Some quality wet walking time on Water Crag and Rogan's Seat

[trailmasher]

Rogan's Seat and Water Crag.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

Elizabeth and I decided to step foot in the North Yorkshire Dales for our next walk in the hope of reducing the remaining tally of Hewitt's and Nuttall's by one from each group. We occasionally take along a couple of long time friends of ours who reside in the North Yorkshire area of Cleveland and this was one of those times. They are not usually up for a longish walk so we were a bit surprised when they accepted the offer especially when told the rough stats for the walk including the description of the route which for 75% of the way was on well documented tracks, paths, or trails, the other 25% being an unknown once we leave Water Crag.

They were typically late as they got lost after having ended up at Keld instead of the access from the A66 due to following the instructions of a sat nav. Instead of taking the road from Keld and turning off at Park Bridge and then straight up to Tan Hill which was to be our start point, they went back and drove all the way round to the A66 where they would have been if they had consulted the road map.

We first of all had a chat over coffee in the Tan Hill Inn…

The Tan Hill Inn.

the highest of beer selling establishments in the country - and confirming that they were alright with this walk. The reply was to the affirmative but Barry was suffering from a condition that made the soles of his feet sore. Three weeks previously he had had an eye operation to have a cataract removed and a new cornea put in. He can now read the small print at 1.000 paces with his right eye but needs a reading glass for his left one which will be fixed in a few weeks time.

By this time I'm not very confident of getting a walk in as they also have no waterproof leggings with them, although Barry does have an enormous umbrella that he intends to take along. It is dry and warm just now with a cloudy sky and rain forecast for about 3pm. They are both insistent on getting on with the walk, but we decide that if Barry starts to suffer we shall turn back, but please let me know before we get down into Swaledale as I don't fancy climbing ALL the way back up. If we abandon that's alright as E and I will come back another time to do the walk so no bother on that score.

Minds are made up and options have been discussed so off we set straight up the wide track of the Pennine Way that is straight across from the Inn.

The Pennine Way from the Tan Hill Inn.

The going is easy, the track is good underfoot, and the views all around us just go on forever. To the north there is Roper Castle an old Roman Signal Station with Bink Moss sat far behind it; east is a bit less panoramic with Lad Gill Hill and Tarn Rigg in evidence. South is Lovely Seat and Great Shunner Fell whilst to the west there is Robert's Seat, Round Hill, and Nine Standards Rigg all piled up one behind the other.

After just a few minutes we left the stony track to continue on what is now a softer green lane winding its way across the green sided fells and the odd cairn of stones to help give some guidance in bad weather. There are now more hills to the south and I can't even pretend to know the names of them from where we are. As we started to descend southwest the 'lane' is now a narrow path and the Keld to Tan Hill road became more prominent as we approached the concrete slabbed and single gated footbridge that spans Lad Gill with Stonesdale Bridge spanning Startindale Gill not too far below us.

Approaching Lad Gill.

Lad Gill footbridge.

"Barry, are you alright?" to which he confirmed that he was, as he nonchalantly twirled his umbrella Charlie Chaplin style.

From the footbridge we are back onto a green lane and quickly arrive at a wall and two old barns with a few more scattered along the hillside to our left. The track continues through a wall or two and then we are on the lane that leads to the farm of Frith Lodge. Below us to our right there are good views into the small verdant valley of West Stonesdale with its scattered copses, green and yellow coloured fields and a smattering of farm buildings.

Startindale Gill.

As we progress along the track the village of Keld comes into view below us sat at the side of the River Swale, at the intersection of three valleys and overlooked by the large rounded hill of Pot Hole Kisdon. Keld is a very small village indeed, in fact it may be classed as a hamlet with just a small group of houses with a few more dotted about the nearby roads and lanes.

Keld with Pot Hole Kisdon behind.

Keld.

We were descending down between two stone walls and heading towards East Stonedale that I presume, like West Stonedale is just another named area of the much larger Swaledale. As we got near to the River Swale we came across a small glen and a bench seat overlooking the river. At this sheltered haven we got a good view of the small waterfall of Catrake Force tumbling over rock steps and into a large pool at its base.

