Cribyn & N escarpment
from Pen y Fan94 The Great OutdoorsAugust 2019
Fells of Lakeland describes a
Crookdale Horseshoe route
that he admits is no such thing.
The summits to the north
of the valley are omitted, as
they’re visited by the adjacent
round of Wasdale, and instead
he directs the walker up
Crookdale Beck, up Lord’s Seat
to the south-west and back
along the southern ridge.
Following Wainwright’s
lead, most circuits of
Crookdale add the fells on the
northern side before dropping
down to the beck and up to
Lord’s Seat. Most accounts of
this walk I’ve found online
drop down to the stream at
some point, and so miss out
the summits around the head
of the valley, Harrop Pike and
Grey Crag. My understanding
is that a horseshoe walk follows
the watershed, and only crosses
the stream at the bottom;
surely these last two fells
should be included?
Wainwright has a good
reason for leaving them out:
carry on to Harrop Pike and
you might as well continue
up the single contour to Grey
Crag. But Grey Crag is an
actual Wainwright (the 118th
highest), and so has no place
in The Outlying Fells. Add
it, however, and the route is
transformed.
I’ve walked all over the
Lakes, I know the Dales
reasonably well, and I have
an especial fondness for the
Howgills. As for the hills in
between, I confess I’d never
really bothered with them until
nearby Borrowdale was added
to the Lake District National
Park in 2016. Since then I’ve
explored around Borrowdale
and Bretherdale, and my sense
of what the Lake District is
has grown. This walk, which
starts near Borrowdale Head,links this ‘new’ Lake District to
the old one, Tarn Crag being
the most easterly of the actual
Wainwrights.
On Tarn Crag, the walk’s
literal and aesthetic high
point, I brewed some tepid
tea in a keen breeze and
took in the huge panorama:
Longsleddale, the River Kent
glittering down to Morecambe
Bay, Arnside and Silverdale,
Bowland, Middleton Fell
and Ingleborough’s summit,
Fawcett Forest and Borrowdale
with the Howgills and
Pennines behind, round to the
Kentmere and Coniston Fells
and Windermere.
This walk connects the
Lakes with the Howgills
and the Dales and Pennines
beyond, and blurs distinctions
between these landscapes. It’s a
walk where you can enjoy wide
views, and have your horizons
expanded.Further information
Maps: OS 1:25,000
Explorer sheet OL7
(English Lakes, South-Eastern
Area); Harvey 1:25,000
Superwalker, Lake District
South East; Lake District EastTransport: Stagecoach bus
106/506 runs from
Penrith to Kendal via Shap.
Details from stagecoachbus.comi
Information: Shap
Information Point,
01931 717539, admin@
theoldcourthouse.org[Captions clockwise from top]
Borrowdale Head from Robin
Hood; High House Bank, Mabbin
Crag and Borrowdale Head
from Robin Hood; The cairn on
Harrop Pike