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Shap - A Wetsleddale Circuit

Shap - A Wetsleddale Circuit


Postby trailmasher » Sun Jul 12, 2015 4:00 pm

Date walked: 03/07/2015

Time taken: 5.37

Distance: 21.53 km

Ascent: 690m

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Shap - Wet Sleddale Circuit.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts


I am parked up a few miles south of Shap after having left the A6 and turning down the narrow tarmac road and making my way to Wet Sleddale Reservoir on a hot, sunny, though mostly cloudy morning.
1 - Wet Sleddale Reservoir.JPG
Wet Sleddale Reservoir.

We have had a couple of wet nights so I had a few reservations about attempting this walk, as where I am about to go is, as the name suggests wet in places, very wet. My concerns however were mostly unwarranted as will be revealed as we go along this mostly un-pathed - is there such a word I wonder - route over, around, and across the large basin of Wet Sleddale and Mosedale.

Leaving the car I first of all set off in the wrong direction heading for Sleddale Hall which was west and I need to go south, but I soon recovered from this almost senior moment, backtracked a 100 metres or so to find myself back at the car which was parked up by a stand of pines and heading off up a narrow path through grass, rushes, and plenty of thistles. The path however soon became a rough old tractor/quad bike track which led me to the first fence which I accessed via the convenient gate. The way rises easily and steadily at a gentle gradient following the fence and corrugated Grouse butts until arriving at a point where there are three gates and another fence which now opens up onto the open fells proper. The row of grouse butts continues across the fell side and into the distance.
3 - Gateway to the open fells proper.JPG
Gateway to the fells proper.

At this point - or near enough - there is a well made track coming in from the left and this is now to be followed for the next 750 metres or so and following Howe Gill until we reach a well constructed wooden building which goes by the name of the Lunch House.
7 - The Lunch House.JPG
The Lunch House.

You may recall that earlier I mentioned Grouse butts, well; the Lunch House is where the world's rich and well heeled assassins are taken for, yes, their lunch where they can brag about how many helpless birds they have bagged before lunch whilst eating their caviar and chips. There are many of these corrugated iron sheeted grouse butts leading up to this building from where the well hidden 'marksmen' can bag their unsuspecting prey which are sent their way by the line of beaters with the obvious outcome of who the winners will be.

Leaving the Lunch House I continued to follow Howe Gill and still following the quad tracks over what is now wet and spongy ground I came upon another line of newly, and partly built wooden shooting butts with the odds stacked more generously in favour of the shooters with young trees being planted around them. These will no doubt fool the unsuspected into believing that safe cover is available whilst in fact they will be flying straight towards the double barrelled muzzles of the repeater shotguns.

About 350 metres from the Lunch House and after passing the butts…
10 - Looking back to the Lunch House and Shap.JPG
Looking back to the Lunch House and Shap.

was when I crossed the gill and made my way roughly south east across rough heathery and scant bilberry laden ground to reach my next point of interest which was the great rock/boulder which is named 'Gray Bull'. It is roughly cube shaped, grey but with a hint of pink as it is made of the same material which is quarried from Shap Pink Quarries. As it's marked on the OS map I presume that it is a feature of some note, and, as it’s the only stand alone object in this vast acreage of open fell I can probably see why. The sides are covered in lichen, whilst on the top there is a small satellite patch of wild fell comprising of mostly bilberry, some cotton grass, and the odd sprig of heather. I wonder how long it's taken for that to mature into the little world it now is.
14 - The Gray Bull with Sleddale Pike to the right.JPG
The Gray Bull with Sleddale Pike to the right.

It is here that I drop my bag, take a few photo's, and take a drink as it is now warming up somewhat before I set off in a south westerly direction for Sleddale Pike over the same sort of rough ground as I am on now. I cross the uppermost reaches of Sherry Gill before arriving at the summit cairn which is nothing but a few small stones and a pole stuck in the ground by them.
15 - Sleddale Pike summit with a view looking north.JPG
Sleddale Pike summit with a view looking north.

