Words & Photos Vivienne Crow

December 03 2009

I can never understand why the fells on Cumbria’s border with North Yorkshire aren’t crawling with people. Okay, things can get a bit damp underfoot at times, and walkers may need to consult their map and compass instead of simply following those ugly, scar-like paths that plague the National Parks, but these are gorgeous hills, full of atmosphere and mystery.

The sky was bruised purple when I got off the train at lonely, moody Garsdale. There wasn’t a soul in sight as I crossed the main road and then strode past the scattered farms and cottages in Grisedale. It felt like a scene from one of those series from the 1980s when everyone’s been wiped out by a mysterious killer virus.

I had been intending to go up Turner Hill, but I suspected the path along the ridge fence would be horribly soggy, so I aimed for Flust Gill instead. Stumbling across a mostly dry, steep-sided limestone ravine in a landscape that is otherwise seeping water like a saturated sponge always surprises me. I understand how limestone works – and I’ve got a degree in geography to prove it – but I still can’t help being spellbound when I see it in action.

Climbing onto Swarth Fell, the views began to open out, with the dark, brooding Howgills looming to the west. But over on Wild Boar Fell’s eastern escarpment, tall cairns stood guard over more dramatic sights. Following the faint path along the edge of the fell, I could see huge slabs of rock laying in piles at the foot of the crags. More than 1,300ft below me, the infant River Eden snaked its way through a magnificent valley at the start of its journey to the Solway Firth. Further north, the valley widened as the river skirted the base of the highest of the Pennine hills, including Cross Fell. After descending The Nab, I continued north along the ridge – with those big, seductive views now taking in the Lake District fells too.

I was reluctant to leave my lonely hills – I’d seen only two other people since getting off the train at Garsdale – but I eventually had to drop back down to farmland. The residents of the upper Eden Valley had recovered from their deadly epidemic and were going about their everyday business in the afternoon sunshine. It’s just as well really – I was looking forward to my train journey home on the 
Carlisle-to-Settle line and I wouldn’t have been too chuffed if I’d got to Kirkby Stephen station and found a sign saying: “Cancelled due to plague.”

Distance: 12 miles/19km Ascent: 2362ft/720m Time: 6-7 hours Start: Garsdale station (GR: SD 788918) Finish: Kirkby Stephen station (GR: NY 761066) Map: OS 1:25,000 Explorer sheet OL19 Information: Kirkby Stephen, 017683 71199 Travel: Trains to Garsdale/Kirkby Stephen

Technical Spec
From station, turn R. At junction with A684, go through gate in wall opposite. Follow faint paths NW across meadows. Turn R to follow lane until it ends. Swing NW along track. After 0.5 miles, leave track and aim for Flust Gill. Follow it N upstream. Cross stile on ridge and turn left (NW). Climb to cairn on Swarth Fell Pike and continue alongside fence/wall for 1.4 miles. Half-way up next slope, bear R at fork (NE). Cross stile near cairns on Wild Boar Fell. Head N – down The Nab, over Little Fell and Greenlaw Rigg. Turn L at road and then R along faint track. Under railway. At last building on L, turn R. Go through gate and climb to R of ruins. Cross fields and follow concrete track to Halfpenny House. Turn L before cattle grid and cross farmland to station.