Date: 09-Feb-2011
Map: Landranger 90 OL 006
Weather: Rain, with wet spells - very wet spells
From the quarry at Low Tilberthwaite up
by the gill to higher ground at Dry Cove Bottom. Up to a
ridge walk at Birk Fell Man and up to Wetherlam summit. Down
to Swirl Hause and up the Prison Band to Swirl How. Continue
to Great Carrs and over to Grey Friar, back to Little Carrs
and down Wetside Edge. Cross the Greenburn Beck and walk
around the north end of Great Intake before coming back
around to the road at High Tilberthwaite :
11.3 miles as measured on memory map.
Another
frustrating day on the fells weather-wise and another fell
to revisit when the weather allows. I walked with Micky
today and very sociable it was with a nice wee dram of
single malt to cheer us along the way. The drive up to the
Lake District was wet, as was the weather when we got to
Tilberthwaite - we sat awhile peering out of a very wet
windscreen, and looking up to a not very far away cloud
base. We knew we were in for a quiet day as a drenched
school party disappeared into the mist and that was the sum
total of people we saw all day long. I've been struggling a
lot lately and have slowed down so much that my average
speed is now down to 2mph - mostly down to taking lots of
pictures I might add. Eventually we got out of the car and
on with all the gear I walked in a base layer and Paramo
Velez smock - a good combination for winter walking for me
and it kept me dry all day - the same couldn't be said for
my boots, which were returned to Brasher as they were
leaking very badly after only 5 months wear - see the blog
for details. From the valley of Tewdale Beck it was straight
into action, steeply up some stone steps to Horse Crag where
there are several old quarries. The advantage of today's
route was that there were only short stretches of steep
hillside and much steady ascent. The initial route was to
the south of Tewdale Beck, which was running very heavy,
with the sound of rushing water keeping my tinnitus at bay.
The beck cuts deeply into the valley in places and we
crossed via a sturdy wooden bridge that spans some falls.
Once across we headed higher up the fellside and then up an
easier gradient as we moved around the base of Blake Rigg.
The paths weren't difficult to find today (except on the top
of Wetherlam in the clag) as they were pretty much running
water. We were quickly high above Tiberthwaite Gill and a
great rush of water was seen here, all gathered up from
several becks from the higher ground - running frothy and
full, and I'm glad we didn't have to cross any by foot. At
the top of the gill we were approaching the cloud base, with
the rain very persistent, but with occasional glimpses of
the valley below.
the start
looking very gloomy
plenty of
old quarries to mooch around in
looking
down on Low Tilberthwaite
crossing
over Yewdale Beck
plenty of
water in there today
the view
over to Crook Beck from Tilberthwaite Gill
we
followed the path....err... stream up to Dry Cove Bottom
the moss
below Wetherlam Edge
a nice
steady gradient
The path cut up north to Dry Cove Bottom,
climbing the lower slopes of Blake Rigg - there was nothing
dry about this though. I noticed plenty of old black stumps
of trees dotting the hillside, and I wondered were these
removed by the miners or poisoned and felled by mining
activity? There are plenty of signs of old mining activities
with the odd 'adit' mine entrance here and there - they
chased copper rich veins into the hillside. Hence some of
the paths were very nice to walk on having been built by the
miners for mine access. It was a steady ascent up into the
murk, and at Hawk Rigg the path cut up west towards Birk
Fell Man, then SW up the ridge of Wetherlam Edge. It was
steep here in places and a little rocky - now and again the
clouds parted to reveal Greenburn to the north. Higher up
towards the top we were right in the clag and no further
views were forthcoming for a while. So I plodded on and
Micky kindly took his time, and eventually we topped out
onto the summit of Wetherlam. There are 3 or 4 paths that
lead off the summit so we took a compass bearing and set off
in the right direction, but......the path moved around to
avoid the many crags and we moved with it....unfortunately
to the south down to Hen Crag. After checking the GPS again
and realising my error, we retraced our steps back up to the
top and set off on a bearing once more. This took us along
Keld Gill Head and down to Swirl Hause, and we came out of
the gloom part way down this stretch - nice to see where we
were headed. On a clar day we would have had views across to
the Scafells, but today it was just grey clag. From the
hause we could just about see Coniston and Levers Water and
the Old Man up to the right. We headed west across the
watershed and started the steeper ascent up the Prison Band
to Swirl How. Halfway up the band we found a sheltered spot
to stop and have lunch, away from the constant wind - it was
pretty strong today but my base layer and Paramo were warm
enough. After a nice warming nip of single malt the next
stop was Swirl How, the second highest Wainwright of the
day, and once we were up there most of the ascent was
behind us. There wasn't much to see, but on a clear day its
fabulous - click here .
