BROWNTHWAITE CRAG,
GOWK HILL & RED CRAG from
ST PETER'S CHURCH, MARTINDALE
Summary
Date - 9th May 2010
Distance - 6.5 miles Ascent - 2000ft
Map - OL5
Start point - Layby opposite Martindale Church (NY
436191)
Summits Achieved
Name
Height (ft)
Height (m)
Grid Ref
Brownthwaite Crag
1457
444
NY 4430 1734
Gowk Hill
1545
471
NY 4448 1669
Red Crag
2333
711
NY 4503 1518
Preface
It was Friday
afternoon and over a mug of tea and chocolate biscuits, we were
chatting about the previous day's adventure.
"It was a great
day for you Allen", remarked Tetley.
"Yes it certainly
was. I ticked off a third of my outstanding Wainwights. Now with
only eight to go, I really feel that I will achieve completion of
the challenge this year", Allen replied.
Grizzly piped up,
"the views were wonderful. Ullock Pike was my very first
Wainwright, which I climbed in July 2004. I had forgotten what a
super walk that ridge is."
Ever practical, Shaun
mused, "I wonder whether Dad will take us out on Sunday?"
Little Eric replied,
"if you give me a ride on your back I will go and ask him."
So off they trotted.
Presently returning,
Little Eric said excitedly, "yes a walk is on."
"Where to",
interjected Tetley.
"Well, Shaun
reminded Dad about that walk from Martindale, to climb
Brownthwaite Pike & Gowk Hill and then up to the ridge above
to bag Red Crag", Little Eric went on.
"Those are
outstanding Birkett tops, which Dad has been meaning to take us
to for a while, but for various reasons he had had to defer the
walk", said Allen.
"Well it will be
great to finally get them done, so roll on Sunday", called
out Shaun.
The Walk
To get to the start we left the M6
at Penrith and took the ever familiar A66 west towards Keswick,
very soon turning left by Rheged along the road to Pooley Bridge.
On the way we passed a man driving an old tractor.
"I wonder where he is going?,
said Tetley.
Just then we came to the stately
home called Dalemain, and Shaun called out, "he's going here
as there is a vintage tractor rally today."
"Just look at that line up of
old tractors", called out Allen, as we passed by.
"Wonderful", replied
Grizzly.
Soon Ullswater came into view and
we turned left along side, then right over the bridge into the
village of Pooley Bridge. It was straight on to the crossroads,
where we turned right, to drive the at times narrow road along
the east side of the lake. We passed the entrance to Sharrow Bay,
a very exclusive hotel, then continued to Howtown. This is one of
the places where the Ullswater Steamers that ply the lake stop.
Very popular with walkers, who sail from Glenridding to here,
then walk back by the lake under the slopes of the dominant hill
Place Fell. Dad drove on and soon we were climbing the narrow
steep curves to reach St Peter's Church, Martindale our start
point. As he drove up we were rewarded with a view along the lake
with the steamer making its stately progress to Howtown.
Unfortunately Dad was not able to stop to take a picture.
Dad parked in the layby opposite
the church, under the slopes of Hallin Fell. There were quite a
few other cars there with people getting ready to set off too,
and we saw some start along the wide clear path up Hallin Fell.
By now Dad was ready and we had
hopped into the rucksack and got ourselves settled. We walked
past the gate to the church, to gain the open fell.
Allen then immediately called out,
"that will make a nice shot of the church to start our story."
"OK", replied Dad,
hauling the camera out of its bag.
That done, we then walked right,
making a high traverse under the craggy lower face of Birkie
Knott. On the fellside and in the fields below were many of our
beloved Herdwick sheep, and when one stood and posed, Dad just
could not resist snapping a picture.
The path continued above the wall,
to a point where it dropped away right, high above the old church.
Ahead now was this fine view over
Martindale, with The Nab rising in the centre. This is part of
the Martindale Deer Forest, and on the occasions we had climbed
to its summit we had been fortunate to see some of the deer. To
the left is the valley of Ramps Gill, rising to Ramps Gill Head,
whose top is just covered by cloud.
Now, Dad is very experienced on the
fells, but he admits that occasionally he does make mistakes with
route finding. Here was one of those occasions, and he later said
that he had not read well enough, the clear instructions in Bill
Birkett's Almanac. What he should have done was walk on ahead for
a short distance to find the path rising from the right. Instead
we descended to the valley floor, then following the path right
by the wall. This in itself was in fact fine as we were heading
in the right direction, albeit at a lower level. The OS map
showed a path rising up the hillside and reaching this, Dad
headed up. The map does not show the zig zags, so we got off the
path and crossed instead the rough fellside and after climbing a
fence, finally regained the proper path. Well it added to our
adventure!