The view to the north looks over the reservoir, Shap, Ralfland Forest, and the Eden Valley with the Pennines way behind. West and south the views are somewhat restricted due to the fells around me but Mosedale can be seen to the west. East is just a continuation of the northern aspect.

I am now going to head into slightly more familiar ground as I now move off south and a 165 metre climb across pathless, heather and tussocks of grass for Wasdale Pike. Quite a bit of meandering was required to negotiate the large clumps of vegetation and finding the easiest contours to follow. I have been here on a previous visit whilst doing the Shap Wasdale Circuit and I could have taken a more direct line west from Sleddale Pike for my next stop which is Great Saddle Crag and Little Saddle Crag. The reason for the route that I have chosen is to be able to complete a circuit of Wet Sleddale taking in all of the remaining unclimbed - for me - Birkett's that are on the two ridges.
19 - A view north from Wasdale Pike.JPG
A view north from Wasdale Pike.

Wasdale Pike claimed once again I set off following the lower contours below the track which runs alongside the ridge top fence thereby saving some needless height gain. I passed through a rather time worn fence and then turned north losing height before then rising slightly and climbing onto the top of Great Saddle Crag with its small cairn set on an exposed rocky knoll. Both Great and Little Saddle Crags are large and grass covered rocky hills of which only GSC is a Birkett.
21 - Heading for Little Saddle Crag and Great Saddle Crag.JPG
Heading for Little Saddle Crag and Great Saddle Crag.

The views as from Sleddale Pike and Wasdale Pike are of a similar nature the only difference being that I am now closer to Mosedale in the west.
22 - The view north from Great Saddle Crag.JPG
The view north from Great Saddle Crag.

Upon reaching Little Saddle Crag I decided to mount it and have a drink and bite to eat whilst enjoying the views before setting off south and walking around 850 metres and only 70 metres in height to reach the large grassy dome of Great Yarlside of which once again I have done before. This time though I don't bother to climb the fence topped wall to get to the small cairn of stones.

The way ahead to my next port of call is clear to see as there are now 2.5 kilometres of fence side quad bike tracks to follow to allow me to get to Harrop Pike at 637 metres. Although there is only about 50 metres of height difference between Great Yarlside and Harrop Pike summits the reality is somewhat different. With the undulations of this majestic green road along the fell it means that there is a total height gain of one to t'other of 70 metres, not much I know, but over the length of the walk and in this heat it all adds to the work in hand of completing my target of bagging all the remaining Birkett's in this area.

I gird my loins and stride out in good style passing over Lawyer's Brow whilst musing that the only signs of life that I have seen since leaving the intake fence below the Lunch House have been sky larks. No signs of sheep, hence no trods to follow through the rough, only the nodding cotton grass moving of any note. Then as I arrived at the top of a small rise I startled a small herd of deer - about a dozen - whereupon half of them skipped over the fence with little or no effort with the remaining ones trotting away from me and then rushing to the fence and also leaping over it to join their counterparts. I had quickly got my camera out and was lucky to get a shot of them as they moved off. Then I caught a movement by the fence, on my side, and saw something small scurrying down and away from me. As it moved away from the fence slightly I espied a young deer only about .600mm - 2 feet in old money - high and obviously panicking due to my presence and the fact that, oh dear, its mother had abandoned it in its own panic to get away from one of the most highly dangerous creatures that presently walk the earth, me. I stayed where I was and within a very short time four brown heads popped over a slight rise in the ground, surveyed me, and then confident that I was at a safe distance one them leapt back over the fence and led its young one away into the hollow below Brown Howe.
28 - The mother has come back for  its calf.JPG
The mother has come back for its calf.

29 - My way to Harrop Pike.JPG
My way to Harrop Pike.

Excitement over I continued on my way until reaching a bend in the fence I came across a small cairn of stones with a wooden stake stuck out of the centre of it.
30 - My way to here from Great Yarlside.JPG
My way to here from Great Yarlside.

