In search of a Nuttall... (29th & 30th June 2013)

I've been very lucky to get in a lot of varied hill walking this year so far, which is perfect for my forthcoming ML assessment and I'm pleased to say that it has very much been in great weather most of the time. Now I do put up a lot of blogs on my trips into the mountains, and this one will be no exception. However, we start with a slight twist from the norm.

At the Levellers concert in Grassington, L-R; Sam, Lorna, Ruth, Emily, James and me. This one was taken by Imogen.

I certainly don't claim to be a musical expert, but I've been introduced to some great folk bands by my friends over the past year. Imogen is a big fan of the Levellers and we had tickets on Saturday for a concert they were performing for the final night of the Grassington Festival. Standing up in a big crowd watching a band - it was due to be a first for me as all the previous gigs I had attended had been sitting down. Told you I'm a novice ;-). We set off across to the green and lush Wharfedale on Saturday afternoon with Lorna and Sam. We were rendez-vous-ing with the whole Fisher Family near the small hamlet of Yockenthwaite, located below the one and only Yockenthwaite Moor; proclaimed by the Nuttalls to be one of the boggiest hills in Yorkshire. No sign of any bog for us though thankfully as it was a lovely sunny afternoon and we followed a picturesque traverse path along the southern rim of the valley for a short distance among limestone outcrops and flowery meadow. Returning back along the wooded River Wharfe, our walk was followed by a lovely riverside picnic before we headed down valley to the market town of Grassington (and yes, I confess to pronouncing it Grarsington). The gig itself was an experience and a half; lots of colour and certainly what I would describe as high intensity music combined with crowd 'jostling'. We had prime position right down the front near the stage.

Having absorbed lots of sound for a couple of hours, the bleak, drizzly desolation of Firth Fell created a stark contrast for Imogen and myself as we headed out from the village of Buckden later on in the evening. We had decided that we fancied a wild camp in the Yorkshire Dales, so after some studying of the map a few days prior had settled upon the broad grassy ridge dividing Wharfedale and Littondale as a suitable location. Having followed an increasingly indistinct bridleway uphill for about half an hour, we arrived at a suitably flat step in the hillside just before the windy plateau of the ridge. The tent was popped into action and we crashed out on a fine mattress of Yorkshire moorland grass.

Imogen on Horse Head with our long ridgeway walk in view behind.

Now this is where we a brought onto the subject of this post. The Nuttalls in this case being a list of hills in England or Wales in excess of 610 m (the classic 2000 ft cut off) but being 'distinct tops' as defined in detail by the two volume 'Mountains of England and Wales' by John and Anne Nuttall. The books are a fine piece of work and are just what every enthusiast of English and Welsh hills needs on their bookshelf. Our walk on Sunday would take us over one of the above defined summits, however having not consulted my hill lists 'app' prior to heading out, I was left pondering over which of the many OS marked spot heights along our 7 km moorland romp would indeed be the one and only 'Nuttall'. The 1:25 000 OS map unfortunately does not quite commit any of the spot heights along the stretch between Firth Fell and Horse Head to the all important 610 m; the plateau is at an almost consistent 600 m altitude, with a multitude of spots at 605, 608, 609 m and all in between. Of course the devil is always in the detail and this is a perfect reason for these wonderfully illustrated books being a must on my list for Father Christmas this year. I await with much anticipation the detailed reasoning behind this  minor discrepancy between map and highly researched piece of writing about the British Hills. It is exactly this sort of discussion that gives hill bagging a peculiar but unique appeal. Upon our return, I have of course now located the actual top as defined by the Nuttalls as being the Cairn on Birks Fell - we didn't actually touch it giving a great reason to go back!

Hill Walking with Bonington... (Sunday 16th June 2013)

Ok it's not quite the South Face of Annapurna or the North Wall of the Eiger, however the opportunity to climb Sharp Edge with the legendary mountaineer Chris Bonnington was certainly one not to be missed. Having been out with Chris and the LUHC a year ago on warm and sunny day in the Howgills at Cautley Spout, this years destination was the small village of Mungrisdale in the north Lakes. There was a good turn out from the LU Hiking Club for the occasion and we even had four dogs in total; two of course being Toffee and Jess Axe.

On a march along Souther Fell with Blencathra in the background, Chris Bonington setting the pace

All twenty plus of us set off at a decent pace up the valley, with Chris having chosen the route for its promised variety of terrain. It certainly did not disappoint; we almost certainly followed the finest line to the summit of the mostly rounded Bannerdale Crags. Approaching via the north east ridge leading through the heart of the crags after which the summit is named, the ascent gave much interest with broken scree and heathery steps leading up through an area of old mine excavations. The stillness and warmth of the air had however brought the midges out and we were soon striding out along the broad grassy slopes of Mungrisdale Common towards Blencathra. 

We had our very own South Col moment at the unnamed saddle at 610 m with Sharp Edge in splendid profile leading direct to the summit of Blecathra's subsidiary, Atkinson Pike. Chris was keen for Sharp Edge, and of course many of us opted to join in. It was a wonderful traverse of the ridge, topped off with talk of the recently celebrated 60th anniversary of the Everest 1953 Expedition. We took a long lunch break on Blencathra, with the mild conditions giving us the opportunity for a good number of obligatory summit group shots. The route down took us onto the altogether different terrain of Souther Fell; home, according to my Cumbrian expert Andy, to a ghost army once seen marching along its broad ridge in the dead of night. We performed a fine march along its grassy apex, congregating on the summit briefly before an extraordinarily steep grassy decent back down to the Glenderamackin in fine sunshine.

A fine day in the Lakeland Fells always ends at a good village pub, Chris Bonington with myself, Imogen, Mum and Dad at the Mill Inn, Mungrisdale.

It was a great day out and was great to see Chris keen to keep up the grand tradition of ending a fine trip into the hills with a visit to a fine Lakeland village pub. The Mill Inn at Mungrisdale provided fitting finish to our day with such an inspiring character. Many thanks to Sir Chris Bonington for being such a great honorary president for the LUHC and for joining us on another fabulous annual walk. His kind words and encouragement for aspiration in the mountains is an inspiration to us all.