Harper Hills NY 510 144
Hare Shaw NY 497 131
Nameless NY 492 143
Nameless NY 496 149
Nameless NY 505 152
Hugh's Laithe Pike NY 502 151
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Friday - 25th March
Bowland Climber has bought a new car. It is described as: "a something or other MCV."
Keen to demonstrate, BC offered to take us on from my house to the start of our next Outlying Fells trip. Not sure what to expect I Googled "MCV" and learnt that it was a "Manoeuvre Combat Vehicle with a 105 inch anti-tank gun." I presumed BC had plans for forthcoming trips on non-access land where some resistance may be encountered, or perhaps he had flipped and decided to become a grouse shooter?
Fortunately Chapter 50, with its seven Wainwright summits, takes the circuit of The Naddle valley access land, a rarely visited venue sandwiched between Haweswater and Swindale (even Swindale is remote with only limited motor access).
Since I purchased Memory Map's 1:25000 map, and after years of wandering across all our countryside, regardless of trespassing or not, I have become amusedly aware of access land as now delineated on the new map.
Thursday was a day of non-stop rain, and as I write this on Saturday we have had non-stop rain again - talk about weather windows - our day in between was glorious. And even though this was a bank holiday weekend we never saw a soul, not even at a distance, all day.
Sadly, having driven through Shap at various times of day recently I notice that the well favoured Abbey Café appears to have closed.
This walk was on a fifty-fifty mixture of tracks and some pretty rough going over tussocks, bog and heather, but all sheer delight with an uplifting feeling of isolation.
The 105 inch anti-tank gun was not deployed.
PLEASE CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE
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| Our route is up on the ridge to right - to left looking down Swindale. Gowther Crag is the dark area - a good climbing crag |
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| On the way - Scalebarrow Knott on skyline |
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| Knipe Scar - another Outlying from a few posts back |
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| From Harper Hills summit. The pointy one left end is Kidsty Pike |
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| "Chimmney" as marked on OS map and mentioned by Wainwright. |
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| Dam end of Haweswater from Hugh's Laithe Pike, our last summit |
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| BC looking back to our last summit |
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| The deer on this zoom shot were about quarter of a mile away |
Conrad. Sorry I've just posted virtually identical account. [Like your deer photo though] Could say it was a good leg stretching trip.
ReplyDeleteHow much space is used by the1:25000 MM Conrad? My 1:50000 uses about 500mb and that only covers Scotland and the Lakes.
ReplyDeleteQuite surprising that you didn't encounter anyone on a bank holiday in the Lakes. Maybe arriving in the MCV chased everyone away.
BC -It’s inevitable that we should post similar accounts, but your new car was a blogger’s gift. Your picture of Gowther Crag is much better than mine. My zooms only got parts of the crag because I just can’t see what I’m pointing at through the viewfinder, and they were not worth showing.
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Afoot - Hi Gibson - My Iphone 6s Plus is 64 gb. Memory Map for the whole country on both 1:50,000 and 1:25,000 takes up 2.6gb, but I'm not sure what the split is.
Sir Hugh - My IPhone 6s Plus is also 64gb and 2.6gb for mapping doesn't seem excessive in that context. You've tempted me - again.
ReplyDeleteThe 24th was Good Friday - as you will no doubt recall, compulsory attendance at church for at least three services of an hour or more each evenly spaced through the day left (leaves) little time for fell walking or grouse shooting, hence, no doubt, your empty lands:
ReplyDeleteshocking - what is the Christian world coming to - if there were a similar festival in another world religion we cannot mention, such absences might indeed lead to condign punishment!
That 'round' looks to be a lovely 'secret' trip - almost in my front garden, yet I'd never heard of it: well guarded by its roadlessness and the forbidding steep woods facing Haweswater, I suspect.
ReplyDeletethe 25th, of course - must have fallen asleep during the third sermon
Gimmer -I can’t tell whether you are saying you attended or not. You imply that the fells were empty because many people were attending which would indicate that the Christian religion is in good shape, which as far as I know is not so in this country, but maybe it is more so in The States. Anyway it has been responsible for more bloodshed, wars and… oh! don’t get me started.
ReplyDeleteOne test of a “good walk” is whether you would want to repeat it. I may not go back to do the exact route again, but a return to the Naddle valley in general would always be on the list.
I would like to believe . . . that that was the case: no other reason springs to mind, other than that the area you chose is a secret delight (and needs to remain so) - or that the 'masses' were still stuck on the M6 or in the fleshpots of Shap (the motorway services thereabouts are a 'destination' in their own right!)
ReplyDeleteA repeat visit will find me willing, Good Friday or not
I hope the gems of Shropshire also provide you your spiritual as well your 'scriptic' reward (if such a coinage could describe at least part of your objective - not scriptural, I suspect, although that can be a good read any day).