Catrake Force.

As we are about a third of the way round I thought that I had better check on Barry again before going too much further because we shall soon be at the point of no return and from this point there is quite a lot of climbing to do. Once again he confirmed to the positive. Good man I thinks, keep going lad.

Moving on we gain a wide stony track that climbs back up out of the wooded hollow to arrive at and pass an old mine tip on our left and a tumbledown barn on our right. We are now getting a good view along the length of the tree lined valley that contains the River Swale. The ground has levelled out quite a bit as we approached the ruins of Crackpot Hall that is surrounded by signs of mining works. The current ruin is of a farmhouse dating from the mid 18th century and may also have been used as mine offices when lead mining was at its peak in the area. It has also been suggested that there may have been a building on the site since the 16th century when a hunting lodge was maintained by Thomas the 1st baron of Wharton. The building has been empty since the 1950s due to subsidence. The name Crackpot is said to be Viking for "a deep hole or chasm that is a haunt of crows".

Crackpot Hall.

Leaving Crackpot Hall we had to climb up behind the buildings and across a sloping patch of grassy ground to gain the wide and stony track that passes beneath the mine tips and passes an old cottage or mine building - it has a chimney - from where the views down into the River Swale are now showing the most beautiful scenery.

The River Swale.

The track continues at a steady rake getting ever nearer to the confines of Swinner Gill.

The path high above Swinner Gill.

The River Swale from above Swinner Gill.

The far side of the ravine looks terraced as though it has had mine roads running along the length of its sides, whilst where we are on the west side we are passing across the steep bracken covered slopes. The track comes to a sudden end as it now alters into a set of stone slab steps set across an area of large rocky scree type ground and as we climbed off these we were now on a narrow and sometimes exposed path clinging to the hillside. Once we were past this cautiously exposed area we were once again on a fairly wide and ancient miner's road that was descending quite rapidly now down to the now redundant Swinner Gill Lead Mines. At about this point the path splits with the left hand one rising up to the higher mine workings and better views into the ravine and old workings that are opposite. It was at the old, higher workings that we decided to refuel before tackling the climb back out up East Grain on the opposite side.

Looking into East Grain.

This was a big mistake. As soon as we stopped the mighty midges pounced, and after only a few minutes we were on our way eating as we walked the onslaught was so vicious. There wasn't a problem when we were moving apart from the ones that were skulking in the folds of skin and clothing waiting for a chance to withdraw more of the red corpuscles and taking the risk of a size nine hand splatting it to bits as the first tiny nip of jaws was felt on the skin.

Below the old buildings at East Grain there is an unnamed waterfall that falls into the usual pool at its base and has a small collection of trees surviving on its south side. There is also a good selection of mosses hanging from the walls of the waterfall. We are now almost halfway along the walk and time to check with Charlie Chaplin again. He gives his umbrella a twirl in confirmation.

We've been following Swinner Gill roughly northeast but it's time to change direction now as we drop down to the stone built footbridge that will allow us passage to pass through the old mine buildings and begin the climb up into the narrow confines of East Grain.

Walking through the mine buildings at the foot of East Grain.

The path we were now taking is rough and ready as it winds its way upwards across some small areas of scree, a few short and easy scrambles that made the ladies squeal and yelp at the slip of a foot or after grabbing something wet and more obnoxious than dark peat. We were accompanied by the lovely little Sike that fell down over a lot of moss covered waterfalls…

Climbing alongside East Grain.

making the climb up a delight and with this to take our minds off the climb out it didn't seem to take any time at all to reach the top and pick up the estate road at the point where the grouse butts appear on the left. In fact there is a marker post at the junction of path and estate road.

A view south from the head of East Grain and the estate road.

