The Great Outdoors – July 2019

Cribyn & N escarpment

from Pen y Fan

94 The Great Outdoors July 2019

The Outlying 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.
Virtually every account of this
walk I’ve found online drops
down to the stream at some
point, and so misses 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.

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 the

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 East

Transport: Stagecoach

bus 106/506 runs from

Penrith to Kendal via Shap.

Details from stagecoachbus.com

i

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