I decided to take another drink and looked back towards Lawyers Brow way in the distance. The walking so far has been good even across the rough ground and apart from the short stretch this side of the Lunch House it has been drier than expected. Harrop Pike is now in my sights.

The going is still good as I approach the pike with the ground just rising slightly more than it has been with the final few metres up a stony bank until finally reaching the rough grass and rocky flat top adorned with a rough stone wind shelter and a large pillar cairn which is sat on a large grey rock.
32 - The view back to Great Yarlside from Harrop Pike.JPG
The view back to Great Yarlside from Harrop Pike.

Once again I dropped the bag, had a drink, and took in the views while the regulation photos were taken. Over to the south east the cairn on Sleddale Fell - Grey Crag - can be seen. Turning round in a 360 degree circle and the fells of Kentmere, High Street, across Mosedale and Wet Sleddale are to be seen. I can also see the hills and valleys that E and I walked around earlier in the year, Bannisdale, Crookdale, and Wasdale all in the south. I'll have to leave here or I'll want to get planning permission to build a house by the side of this well built cairn.

So bag on shoulders and boots once again to the fore I now set off for Ulthwaite Rigg which I can just about see through the haze in the far south easterly distance.
35 - Ulthwaite Rigg is front centre.JPG
Ulthwaite Rigg is front centre.

I take a long curving sweep along the fell side keeping well above Little Mosedale Beck and its many tributaries whilst losing height slowly as I pass between the aforementioned beck and Sleddale Beck, all across and over the typical rough ground of this area. I am faced with bilberry, hummocks of grass, piles of a moss like growth, and a few large but mainly dry peat hags which have to be climbed in and out of. After about a kilometre I arrived at a wire fence which was easily got over leaving me a further kilometre to my destination which from here looks nothing like a hill of any substance. In fact I'm losing height right up to the base of this small hump of a Birkett which only takes minutes to get up.

The cairn on the large grassy top consists of only five stones…
35 - Wet Sleddale Reservoir from Ulthwaite Rigg.JPG
Wet Sleddale Reservoir from Ulthwaite Rigg

36 - Scam Matthew-High Wether Howe-Seat Robert from Ulthwaite Rigg.JPG
Scam Matthew-High Wether Howe-Seat Robert from Ulthwaite Rigg.

so after taking in the view and refreshments I once more set off continuing north which will take me across the area of Sleddale Beck's feeder beck's, an area of wet land that I wanted to avoid if possible. As I walked down the fell side I noticed a great many lines of drainage ditches running north to south which gave me some hope that they were doing the job for which they are intended, to dry out the ground.

As I approached the lowland area it became obvious that the ditches were indeed working as intended, and not only were they in a north to south direction there was also shorter ditches with sloping bottoms running east to west leading the surface water into the longer ones. I made it across this one kilometre area of lowland with nary a wet boot sole arriving at the main wide track which runs from Wet Sleddale - and I presume Shap in the old days - into Mosedale where it is joined by the track leading out of Swindale just before reaching the bothy of Mosedale Cottage which is sat just beneath the old quarry. From here it then continues on to join the Gatescarth Pass road at Brownhowe Bottom. From this point one can either make their way north over the high pass to gain Haweswater or south to Sadgill then into Kentmere, or simply continue south into Longsleddale and the main A6 road.

On reaching the track I followed it towards Wet Sleddale for about 250 metres before turning off north up the hillside to attain the 519 metre height of Scam Matthew, again not a Birkett, from where the views have now opened up into Swindale and Mosedale proper.
38 - A view into Mosedale from Scam Matthew.JPG
A view into Mosedale from Scam Matthew.

39 - Looking back from whence I came.JPG
Looking back from whence I came.

