Tuesday 14th July 2020 - Roeburn high level paths 6 miles
A few months ago I had a series of forays from the end of Salter Fell road up Roeburndale to Wray and Hornby to fill in the part of Wainwright's Way that BC had done previously. On one of those trips BC accompanied me and a high level path above and to the east of Roeburndale took our interest so today I went to investigate.
There was a lay-by for parking at the bottom of the steep hill up to Roeburn Methodist Chapel. from where a track leads to Lower Salter Farm. There I messed about trying to find the route through the farmyard and found myself within the first ten minutes of the walk climbing a gate.
The majority of this walk was on public footpaths shown on the map but not visible on the ground. I was traversing rough upland pasture choked with high reeds and long grass which is pretty evident on the photos below. This was all hard going with lots of short sharp ups and downs. Many of the gates were awkward and I made a hash of some of the navigation. I climbed several gates and a couple of barbed wire fences and all in all it was as a tough six miles.
I can't think of another country walk with such continuous stupendous panoramic views in all directions. There really was that Top of the World feeling nearly all the time and the hard going only seemed to enhance the feeling of this being a worthy project.
How many times have I photographed Ingleborough? It is similar to Heysham Power Station - visible from so many different directions and long distances on so many walks. Today I took a zoom shot of the summit in cloud. Only when I downloaded back at home I noticed a small speck of a bird in the sky -
enlargement showed it to be huge. It must be bigger than a buzzard
so what on earth was it? See photo below.
I often agonise over finding somewhere to sit comfortably for my sandwich and coffee. With my two bionic knees it is not easy to get back up again if I just sit on the grass. Today I found a stile that looked as though it was built by Desperate Dan. The lower step providing a seat at perfect height and the upper a perfect table for my flask and mug with distant views to the Yorkshire Dales hills.
That northern part of Bowland Forest
* really does provide magnificent scenery and some of the most extensive views I know of outside true mountain country.
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* "Forest." For my overseas readers. That word is misleading but often used to describe a large area of more or less treeless hill country probably going back to The Middle Ages.
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| Roeburn Methodist chapel - my starting point |
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| And up the track to Lower Salter farm |
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| Distant views of the Three Peaks area of the Yorkshire Dales. Note the terrain, typical of most of this walk |
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| Zoom to Ingleborough. You can just see the tiny bird speck, but click to enlarge, and then see my enlargement below |
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| This bird looks huge. What can it be? |
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| A de-luxe watering hole for the sheep |
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| Over the bridge in the bottom. See next photo |
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| This bridge is about fifty yards downstream from the OS map position. I think this is a replacement. That lead to a difficult steep pathless climb out to get back on the proper path again |
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| Yet another shot of Ingleborough - at least no cloud this time |
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| My perfect picnic spot - see my delight below |
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All Three Peaks visible here
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| Stauvin - 1696 |
Fantastic walk Conrad. Filled in a gap of the jigsaw.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine how rough it would have been. Any sign of anybody else using those 'paths'?
Certainly "on top of the world"
Meant to say there is a Bearded Vulture flying around in the Peak District if it hasn't been shot.
ReplyDeleteYour bird could be a red kite - it appears to have a forked tail.
BC - There was little sign of regular usage of the paths (rights of way) but there was some scanty indication of recent passage thrugh some of the long grass. I never saw anybody until I was back on the finishing tarmac where I chatted to a farmer. Your red kite suggestion seems likely but I got the impression the bird was a long way off and would therefore need to be exceptionally large to show up like that. If it was nearer than it seemed that may explain things. I have read about the vulture - I suppose it's not impossible.
ReplyDeleteI was going to mention the bearded vulture too. The wing shape doesn’t look right though. Love your picnic spot, and I’ve used one of those stiles before. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-53383387
ReplyDeleteRuth - Finding somewhere to sit is always a problem. When I'm feeling hungry or the time is upon me I say I'll stop at the next opportunity but one doesn't occur and I go on and on. There is of course the classic scenario where one gives up and accepts some compromise only to come upon a vacant bench shortly afterwards.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read this post last week, the first question that sprang into my mind on the subject of finding somewhere to sit was: what happened to the tiny, lightweight folding stool that you bought a couple of years ago?
ReplyDeleteI was just searching your blog for something completely different, when by way of a timely reminder that I hadn't conveyed the question, I happened upon the following link, showing said stool in the palm of your hand: http://conradwalks.blogspot.com/2018/04/crosby-ravensworth.html
Gayle - Mmm! The stool. I have two drawers full of things "that seemed like a good idea at the time" and a third that, if I was hones, should also have that classification.
ReplyDeleteThat one seemed to me to be a good idea! So tiny as to fit in the palm of a hand and light enough not to be noticeable in a daypack, yet ensuring there will always be somewhere to sit - what's the argument against? Was it a faff to assemble?
ReplyDelete