Words & Photos Ian Battersby

December 03 2009

“A smile will always do more than a frown, either in Scar village or Harrogate Town” Scar Village Notes newspaper, January 1926. When I arrived at Scar House Reservoir the light was just beginning to reveal the ghost of Scar village – home to more than a thousand dam builders and their families for much of the 15 years of construction.

If you’re wondering where it is then look no further than the car park and the strange flat areas that border the access lane. A new information board displays old photographs of the villagers and their substantial buildings. The workforce had a lot to smile about: unlike the residents of Pateley Bridge downstream, they had hot water, electricity and flushing loos.

I cracked on, knowing I had only a wee winter’s day to cover many miles of occasionally rough and pathless terrain. Looking up I grinned greedily at the liberal covering of snow that covered Great Haw and Dead Man’s Hill – part of a long, broad ridge that connects Dale Edge to Great Whernside.

The ascent of Great Haw began easily along an unmarked track that accesses a line of minimalist grouse butts built into the lone wall, but past these it dwindled to a minor path through heather and bog grass. Once the fence turns for the top of the broad summit you’re on your own, but the easiest route, in the form of a faint path that comes and goes, shadows the fence as far as Little Whernside’s climb.

Despite the bogs the ground is surprisingly firm even without a frost. The broad nature of the ridge highlights the sweeping sky, into which shy waterfowl and waders erupt, alarmed by the oddity of a passing walker.

At Little Whernside the ridge narrows nicely, and the climb to Nidd Head traces a graceful curve towards Great Whernside. Panoramas of snow-filled dales revealed themselves, while reservoir reflections allowed dashes of blue to mingle with winter’s white world. The air was cold, still and silent, with a clarity that displayed every detail.

The toil through the snow had eaten away most of the day, and the sun’s low arc was dipping inexorably towards the south-western horizon. I’d had half an eye on returning along the path below Aygill Pike, but decided to save it for summer, and slipped back into the solitude of peat hags that lie between Stone Beck and West Gill Dike. The extra light that bounced around the bright snowscape guided me, pathless, to Angram, leaving an easy track to follow towards a bright moon rising over the ghosts of hills falling into night’s enduring shadow.

Distance: 15 miles/24km Ascent: 2400ft/730m Time: 7-9 hours Start/finish: Scar House Reservoir (GR: SE 067766) Maps: Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer sheet OL30 (Yorkshire Dales – Northern & Central areas) Information: Pateley Bridge TIC, 01423 711147

Technical Spec
N over Scar House Reservoir dam. E along Nidderdale Way passing Woo Gill to a point above a lone barn. Take unmarked track N next to a wall. Continue on left of wall then fence, turning W then SW over Great Haw, Dead Man’s Hill to start of path climbing Little Whernside. Continue SW to Great Whernside, then S to a fence. Head E along fence. Where it turns SE find your own way through the peat hags heading NE to Angram Reservoir. Return NE then E along track south of the reservoirs.