Mickle Fell & Meldon Hill

[poppiesrara]

A long, testing circuit; certainly my hardest walk in the North Pennines and perhaps one of the toughest Hewitt days of all (that feeling might just be age, or tricks of the memory, but it probably isn't…). I've had a lot of those now – most of them really good – and after this there is at most one more left.

A note on the Warcop range logistics that affect this area: Mickle Fell should only be accessible on certain dates (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/warcop-access-times), with an advance permit and only by two strict routes – basically the boundary-fence line from the north (as here) or south. Officially you start the process by sending them an actual letter, stamp and all, but it goes modern after that with friendly exchanges of email – you might want to allow 2-3 weeks for it all to get done though. You're also meant to call the guardroom as you enter/leave the restricted area, but (as noted by almost everyone) there's no phone signal anywhere so I think you can presume that they might be used by now to not getting all of those calls. Some others report not going through the rigmarole (and the two other people I saw up there – judged by their routes, before and after – certainly weren't strictly following all the rules) but it isn't really too difficult to do it the right way, so why not?

micklefell.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

Many of the reports on Walkhighlands give useful guidance for others that might want to head the same way, but please treat this as an exception – and do not take this way up Meldon Hill! After a lovely remote drive in to Cow Green and good views of the hills over the (half-arid) reservoir, the way around the west end of the water is rushy and little-trodden, and then the crossing of the unbridged Tees not straightforward. It's fairly wide and fast-flowing even after a drought summer, and it took me about 300m upstream to find a just-passable series of rocks to cross on; at a wet time it could be a lot further than that. Unsurprisingly there's then nothing like a path for the compass-led slog south through deep virgin heather and very uneven ground up Meldon Hill, not nearly so green and tempting up-close as it looked over the water earlier. The odd faint ATV track just goes straight across the line of ascent and doesn't help at all; it's just a long, sweaty and very slow climb. The golf-ball on Great Dun Fell was very visible and looked a lot closer than the 4+ miles I thought it should be; fears of hitting the high ground off-target happily assuaged by a near bullseye on the summit. And it's actually alright up there, even quite nice – big clear views, firm grass and a bit of rock.

A dry Cow Green Reservoir

Meldon Hill

Crossing the Tees

Pathlessly up to Meldon Hill

High Cup from Meldon Hill summit

Knock Fell to Cross Fell

Round Hill & Burnhope Seat

Chapelfell Top over Cow Green

The way down to the Pennine Way is much easier, and not just because downhill – grass (if quakingly spongey in places) more than heather, and now the ATVs go the right way to help out. This is plainly the more sensible and popular way up Meldon Hill from Cow Green. For most of the descent I'd been looking out for the one fence up Mickle Fell ahead that would signal the right way, but I don't think it (a thin wiry affair) can be seen from distance; I just took the best ground down to Maize Beck and ended up with a bit of a shoreline slog along to the right place. No bridge again but this is an easier crossing (perhaps still impossible in spate). Since there should only be one way up and it's a fairly major hill, you might expect a path to have formed, but there's still only really a faint trodden line up, through rushes, hags, a little proper bog, and about 3 or 4 rocks in total (but still far easier than Meldon Hill had been). The fence is adorned with numbered (army?) signs, counting down from 16 to 1, and at first these are quite inspiring ('sign 12, already a quarter done!') . The truth sinks in soon though, and be warned that sign 1 is nowhere near the summit, probably only halfway-ish. It's a long slog…

Meldon Hill descent

Ahead to Mickle Fell

Back to Meldon Hill from the fence line

The top though is an oasis, a plateau of proper grass and a long clear path east to the well-cairned summit. And a couple of people! - the first in four hours of walking on a bank holiday Sunday. This felt quite momentous – the last of the county summits, and the penultimate Hewitt. I climbed about half of them (and all the Welsh) in an enthusiastic year's binge, but the 11 years since have been a steady grind, as other walking plans have taken over picking up the last few Pennine lumps. I had a good view across to Little Fell, the missing one of the 316 – it didn't look that far and the going seemed no worse than earlier, but there just felt no temptation at all. The rules were in the way (even if others have taken the off-limits detour), but so were heavy legs from Meldon Hill, and some of the day had already felt more duty than pleasure. There are ways to climb Little Fell, including one niche official way, but they don't seem that tempting and it might take me a long while to get to it, if ever. 315 (including hundreds of good ones worth revisiting) isn't that bad a total in itself…

Little Fell from Mickle Fell

Lune Head Moss

Cow Green from Mickle Fell

The summit cairn

Mickle Fell east ridge

Dutifully then, and sticking to the rules, back down the same fence, in about half the time it took to go up, the signs no longer a deception and quite encouraging. The mapped bridleway above Maize Beck to the Moss Shop is visible on the ground from a way off and not too hard to follow, tyre-tracks and then lines of posts, and then – finally – there are solid paths for the last three miles or so home, undulating through green Birkdale and then (amid sudden crowds) on the reservoir road.