The view north across Ralfland Forest is wild and brown with a few sheep to be seen grazing. I suspect the lack of sheep from where I have come from is due to the practice of rotating and controlling the grazing on the fells to allow recovery of same, every 10 years I am led to believe, and probably the reason for the fences around the surrounding areas. Looking north east I can see Naddle Forest an area which I walked over a few months ago in dreary weather whilst claiming the Birkett's that are in that area.

Since reaching the grass quad track on Great Yarlside the ground has changed from heather filled rough ground to rough grass, albeit hummocky, but more pleasant and easier to walk on and so it continues like this for the remainder of the walk which now takes me from Scam Matthew north to High Wether Howe…
40 - High Wether Howe.JPG
High Wether Howe.

another rocky knoll adorned with a small cairn of stones and at 531 metres is 100 metres lower than Harrop Pike although looking back it looks a whole lot more than that.
41 - Mosedale from High Wether Howe top.JPG
Mosedale from High Wether Howe top.

42 - Swindale from High Wether Howe top.JPG
Swindale from High Wether Howe top.

I take another break for a drink and bite to eat. It is so hot today that I have been drinking with monotonous regularity, something that I don't normally have to do.

I can now see my last two Birkett's, Glede Howe to the north east…
43 - Glede Howe in the distance.JPG
Glede Howe in the distance.

and Seat Robert more so to the south east. I first head off south east towards Haskew Tarn which I find disappointing, in fact I didn't find it at all as it seems to have disappeared into the ground with only some long brown grass like plant in its place.

Arriving at Glede Howe after crossing Haskew Beck I find that the top consists of a few large rounded rocks sticking out of the grassy top…
46 - Looking over Swindale and Bampton Common from Glede Howe top.JPG
Looking over Swindale and Bampton Common from Glede Howe top.

and the way towards Seat Robert is more or less direct with no untoward obstacles to contend with, only that small hump of Willy Winder Hill. I arrived at Seat Robert after an easy three quarters of a kilometre walk over grass using the large cairn as something to aim for. I worked my way up the once again easy slopes to find a large bulky cairn, large wind shelter, and an OS station which consisted of a ring of concrete similar to the one on Branstree.
47 - Seat Robert summit cairn and the OS trig point.JPG
Seat Robert summit cairn and the OS trig point.

It is about a metre lower than where the summit cairn is sat so maybe Seat Robert has produced a swelling on its north side since the OS station was put down.

I can just about see my car from the summit as I look over Wet Sleddale and make my way south west down the fells side, crossing through a break in the intake wall and continuing to walk down until I reach the main Wet Sleddale to Mosedale track. This I followed until the zigzag path leading down the hillside was reached and which then led me down to Sleddale Hall and then a junction of tracks. Taking the centre one and going down on the right hand side of the wall a small wooden gate can be found which leads into a field sloping downhill. Follow the faint path until a stile is reached which took me over a fence, through a small paddock to another older stile that then led me down to the large stepping stones across Wetsleddale Beck. Once over the beck the path now veers left following the wall and upon arriving at a gap in the wall a choice can be made as to whether you go through the gap or go around the large rocky hillock. No matter which way you choose you will end up at the same place, the wide track which leads through the pine trees and back to the car park.

There has not been a single person in my sight all day on the fells until I arrive back at the car where two men asked me the way to Sleddale Hall.

Sleddale Hall stood in for "Crow Crag" the Lake District cottage owned by Uncle Monty in the film 'Withnail and I' which was made in 1986 with the actor Richard E Grant playing Withnail. Fans of the film frequently visit the Hall and I suspect that the two men were on a mission to do the same.

I pointed it out to them, removed my bag and boots and proceeded to take a long draught of liquid. It is now late afternoon and still very hot as I climb in the car and grab another bottle of drink which I more or less see off before setting off for home and a shower. I have drunk around 3 litres of water today which is a great amount for me but with the weather being so hot my intake was warranted.

This has been a great walk though a hot one made over mostly rough ground with just the luxury of a green lane at either end of the route and a bit in between. But at least I have kept dry throughout which has surprised me given the nature of the lower ground areas around here.

