Words & Photos Graham Uney

January 01 2010

The hidden corners of Swindale, tucked into the eastern fringes of the Lake District, are among my favourite places to get away from it all. You can park by the cattle grid below Bewbarrow Crag and head straight onto the tops, and probably won’t see another walker all day. What you do stand a good chance of seeing is wildlife.

Just a few weeks ago I wandered out onto these lonely fells with only a vague plan in mind. I’d gone up onto the rough ground on the north side of the dale in the hope of finding some stragglers from the Martindale deer herd that I could photograph. The main route up onto the Common is familiar, but I’d taken a broad gully onto the higher ground near Harper Hills. Sitting low behind a grassy tussock, I scanned the slopes ahead for any signs of movement. Nothing yet, so I climbed onwards. Meadow pipits rose from my feet, and as I crossed the bare slopes of Hare Shaw a male kestrel darted out across the flank of the hill, then hung on the wind as it searched for a meal.

On the northern side of Selside Pike is a slight hanging valley that forms the head of Rowantreethwaite Gill. Once I’d climbed out of the gap taken by the Old Corpse Road that leads across these fells from the old Mardale Green to the head of Swindale, I began the slow and steady ascent of Selside End, aiming for the main summit. The ridge here narrows slightly, and as I gained the high point I caught a distinct movement in my peripheral vision. There, in this wild corrie, grazing among the rushes and grasses for succulent bilberries, was a group of red deer stags. There were nine of them in total, and while this would be a common sight in the Scottish Highlands, red deer are still rare enough south of the border to cause a stir, and a lifting of the spirits. They were too far below me, in the dark heart of the cirque, for a photograph, and the largest of the stags was already moving away across the hillside. I left them to it and walked on, passing by the ancient cairn that adorns the top of Selside Pike and continuing to the higher summit of Branstree.

Here I sat and took in the magnificence of the scene. Harter Fell rose hugely across the void of Gatescarth Pass to the west, and the rest of the fells of the group wallowed upwards to the long whaleback of High Street, its eastern crags dropping from the Roman Road at its top to the black levels of Blea Tarn.

A short way to the north of Branstree’s summit a long stretch of Haweswater could be seen, filling the valley where the village of Mardale Green once sheltered. The sun slipped behind the western hills as I grudgingly dropped down off the tops, another magical mountain day behind me.

Distance: 10 miles/17km Ascent: 2230ft/680m Time: 6 hours Start/finish: Access is from Shap via Rosgill. Start in Swindale at parking area below Bewbarrow Crag, just before cattle grid (GR: NY 522143) Map: Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer sheet OL5 (The English Lakes – North Eastern area); Harveys 1:25,000 Superwalker, Lakeland East Information: Coniston TIC, 015394 41533 Travel: Buses to Bampton and Shap (Traveline: 0870 6082608, www.traveline.org.uk)

Technical Spec
Follow the bridleway onto the ridge leading over Harper Hills. From the brow, turn south-west and follow the ridge over Hare Shaw, then down to the Old Corpse Road. Cross road, climb Selside Pike, then follow the broad ridge around to Branstree. Descend into Mosedale and follow the good track back into Swindale.