather was almost uniformly sunny which is astonishing and more than I could have hoped. As I waited for a bus to start my journey home I was exhausted but pleased to have finally done the Southern Upland Way.