The route was somewhat convoluted but I did want to knock off all of the Birkett's in this area in one hit. This I have done and can now move on to other hills of my fancy. I have enjoyed visiting these hills as they are big and wide allowing for some good easy walking and also have quite a varied landscape and views.

Watch out the Howgill's, I'm coming for you next :wink:
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Re: Shap - A Wetsleddale Circuit

Postby ChrisW » Mon Jul 13, 2015 6:20 pm

Another great round Trailmasher, congratulations on seeing off the Birketts :clap: I'm surprised how (relatively) low the ascent count is for this round, after that much distance I would have expected more, anyway, it's certainly one I would have loved to do (right up my street) and the lack of other souls around all day makes it perfect. What a great way to complete Birketts :clap: :clap:
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Re: Shap - A Wetsleddale Circuit

Postby trailmasher » Tue Jul 14, 2015 7:38 pm

ChrisW wrote:Another great round Trailmasher, congratulations on seeing off the Birketts :clap: I'm surprised how (relatively) low the ascent count is for this round, after that much distance I would have expected more, anyway, it's certainly one I would have loved to do (right up my street) and the lack of other souls around all day makes it perfect. What a great way to complete Birketts :clap: :clap:


Thanks again for your comments Chris they're most welcome :D . It was a fairly long walk and yes, the height gain didn't seem right but after checking it did seem ok. Most of the climbing was to get on both the ridges but not much going on between the tops. I do enjoy walking on my own sometimes enjoying the quiet and solitude. :) Oh! by the way. I may have phrased my report wrongly as I have not yet completed the Birkett's but only those around the Shap area. I'm well on the way with still another 148 of the 541 to get to grips with in other areas :roll:
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Re: Shap - A Wetsleddale Circuit

Postby johnkaysleftleg » Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:05 pm

Well done on compleating the Birketts, certainly requires determination to knock off 514 tops. :clap:
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Re: Shap - A Wetsleddale Circuit

Postby trailmasher » Fri Jul 17, 2015 4:10 pm

johnkaysleftleg wrote:Well done on compleating the Birketts, certainly requires determination to knock off 514 tops. :clap:


Thanks for the congrats Anthony but as I told ChrisW I may have worded my report wrongly as I still have another 148 Birkett's to do before completing the lot. Some around the western fells but most now south in the Eskdale area. Sorry for the wording in the report. :(
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Re: Shap - A Wetsleddale Circuit

Postby johnkaysleftleg » Fri Jul 17, 2015 9:04 pm

Sorry about that, have you done Pillar rock yet then?
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Re: Shap - A Wetsleddale Circuit

Postby trailmasher » Sat Jul 18, 2015 3:56 pm

johnkaysleftleg wrote:Sorry about that, have you done Pillar rock yet then?


No, but been up Pillar twice via the shamrock and had a good close look at it. Now looking at a try in the near future but lots of courage and spinach needed before then :wink: .
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Re: Shap - A Wetsleddale Circuit

Postby john923 » Thu Jul 23, 2015 1:06 pm

Very much enjoying your reports of the quieter parts of Cumbria, trailmasher, and Wetsleddale not living up to its name must have been a bonus indeed. I suppose if you've still got Birketts to tick off then that can only be good news for those of us who will look forward to reading about them. Cheers :clap:
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Re: Shap - A Wetsleddale Circuit

Postby trailmasher » Fri Jul 24, 2015 8:04 pm

john923 wrote:Very much enjoying your reports of the quieter parts of Cumbria, trailmasher, and Wetsleddale not living up to its name must have been a bonus indeed. I suppose if you've still got Birketts to tick off then that can only be good news for those of us who will look forward to reading about them. Cheers :clap:


Thanks very much for your comments john923 :D and I have been in Wetsleddale when it was indeed wet. I really do enjoy the openness of the outer fells and am currently attacking the Howgills. Still 148 Birkett's to go so lots more stories to tell hopefully :roll: and, thanks again.
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