On this path we now made good
progress and soon the first summit of Brownthwaite Crag was
reached. . A few stones almost lost in the small boggy depression
marked the top. We were to be disappointed that none of the tops
today had cairns, so to please us Dad got the flag out to
brighten the picture.
"Where to now?, asked Little
Eric.
"We continue south to cross
the path that circles the fell and then climb directly up the
hillside to Gowk Hill", replied Dad.
So down we went crossing the
depression and soon we were climbing the slopes of Gowk Hill. Its
summit is a wide grassy area with two mounds. The west one has a
few stones at the spot height marked on the OS map.
"Why are you not taking our
picture", cried Allen.
"Because the east top over
there is slightly higher", replied Dad.
So we walked the short distance to
it and found the lone stone marking the summit. You can just see
it behind Allen.
To the east stands the ridge
running north from High Raise over Loadpot and Wether Hill,
along which runs the remains of the High Street Roman Road. Dad
has taken us along various sections of this before, but this was
prior to knowing about the Birkett fells. As a result one top,
Red Crag, had not been visited, so we resolved to tick it off
today. Going due east we descended, and crossed to the base of
the ridge to pick up the path (dotted on the map). This climbed
quite steeply across the face of the ridge, finally gaining the
main path that runs along the top. Rounding the wall we headed
south, then crossed the wall and made a diagonal traverse to the
fence, climbing steadily along side. The cairn came into view, so
Dad climbed the fence to reach it.
"Made it", called out
Tetley, as we prepared to decamp from the rucksack.
"Hang on a minute", cried
Dad. "This is not the summit."
"Where is it then", said
Allen, sounding rather exasperated.
"Just on that next rise to the
south", replied Dad patiently.
In a minute we were there, and
hopping out of the rucksack, and settling on the ground for our
picture - if only that cairn had been here!
Wondering about the origin of the
name Red Crag, we did some research when we got home. The map
shows that there are craggy outcrops on the western face, that
apparently have a reddish colour.
"For a change there are good
views today", remarked Tetley.
"Yes", replied Shaun.
Then continuing, "I think that view to the north is worth a
picture."
The lake is part of Ullswater with
behind from left to right Gowbarrow Fell (1579ft), Great Mell
Fell (1762ft) and Little Mell Fell (1657ft). More distantly
behind Great Mell Fell, the dark hill is Carrock Fell (2174ft),
the ridge from it running left to High Pike (2157ft). We recalled
climbing that on a snowy December day and sitting on the snow
covered seat for our picture.
Ready to set off again Allen
remarked, "there seems to be a good path on this side of the
fence."
"Your right, and I intend to
use it for our return route", replied Dad.
It ran straight and true leading to
the wall above Mere Beck. A gate on the right provided a way
through the wall, then crossing the ravine we regained the ascent
route. We stood a while looking at the wonderful view of the
fells to the west. Dad took this shot for our story.
In the foreground is the highest
part of The Nab (1890ft), and behind from left to right Dove Crag
(2598ft), Hart Crag (2698ft) and Fairfield (2863ft). These are
some of the fells that form the Fairfield Horseshoe.
Following the path down, we then
crossed rough ground to pick up the excellent wide smooth grassy
path that skirts left below the summit of Brownthwaite Crag.
Further on it passed through the wall and under the slopes of
Steel Knotts. Here we saw more of our lovely Herdwicks, including
this ewe with its almost totally black lamb.
This led to our outward path above
the wall towards Birkie Knott. Here looking down we could see the
old church, St Martin's.
So on along the path under Birkie
Knott, we soon reached the car. We settled on the front seat
ready to have the rest of our picnic. Dad got his boots off, then
headed down the steep road. The view along Ullswater was
beautiful and Dad was able to find a place to pull off and take
the picture. A steamer is docked at Howtown Pier. The prominent
hill at the top of the lake is Dunmallat (787ft). This is one of
the Wainwright Outlying Fells, climbed by us in April 2007.
Little Eric has not climbed it as he had not been born then.
Another excellent day and three
more Birkett tops ticked off. We have said it before, but we are
a lucky lot to be taken on all these adventures. Another big
thank you to Dad.