Back towards Meldon Hill again

Mickle Fell from Moss Shop

Birkdale

Falcon Clints

The Tees below Cow Green

Fourteen miles over mainly rough and remote ground grants a certain sense of achievement, but also relief at its end. And also a relief, I'm afraid, that there will be almost no more time in the North Pennine hills to come – I felt I'd earnt a few good days back on a coast-path somewhere...

[johnkaysleftleg]

Congrats Poppie on what may well be your final Hewitt, I've not done Mickle Fell nor Meldon Hill as of yet, no dogs allowed and not a great deal of inspiration if I'm honest. I share your thoughts on Little Fell also, the options of a guided walk or breaking the rules, however lax they may seem to be, do not appeal.

[poppiesrara]

Thanks JK! Pretty much my exact feelings on Little Fell there; maybe it will change one day, but at least for now I've satisfyingly convinced myself that this is a 'completion' (with an * that isn't troubling me).

[yokehead]

Congratulations PR on your Hewitt near-completion.

I've read your walk reports regularly over the years (years which have galloped by!). Sometimes I've planned seemingly slightly non-standard or off-piste routes in Wales from the map, to find when looking after my walk that you'd done the same or similar. The circuit of Yr Aran/Snowdon/Lliwedd comes to mind as an example. Good to see a similar approach to some hill walks! Other times I've looked at your reports to get a few pointers and have found them very useful for that, as well as being entertaining and informative. Many thanks!

I was on Mynydd Mawr recently and read your report of that good hill afterwards. I was interested to read your slightly veiled reference to a slip perhaps? You wrote:

"As the dark clouds cloaked the summit, it looked like time for a harem-scarem (very steep) trot and tumble back down the same way but - with the muddy bruise of experience - I'd advise anyone else to take their time rather more!"

On the last bit of steep descent I decided to go a bit fast, just for the fun of it. On the very last rock steps I slipped onto my side then rolled onto my back, then stopped. As I went to move I rolled over again. Fortunately no damage! Sounds like a similar experience on this hill?! I should have read your report before I went!

Anyway, perhaps that final hill on the list will niggle away at you? Your reports have reinforced that I doubt I'll go to the Pennines! Plenty still in Wales and The Lakes on my list, and Scotland when I can.

Perhaps you'll head to the Munros? Either way, it'll be good to read your future reports.

Cheers

[poppiesrara]

Thanks, Yokehead, very kind!

Mynydd Mawr seems a very long time ago now (perhaps due a return), but agree that it's a good one, and definitely easy to take that easy-looking descent a bit too quickly when you're young and a bit carefree...

You've got some good places still to visit if you go on through the Hewitts - as well as the Lakes, there aren't many bad walks in the Beacons and lots of Dales highlights too.

I'm more on long-distance paths these days - the SW Coast Path was a great adventure over a few years - but am indeed going to look at a few Munros at last (that number '1' on the right shames me considering I'm on this very Scottish site!); a week up there booked for next year.

[Broggy1]

Well done on this . Have enjoyed all your reports over the years. Always informative.

With or without Little Fell (and as you say it’s not all that appealing) this is a really great achievement with travels all over the country.

Hope you continue to enjoy your walking.

[arjh]

Well done poppies.

When pursuing my own Hewitts round I considered your reports essential reading, glad to see that others above enjoyed them as much as me. Really hope you get the last one done - Little Fell itself is fairly nondescript but the cut of Scordale Beck to the west is a lovely descent if you pick the 'use public rights of way on a Sunday afternoon' access option.

I found doing the North Pennines tops increased my enjoyment of other mountain landscapes across the board - after crossing the morass south of Tom Smith's Stone or teetering across the Dead Stones pallet-boardwalk most other underfoot conditions seem like a breeze!

Anyway congratulations again and enjoy wherever you head next