Around Dufton Pike
Walk date – 9th September 2026
Distance – 5 miles
Weather – Dry, very cloudy and overcast, very calm with no wind
The weather has been very unsettled since our last walk so we haven’t been out walking anywhere for a couple of weeks. Today looked to be a quieter day in terms of wind strength but just in case we opted to just do a local walk around Dufton Pike. While we were in the area we also did a bit of investigation with regard to the availability of paths up to the top of Brownber Hill. The Met Office’s forecast of ‘very little cloud east of Coniston’ and ‘often sunny’ turned out not to be the case. The skies remained overcast and there was nothing much happening by way of sunshine. We really ought to know better by now but hope springs eternal!
Route
Dufton village – Coatsike Farm – Hurning Lane (Pennine Way) – Halsteads – Cosca Hill – path on north-east side of Dufton Pike – Great Rundale Beck path – Pusgill House – Dufton Village
As we drove up the lane, just before making a right turn into the village, we had to pull into a patch of empty ground to let a walking party go by so J decided to park there. The signposts in the above photo are at the road junction so we only had to turn left and walk a few paces down the hill to pick up the path leading to Coatsike farm.
The farmhouse at Coatsike where, as is usually the case, the house looked spick and span and the farmyard was as untidy as ever.
From Coatsike farm the path becomes a ‘green lane’, known as Hurning Lane, and forms part of the Pennine Way. Previous walks along here have been a bit of a mudfest but today the ground was firm and only a little damp in places.
Dufton Pike is rarely out of sight for very long. As can be seen the ground rises gently but continuously although there are some flatter parts along the way.
This section shows one of the flatter sections and beyond the gate the path widens out from this point on.
The old farmhouse at Halsteads continues to deteriorate, grass is growing on the roof and, despite the buttressing, parts of the house shows signs of potential collapse. Over on the other side of the house the roof of a lean-to type of building was looking a bit dodgy. Possibly one of the roof timbers had rotted away and the roof tiling had sunk into an elongated bowl shape, although the roof itself was still intact. But, only just.
Walking across Cosca Hill with a view of Dufton Pike and the livestock drinking pool below it. Look at the sky! So much for the Met Office’s ‘very little cloud to the east of Coniston’. I wondered how far to the east you had to go before finding clear skies.
A look back towards the Lake District fells from the top of Cosca Hill …..
….. and a look over to Knock Pike from the same spot. We left the Pennine Way path when we began to go up Cosca Hill. It continues around the hill, drops down below it and then begins to rise up to Great Dun Fell, Little Dun Fell and Cross Fell. Part of it is on view at the bottom of the shot.
We drop down from Cosca Hill and make our way down to the elevated path on the north-east side of Dufton Pike above Great Rundale beck. On the opposite side of the beck is Brownber Hill.
Looking down to the ford crossing Great Rundale beck.
A look back at Knock Pike from the stile crossing. The stile used to have a very springy gate across it to prevent sheep getting to where they weren’t allowed to be. No sign of it anywhere now.
The path we were on joined with another one and from the junction I took a look ahead. We arrived at the junction after having walked the path through the extensive patch of bracken in the shot. The bracken is dying back, thankfully, as the summer wanes into autumn, and to the right of the path ahead was patch after patch of bright orange mushrooms of the ‘orange peel’ variety.
Descending towards Great Rundale …..
….. and looking along Great Rundale.
The stile in the wall and the accompanying post pointing the way over to the very steep Brownber Hill path. The path drops down into Great Rundale, crosses the beck and leads on to the wall between Brownber Hill and Rosgill Edge.
As we stepped onto the wide track leading up Great Rundale we took a short diversion up to the point where we were more or less opposite Brownber Hill and Rosgill Edge. From the track I took a look across to Knock Pike which was now showing that it has a more interesting side than the view from the road would have you believe. From the road it looks to be nothing more interesting than an insipid rounded hump, a leftover from when the North Pennines were formed. From this angle it is obvious that it is more interesting than that, and it has a large disused quarry to ferret about in.
From the Great Rundale track we can see below us a wide green track leading over to Great Rundale Beck which I think can be accessed from the Great Rundale track as we have just passed an access gate …..
….. and the same green path from a little further along. It gradually swings round towards the beck, crosses it and then, on the opposite bank, leads onwards towards the wall between Brownber Hill and Rosgill Edge. It then begins to climb very steeply between the two.
There’s the path, on the left of the shot, (taken from the Great Rundale track) climbing steeply between the two. When the col is reached there is a further steep, but shorter, climb to reach the top of Brownber Hill. Apparently there is no access across the wall to Rosgill Edge which there should be as it seems to be designated as Open Access Land under the CRoW (Countryside and Rights of Way) Act of 2000 in England and Wales. This Act granted the public the right to access on foot for recreation. That’s all academic anyway and we’ll probably have a look around for a path up Brownber Hill from the Pennine Way side of the hill.
Having investigated the possibility of climbing Brownber Hill we turned around, retraced our steps and started our descent back to Dufton village. The above shot shows Dufton Pike from the track up to the disused lead mine at Great Rundale. Also in the shot is the path, in the bottom right corner, coming around from the stile & signpost I took a previous shot of.
A longer view of the path coming around the hill from the stile and going across into Great Rundale. That one seems to be lower down the valley than the wider green one in the shot so it looks like there are two access paths.
Now on the return path to Dufton with a view across to Murton Pike, on the extreme left, below which are several of the smaller hills below High Cup Nick.
Passing the ‘official’ start of the access path leading to the summit of Dufton Pike.
Looking across to the cloud covered Lake District fells. Over to the right is Blencathra and some of the northern fells, moving to the left from there are the two Mell Fells, left again and we can see Clough Head, Great Dodd and Stybarrow Dodd, then comes the col between Stybarrow Dodd and Raise. There was no point in continuing any further to the left as nothing was identifiable as it was hidden by the general murkiness.
Pusgill House. Not listed as a holiday rental but no evidence either of anyone living there. You would definitely have to own a 4×4 with a lot of ground clearance to be able to drive up the rough and stony track, an everyday saloon car wouldn’t be able to manage it. No sign of either type of vehicle and no barking dogs either, very strange.
The tree stump which is all that remains of the living ash tree blown over in a gale known as ‘The Beast from the East’ in 2018 …..
….. however the bracket fungi, which used to grow all the way up the trunk, has managed to survive and thrive at the base of the stump. Nice to know that at least something survived the gales.
We emerged at the top end of Dufton village where this sign post was leaning against the wall of one of the houses …..
….. and there it is, in situ, propped up by a house wall. The road curves around and leads through the village where we pass …..
….. The Stag Inn, with Dufton Pike behind it, as we walked down the street and back to where the car was parked. The sun appeared briefly through a couple of chinks in the cloud and it was very pleasant while it lasted. Well folks, that’s it for today so all we can do is hope for better weather so we can get out a bit more than has been possible just lately.