Great Mountain Days in the Pennines. Terry Marsh
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