November in the Howgills

It’s been an incredibly mild autumn so far up here in the NW of England. November has snuck in with a little bit of what is hopefully on its way with its first week giving us our first hint of winter temperatures. Within the space of a week, daytime temperatures on the Lancashire coastal plain have gone from up to around 18ºC, down to less than 8ºC.

Ascending the broad, gradual slopes of the Northern Howgills. The upper Lune Valley, Shap Moor (L) & Great Asby Scar (R) in the distance.

Last Sunday, Imogen and I headed out for a fine romp around in the Howgill Fells. It’s an area that I’m mostly familiar with, excepting a big segment to the North and West of ‘The Calf’ which is most commonly viewed from the West Coast Mainline and M6 and gives travellers heading upwards from the south their first glimpses of the ‘mountainous north’. The hills rise gradually and smoothly from the lofty heights of Shap Moor to the NW in long, winding, broad ridges like the backbones of gigantic beached whales from long ago. We accessed our walk from the small village of Gaisgill, located only a few minutes East along the A685 from the M6 junction at Tebay. From this vantage point, the Howgill Fells seem miles away to the south, however the southerly ascent is so gradual that progress upwards and long-wards is remarkably rapid. To the north, an area of limestone country (Great Asby Scar) soon comes into view, adding to the scenic splendour of the walking. The River Lune, running parallel to the A685 Tebay - Kirkby Stephen road at this point marks the dividing line between the limestone area and the impoverished gritstone topography of the Howgills. The first point of any note on our ascent was Rispa Pike, at the lofty height of 470 m. Although having ascended a mere couple of hundred metres over around 5 km from Gaisgill, Rispa Pike provided a good panoramic view and a fine little stone wall shelter provided a good spot for a tea break.

Broad, sweeping grassy slopes characterise the hills of the Northern Howgills

The brisk westerly wind soon put us back into our stride, as we continued in a southeasterly direction over Uldale Head. From here, the proud south facing, steeper slopes that characterise these fells from the Lune Gorge drop away though cascades, grass and heather towards wall-lined fields and the fine landmark of Lowgill viaduct (disused) far below. The trough-like feature of Blackethwaite Bottom above the falls of Black Force provided enough shelter for a brief lunch before we hit the higher ground leading over Bleagill Head and Bush Howe to The Calf (676 m). The latter, being the highest fell of the Howgills group, sits on a crossroads of broad ridges leading for many kilometres in each and every direction. The myriad of ridges, spurs and valleys would provide an ideal area for navigational challenge, perhaps matching the Cairngorms for its feeling of remoteness. No navigational fun for us though, even though the cloud base seemed within touching distance as we turned to face north and head back to the Lune. Our route back to Gaisgill followed the long sweeping ridge to the East of ‘Langdale’ over Hazelgill Knott and on to Langdale Knott where we finally found some shelter from the breeze on the tame northern slopes leading into the pastures of the upper Lune valley.

All in all, a grand day out and a good introduction to the much welcome cooler temperatures of November!

Heading North. Following the winding valley of Langdale, the ridge leads over West Fell (R) and Langdale Knott (L) before dropping gradually to Gaisgill in the Upper Lune Valley.