From this point we have around 4 or 5 kilometres of walking along this road…

And the road goes on.

and soon after passing through a wooden gate that has a very low step stile to its right we passed a Shooting Box that was on our left and shortly afterwards turned left to follow the well graded road as it led us on its weary way to the top of Rogan's Seat. Up until now the weather has been kind to us, sort of. We have had a few spits of rain whereupon E donned her over trousers just on speck but now as promised, the rain has started. Not hard by any means but hard enough for me to recognise that we are in for some steady rain shortly. On go my over trousers whilst the Charlie Chaplin lookalike opens his umbrella which promptly tries to do two things in the brisk breeze that's arrived with the rain. It tries first to drag him back down the road and upon his retaliation then attempts to turn its self inside out. The umbrella wins and is put away to be used again in some other, and more appropriate place.

We battered on up to the summit where we found the cairn of stones with its grouse feeder marker pole stuck in it and sat on a patch of high ground over to our left. A short walk across the heather and the job was done. There is nothing much of interest on this top as it's just a large relatively flat top with a scattering of stones lying about.

Rogan's Seat summit cairn.

Next on is Water Crag so leaving the cairn behind and then following the road to a gate in a fence we left the road and simply followed the fence and faint path over wet and boggy ground that was at times so bad that walking the fence was an essential part of the negotiations for getting across it.

Bog hopping by fence.

We walked over this for roughly a couple of kilometres until reaching its corner just past Moor Hen Nest. When the fence turned sharp left we left it to follow a distinct path over to a tall stone built shelter wall…

Stone wall shelter and trig column on Water Crag.

and then from there onto the summit OS trig column that's set on a large grey slab of rock.

Water Crag OS trig column.

It's raining properly now and the mist is coming down so we abandoned the summit and wondered if we should backtrack to the fence and try and follow it down to the Tan Hill Inn instead of continuing on the original route that would take us down the northern heathery flank of Water Crag and picking up the old miners track at Great Scollit Hill.

Unsure of what the journey along the fence would be like, if indeed it is there for the whole way down, and the map also shows a multitude of mine shafts from near the head of West Grain and right the way down to just above the Tan Hill Inn. And the clouds are starting to drop over the fells. But knowing that at least we would have a track or at least a path to follow we decided to stick with the original way off Water Crag. Both Barry and Jean have now got wet pants not only from the rain but from running off their waterproof coats and now inform us that they did have over trousers in the car but couldn't be bothered to carry them. At this new found knowledge I no longer feel sorry for them, nor, dare I may add, care about their wet condition. We plodded on through the heather and grass covered slopes making our way steadily down to the track reaching it where a capped mine shaft is sitting alongside it. We were to see a few more of these as we walked along. The path is fairly wide and stony with grassy patches and it looks like it must have been a proper cart or sled track many years ago. The walking is easy as it takes us steadily west until it suddenly deteriorates and disappears as we start to drop down to William Gill Houses that is sat by the side of William Gill.

Arriving at William Houses Gill.

From this point the path now turns northwest along a wide track instead of continuing west as shown on the map and we can now see a wide stony track below us. We continued losing height as we headed for a large area of cleared ground - probably a gathering place for the grouse shooters - from where a good track led away from it. As we arrived at William Gill we saw no sign of the houses of the same name as the estate road now turned southwest to follow the gill uphill to a point from where we should be able to find the original route of our walk. Once again we couldn't find the path, due maybe to the excavation works done to construct this relatively new access road. This estate road is not marked on the map and continued climbing in the same south westerly direction and even though it is taking us away from our planned route we followed it which was a better option than tramping across pathless wet heather, bilberry, and long grass.

The track runs alongside William Houses Gill.

Suddenly the track ended at a turning circle. What a bummer thought I, as we reviewed our situation and position. From the track end there is a narrow path that continues to follow William Gill up towards the old William Gill Colliery of which we saw no sign as nature must have taken the ground back. That we followed and upon reaching the site of the old mine workings that are no longer visible it was time to now do some heather bashing as we needed to turn in a north westerly direction and head for Reynoldson Currack that is near the fence that we had previously thought of following.

From the currack we followed the line of boundary stones for a short while and upon reaching Mirk Fell Edge turned northeast to try and find the path of our original route once again. After a short descent we came across the path that was very faint as it ran along the boggy ground and once again we saw a capped mine shaft.

