Faulds Brow NY 299 407
Caermote Hill NY 196 371 and St. John's Hill (Caeremote Hill N. top) NY 196 376
In Wainwright's book he lists the hills included in each chapter immediately after the chapter headings. In Chapter 45 he only lists Caermote Hill, but St. John's Hill which is the natural continuation of Caermote only half a kilometre further north is shown on his map as part of his route for his suggested walk for this chapter. Most lists, including Harold Street - CLICK FOR THEIR WEBSITE include St John's Hill in W's Outlying Fells list.
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Faulds Brow
Each one of these hills could be ascended from the most advantageous road point within twenty minutes or so. Today I wanted a proper walk so I followed W's 4.5 mile route starting from Caldbeck to ascend Faulds Brow. Caldbeck boasts the WATERMILL CAFE
If you are into cafés this is as good as it gets - just look at the website. Coffee and toasted teacake set me up for the walk after the long drive to this northernmost of W's Outlying Fells.
I set off with a more than normal sense of well-being and enjoyment at the prospect of venturing into territory I had not explored before, striding and ascending out of Caldbeck, with blue sky and a nip in the air. That feeing stayed with me for the rest of this day.
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| Watermill Café |
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| Back to Caldbeck. Blencathra on skyline right |
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| Faulds Brow summit |
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| Old bobbin mill, see below |
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| John Peel's grave in Caldbeck churchyard. I knew this was there, but amongst hundreds of graves it looked like a lost cause trying to find it until I met a couple from Canada who were able to point it out- fancy that! Not many people in the old UK would have even heard of John Peel, never mind visitors from abroad. There is another connection here - my father was a follower and secretary of the Airedale Beagles for 25 years, and as a pre-teenager youth I was dragged out on hunts with him - a bit different from being taken to football matches, eh? These days I would be more likely to be accompanying the hunt saboteurs. **************** |
It was only ten minutes drive to Caermont Hill. The ascent started from the road where a Roman fort was marked on the OS map in the adjoining field covering quite a large area. There was not the slightest trace of it on the ground just marsh, bog and reeds. As I was leaving the road through the gate I met a fellow walker returning down the road towards me who I think had just completed the round I was embarking on. He turned out to be a fellow hill bagger targeting W's Outlying Fells and also the Birketts. We had interesting conversation and an exchange of contact details.
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| Caermote Hill |
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| The back of Skiddaw and Bassenthwaite Lake. This side of Skiddaw is much more interesting than the view from Keswick |
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| Caermote summit with commemorative plaques now eroded beyond readability. Distant views accross the Solway would include Criffel "on a clear day" |
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| From St John's Hill just half a kilometre further on trom Caermote |
Never heard of those fells, how obscure.
ReplyDeleteAfter my sojourn in sunny latitudes can't wait to get up some snowy cold and wet hill.
Hey, he's got a song:
ReplyDeleteD'ye ken John Peel,
With his coat so grey?
He lived at Troutbeck
Once of a day,
Now he has gone, far far away,
We shall ne'er hear his voice in the morning.
D'ye ken John Peel,
And Reuben too,
Ranter and Ringwood,
And Bellman and True,
From a find to a check,
From a check to a view,
From a view to a death in the morning.
etc, etc.
Leading to all that tedious explanation about why the coat was grey and not gay.
Such jolly tunes about scragged animals simply following their own inclinations (though no doubt the hunting fraternity could say the same about themselves).
BC - there's still plenty more to go at weven though I mopped up another couple of chapters yesterday - post pending.
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RR -Of course I am aware of the song, and thanks for posting it - I should have done so, At the scene I had difficulty in remembering all the exact words and Googled it later. I think there are different versions and word choices, but most importantly I think the word "kill" is used rather than "death" sometimes - much more graphic, and also in line with hunting jargon.
My thoughts on this kind of hunting grudgingly accept that there MAY be some justification for controlling vermin, and understandably foxes, but why hares? And if there is a justification then it should be carried out in as humane and dispassionate way as possible.? BUT my overall objection to hunting is that these people ENJOY killing things and create a disgusting pantomime about it.
If vermin extinction were the justification, hunting would probably be the least effective way of going about it. In fact from an evolutionary point of view hunting, long term, probably breeds foxes which are more wily and of greater stamina.
ReplyDeleteFaced with a hunter always bring up the subject of bear-baiting which, no doubt, had its eloquent supporters before it was stopped. We should be happy that country folk are marginally better employed chasing (and frequently failing to catch) foxes, hares, otters and stags, instead of torturing bears and badgers.
And what will subsidy-loving country folk do if Brexit prevails?
"Death" is more poetic than "kill" and already has a firm hold on the intelligentsia. The phrase "a view to a death" appears in Lord of the Flies and in A Dance to the Music of Time, and is referenced in Mary Webb's very popular pre-war anti-hunting novel - of which Mother had a copy. Actually the novel was called Gone to Earth but you get the idea. Mary Webb was much parodied in Cold Comfort Farm which should be the next book you tackle in your lit. circle.
I saw a TV interview of a market trader selling, amongst other things, olives. The guy was macho and in favour of Brexit, then the interviewer said, "if we come out those olives are going to be much more expensive (if you can get them)". The trader deflated like a pricked balloon and the interview ended abruptly.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that neither your subject nor his interlocutor knew that eu sourced olives are more expensive than freely traded ones - ie the interviewer was dead wrong and the trader pretty ignorant - I suspect a set-up to try to make a false point (un canard, peut-etre ?)
ReplyDeleteas you know, I am a pretty solid 'pro', but food is the one field (apologies) that would be cheaper 'out' than 'in' - world market prices for most food and feed stuffs are 'lower' to 'much lower' than eu supplies.
I think your other contributor forgets the high support payments made to UK farmers before we joined the EEC - just structured and paid for differently: then it was food subsidies and direct support, then it became guaranteed prices (and lakes/mountains) and now a sort of melange of the two - from which element of direct support the environmental payments system and assistance to, inter alia, upland farmers comes (inadequate though that maybe, but does help in the cost of maintaining the countryside which the farm gate yield cannot hope to do).
I remember some rather different sets of words to JP sung at the back of climbing party and football team buses - ironically these might nowadays offend or distress the saboteurs less than the proper words.
Gimmer - Thanks for your version of the facts. The main thing is that there are three of us in this exchange who all favour "in", although personally I am less convinced of this than I used to be. OK, a referendum is, I suppose, democratic, but on such a complicated issue, asking Joe Bloggs to decide is like asking a St John's Ambulance man to conduct neuro-surgery.
ReplyDeleteYou can see the outline of the Roman Camp from the nearby hill of High House (aptly named as there are the remains of a room on top of the hill with a fireplace built into the rock!).
ReplyDeleteJoe C. - Welcome to my blog, albeit as a commenter on an ancient post. Thanks for the information. I am fascinated to know how you came to find the post and make the comment. I look forward to the possibility of your further comments.
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