winter, so the thermals go on, reminding yourself that it's always cooler in the countryside and you are bound to feel it once you've been in a pretty remote location for 6 hours or so. The day remains foggy as my train takes me north up the S&C line, until we travel up through the clouds at the top of Ribblesdale and sunshine takes over. Disembarking at Garsdale, I expect cool and crisp, not brutal heat...
Active March: Day Four
Garsdale to Kirkby Stephen via Mallerstang 11.7 miles
Gather up with the FOSCL group at Garsdale, as entertaining remote a station as there is in England, and among the 15 of us are at least a few recognisable faces and one of the leaders on this trip, R (half of A&R) acknowledges me as a return-walker. Largely a male group, apparently most of the ladies picked the Morecambe line walk today, and who wouldn't want on a warm day like this? Warm soon starts to feel like very hot indeed, and we're barely out of the station before I feel over-dressed and my desire to not be cold might backfire on me. Still, we have to get a move on, as a 10.30pm start means that the clock is against us as we go toward Kirkby Stephen, and taking the shortest possible route isn't a given. We're not heading past Dandrymire Viaduct and Moorcock Inn to Uredale (which is actually Wensleydale, but in my mind Wensleydale is that broad and farmed dale below Hawes), instead up into the marshy land above Clough force, and then into the long yellow grass and ruins, farms and holiday houses of Grisedale between the mass of Baugh Fell and the Western Ridge of Mallerstang. All pleasant and remote feeling, ideal for a holiday home in the middle of nowhere, and views in all directions, especially of Whernside offering an unfamiliar face. At East House, our path takes us away form the route up onto the ridge toward Wild Boar Fell, and swings up onto Grisedale Common, the shoulder of Swarth Fell, and here's where the problems start for me. Trudging up thorough the long grass, my heart starts to pound and I start to sweat furiously, it's only 60 metres of ascent, but it felt like it was going to finish me off. At the top, as the group stops for watering, I'm feeling giddy and attempting to get out of my thermal layers as fast as is possible, as the group moves on, I'm suddenly bent over and dry heaving, feeling like I'm about to expire. Thankfully, two of the group stay back to check that I'm not about to peg out, and as quickly as it came on, the heat rush passes, and I'm ready to follow the descending party into Uredale.
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| Uredale |
Descending the side of Swarth Fell, the vista soon opens up with Ure Head to the right and the massive slab of Wild Boar Fell ahead of you, and this definitely the place to get a view of said mountain, as it is almost impossible to photograph from the train. Also, if Grisedale felt under inhabited, Uredale feels like the surface of the moon. The only farmstead we pass, at High Shaw Paddock, is utterly derelict and the first houses which people live in is White Birch cottage, where we come to the main road, the B6259. Road walking leads us the border out of the Yorkshire dales, and into Cumbria(and also crossing the English Watershed), by Ais Gill Moor cottages, which are named after the nearby railway summit, which is named after the nearby Gill, which oddly isn't the closest to said summit, that'd be Smithy Gill... Anyways, over the railway to our lunch spot at Hellgill Force, where the streams rising in the surrounding moors finally become the River Eden. Here pizza can be consumed as said Waterfall roars away and my hot spell can recede into memory, and I note that we're in a very picturesque landscape indeed, one feeling familiar from those ancient copies of Steam Railway magazine, bought by my Dad many moons ago.
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| River Eden below Hell Gill Force & Wild Boar Fell |
The walk description had suggested some sort of exploration of the Gills on the west side of Mallerstang, but our leader seems to be favouring the eastern side of the valley, and I'm not going to fuss as I'm not feeling a huge urge towards many more ascents. As we go on into Mallerstang, the remoteness is lessened by sounds of motorcyclists burning it up on Lade Anne's Way, higher up the valley side, and also getting buzzed by an RAF Hercules, which reminds you that terrain like this may be spectacular in this country, but is probably pretty ordinary when it comes to Afghanistan. Mallerstang opens up before us anyway, and the land has that slightly more cultivated look, but is still impressively buttressed as Mallerstang Edge and High Seat appear in the east, and our co-leader tells me that there are so many walking options around here that it might be impossible to become bored of it, this is my first visit on foot and I'm already convinced that she's right. We up and down along the valley side for a couple of miles before we descend towards the River Eden and I figure a river stroll to Kirkby Stephen will be the remainder of the trip.
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| Mallerstang Edge |
This is the path for a while, once we've crossed the river and dodged the farm boys on their quad bike, staying at the back of the group as I chat with the co-leader and take pics of the sights, like the ancient Thrang Bridge, Shoregill farm (a collection of about eight buildings, which is probably the second largest settlement in Mallerstang), and Pendragon Castle, once owned by Lady Anne Clifford, who seems to personally dominate the history of this area (Seriously, read up on her! She was a fascinating character.). We even meet another walking group, trying to navigate from a single sheet of paper, and some of us think "Been there, Done that!". We send them on the shortest route back to Kirkby Stephen, but our leader fancies a more uphill path, and after checking that the novice walker (me) isn't about to expire again, we head up Tommy Road toward Birkett Common, where we can sit among the limestone outcrops with the imperious dales sheep and the Traveller's ponies left to graze on the common land, and enjoy our last tea break awaiting a view of a train popping out of Birkett Tunnel below us. From here, Wild Boar Fell offers a completely different face, and Mallerstang Edge looks like a serious walking challenge for the future, both leaders agree that this would have been a great day to be up there!
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| Mallerstang & Wild Boar Fell from Birkett Common |
Onward onto the final stretch and another familiar vista for old railway photographs opens up, and off in the west, The Howgills appear like a fist stretching the land up over its knuckles, surely a future walking target. Tommy Road leads us to a mile long straight wall, and we trace that as the hills fall away behind us and the landscape opens up to present the Eden Valley ahead of us. The route to Kirkby Stephen isn't obvious, but once an impossible-to-close gate has been negotiated, it's not long until we meet the Sedburgh road, and then the A685 and one more corner before concluding at KIrkby Stephen station at 4.30pm. It's a shame that the teashop hereabouts has gone, and that there has never been a pub here at all, but with only ten minutes to wait for the train that's no reason to fuss. I've a deeply satisfying feeling of soreness and exhaustion on as I ride home, feeling like I've really earned it from the day's stretch of 12 miles (nb. I'd had this down as 14 miles since I walked it, but Google Maps has since denied me a couple of miles!), I also itch somewhat, and once I'm home I discovered that I am sunburned. In March.
1,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 45.4 miles
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