It is not much of a path today but must have been when used by the miner's many years ago and we gratefully used it to our advantage. As mentioned, it runs over wet and boggy ground, disappearing with monotonous regularity but as long as we were keeping roughly northwest we managed to keep it in our sights or able to locate it again after a few metres. Then we came across Mirk Fell Gill near the site of the now disused King Pit Colliery. The gill is enclosed in a deep, rock and shale clad gully and at first glance looked like we would have to walk quite a distance to find a suitable point to get across it.

The other three gave me a look of despair as I stood at the top of the banking and looked for a possible way across. The path had led us to an impossible crossing place but there had to be something close at hand and looking upstream I saw a grassy rake leading down into the gully and a faint line through the heather on the opposite side. I had found a way past this obstacle, a way that has been there for years probably but has gotten overgrown on this side due to lack of use.

"How's the feet Barry?" I asked. "Hurting a bit," he replied. "But not too bad, how far have we to go?" "Not far" I replied, "Just over the hill and less than a kilometre, about 20 minutes and we'll be there." A nod and a twirl of the umbrella gave answer to the good news and close proximity of the bar as new blood ran to his feet as he set forth once again along the faint, wet path through the grass.

On the way back to the Tan Hill Inn.

Within no time at all the path brought us onto the Long Causeway, that wide stony track that runs from Tan Hill and across the moors to Arkengarthdale. The famous Inn is within our sights and the bar awaits us to spend our well earned money on some well earned drinks. Barry and Jean's trousers are soaked so he stands in front of the always lit fire whilst Jean nips off to the ladies with a spare pair of trousers accompanied with E in hot pursuit offering her sympathies about her wet condition.

A good meal and drinks were consumed whilst holding the inquest of the walk. From the start at Tan Hill Inn to the top of East Grain the walk had been great with plenty to see, beautiful countryside, Swinner Gill and the River Swale being of exceptional and beautiful contrasts. From Crackpot Hall and the views along the green and tree sided valley that bears host to the River Swale, to Swinner Gill and East Grain with its deep ravines, rocky sides, waterfalls, and relics of a once thriving mining industry there is much to see. The wild beauty of the moors is something that I love although I also understand that it is not to everyone's liking. From the top of East Grain it is nothing but a long and boring plod along an estate road followed by a trudge over very wet ground to get to Water Crag.

The return journey from Water Crag wasn't as intended, but it was alright and even losing the path had its merits as I have covered new ground, found new tracks and paths, and that maybe following the fence line down to Reynoldson Currack may have been a suitable way of getting to and from Water Crag.

The day has been warm and cloudy with rain from 3pm. Not torrential rain, just a nice steady drizzle sort of rain and with no breeze from leaving Water Crag it made for more comfortable walking.

We saw only 6 other people during the whole walk. The first two were ladies who had walked up from Keld and on their way to Balderstones whilst walking the Pennine Way. The second pair were mooching about around Crackpot Hall, and the last pair were in Swinner Gill resting after having had their own private battle with the midges.

[ChrisW]

Beautiful countryside those moors TM, can't understand why anyone wouldn't love em My old mum used to tell me I belonged in Crackpot Hall...at least I know where it is now

I think your friends might belong in there too, have waterproof trousers in the car but don't want to carry em......carries a standard high street umbrella for 20km Good job you spotted a way around at the end there or it might have been even longer

Great report mate, lovely area of wonderful open moor and views that go on forever

[trailmasher]

Beautiful countryside those moors TM, can't understand why anyone wouldn't love em My old mum used to tell me I belonged in Crackpot Hall...at least I know where it is now

I think your friends might belong in there too, have waterproof trousers in the car but don't want to carry em......carries a standard high street umbrella for 20km Good job you spotted a way around at the end there or it might have been even longer

Great report mate, lovely area of wonderful open moor and views that go on forever

It may be a while before they venture out on the hills again Chris, and it is beautiful countryside especially around Swaledale and the Swinner Gill area - great walking country and the moors, I love 'em Thanks for your comments Chris much appreciated