looking
back down from Birk Man Fell
we had the
occasional view of Greenburn down below, with the old mine
reservoir
Swirl
Hause from part way up the Prison Band - Wetherlam top up to
the right
it was
steep enough in places
and a
good wee dram for lunch - cheers Micky
the
camera went away for a while - no pictures of Great Carrs or
Grey Friar - looking back up to Little Carrs
nearly clearing
as we drop down to Wetside Edge
a long broad ridge down to Greenburn
We
continued to the NW up along the top of Broad Slack to Great Carrs, the third Wainwright of the day. Just to the south of
the top is the memorial cairn marking the site of some
debris from a crashed Halifax bomber - 8 men lost their
lives here in the 40's - but no doubt saved many more by
their comrades actions. There are some aluminium bits and
bobs with rusting steel rims next to the cairn - we owe a
lot to these people and I was glad to see the memorial
plaque. The 4th and final Wainwright of the day was
another compass bearing away, thankfully across springy
grass, gently down to a broad shoulder before climbing up to
Grey Friar. It was a good path all the way up to the summit
cairns where we saw ....nothing. Again another fell to
revisit as the views towards the Scafells should be
spectacular down over the Wrynose Pass. We didn't hang about
and made our way back down, following the path to the NE to
Little Carrs over Wether How. The path contoured nicely
beneath the summit of Great Carrs and as we came to rejoin
the main path we had a view of the whole ridge before us -
Hell Gill Pike, followed by Wetside Edge and the Greenburn
Valley far below. Behind us even Great Carrs started to peak
out of it's cloud, but it was only a brief moment - it
disappeared into the murk again along with Grey Friar and we
knew we would get wet again. But it was nice to be out of
the rain for a short spell. It is a long, long way down the
edge, boggy in places with my feet now drenched due to my
leaky boots. We dropped down 1900ft by the time we reached
Greenburn Beck - on the way down I thought the valley looked
far below us - and we had a good view down over the
Greenburn reservoir - built for the mines. As we got towards
Greenburn Beck I wasn't 100% sure that there was a crossing
and was mightily relieved to see a small sturdy wooden
bridge crossing to the other side. The track on the opposite
bank was built to service the Greenburn Mine workings from
many years ago. We could have gone up another 600ft to drop
over the top of Great Intake and saved a mile or two, but we
decided that a nice track would be better. So off we went up
to the NW as it gently ascended the contours - if the
weather was fine we could have had a short detour to look at
Slaters Bridge - but it wasn't, so we didn't. Around to the
south it turned as we skirted the northern end of Great
Intake, including quite a bit of unwanted ascent. Then the
rain came again, heavier than earlier as we made our way
down the lanes towards the car park - the old mine track
eventually coming out at High Tilberthwaite and the road. It
was dusk by now and we rapidly trudged back to the car, wet,
but nevertheless enjoyable - as always in good company.
Micky directed me to Staveley where we had a fine pint and
sent some phone pictures of a roaring fire - a great day
out.
about the only view
we had back to Great Carrs
starting
to get gloomy again
here it
comes - looking back up Greenburn
it was
steep down to the beck
our route ahead
around Great Intake
in full
flow - Greenburn Beck
dusk now and
that's Blake Rigg with Side Pike in the distance
Where now:
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