Great Cockup, Meal And Longlands Fell

Some of my platoon appeared to have sore heads and glum faces as we made the steady climb up to Great Cockup. It probably had something to do with hangovers after last night's celebrations. We'd got seven Wainwrights on our itinerary today. Although that was a large number, the gradients of the northern Lakeland fells are rather gentle compared with the rest of the Lakes. In fact, Wainwright says of Longlands Fell, 'Anybody who cannot manage this short and simple climb is advised to give up the idea of becoming a fellwalker'. I did think of quoting this to Calse and Mo, but they looked like they weren't in the mood. Before we knew it, we'd been up Great Cockup, walked over Meal Fell and summited Longlands Fell. The sun was out and judging by the faces of my troops, the fresh air had made them feel a little brighter too. 

Brae, Great Sca Fell And Knott

In the Lake District northern fells there are plenty of tracks that allow you to bypass the summits of fells by contouring around their sides. We took advantage of one of these as we bypassed Lowthwaite Fell enroute to Brae's top. Some people might say the northern Lakeland fells are boring. They are rolling hills, rather than the craggy, shapely summits found elsewhere in the Lakes. They do feel more like the Dales than the Lake District. Even so, I feel they have a certain charm and a pleasant feeling of remoteness. Wainwright was a bit more dismissive about Brae Fell: 'If all hills were like Brae Fell here would be far fewer fellwalkers'. A bit harsh, I think, since it is a super view from the top.

A short walk took us to the top of Great Sca Fell. This is no relation to its higher namesake near Wasdale. A light mist had drifted on to the top of Knott, but we could see far enough to see a mountain biker approaching the summit from the Great Calva path. We raced him to the summit, but the area is almost completely flat, and he got there first. In fact, it is so flat on Knott that Wainwright stated, 'If the party consists of more than one person, and if, further, a bat, ball and wickets can be found in the depths of somebody's rucksack, a cricket match can be played on a turf that many a county ground might covet'. I looked at Wainwright's hallowed, patchy turf and considered that it might fit well on a Lancashire County cricket ground but could never be considered worthy of a Yorkshire one.

Great Calva

There is quite a bit of descent from Knott and consequently that meant quite a bit of ascent up to Great Calva, our final Wainwright for the day. It had been in mist a little earlier but had lifted for our arrival. It is an impressive summit with a good central view of the northern fells. It is also possible to look down the valley between Blencathra and Lonscale Fell, and then down the long central fault of the Lake District that follows the lakes of Thirlmere, Grasmere and Windermere. There is a well-built shelter a little below the summit and looks identical now as it does in Wainwright's 60 years old sketch in his Northern Fells book. We didn't make use of it though and instead settled down for lunch in the lee of the wind on Great Calva's grassy slope.

Skiddaw Hause Track

We plodded our way down a boggy path from Great Calva to the Skiddaw Hause track. This is a substantial track and in the past, I've occasionally seen a 4WD making its steady way to Skiddaw Hause. Today we just saw mountain bikers and a few walkers on the route. It did provide a good view of Binsey in the far distance; we intended climbing that Wainwright tomorrow. The track descends near to the Whitewater Dash Waterfall. The water falls quite a distance, but you never seem to get that good a view from the track. We followed the track back through fields, and this led us to the road where I'd parked the car.

Seven Wainwrights in one walk. I think that's a record for the Wainwright Venture. It didn't feel a long walk though. Well, not to me anyway. For Calse and Mo though, I think they carried hangovers as well as their rucksacks and may have suffered a little more. It would be interesting to see if they would be as celebratory tonight as they had been last night.