Loadpot Hill
Walk date – 21st June 2026
Distance – 9.7 miles
Weather – sunny and warm with a light easterly breeze,
Today the forecast was for extensive bright sunshine with a light breeze and, as it was the weekend with all its accompanying parking problems, we decided to have a longer walk but keeping out of what we knew would be the busier areas. We decided on Loadpot Hill starting from Heltonhead, an area which has plenty of off-road parking and is rarely overflowing with vehicles. The main drawback with this route is the vast expanse of tough grass and heather which combined with a paucity of interesting features, resulted in continually seeing nothing but vegetation and fewer photos than is usually the case. On the other hand its vast and sprawling bulk does mean that the gradients are gentle if rather boggy at times.
As usual we parked off road at Heltonhead without any problem and set off walking across Moor Divock towards Kelton Gate with this view of Heughscar Hill in the distance. It might need a zoom in but over on the right of the shot is one of the Bronze Age stone circles which are scattered here and there across the moorland.
We’ve reached Ketley Gate at this point so we turned off to the left along this path leading over to The Cockpit, another very large Bronze Age stone circle, the purpose of which seems to be unknown, although there are several theories regarding its original significance.
The stone circle was busy with walkers and cyclist so we didn’t hang around and hoped for better luck on our return leg. We carried on along the path from the stone circle until we came to Elder Beck, which the path crosses over, and just a few yards beyond it we took to the path which follows the course of the old Roman road across the Brown Rigg section of Barton Fell. The shot above shows the two Mell Fells over on the left behind which is Blencathra together with its neighbouring northern fells and culminating with Carrock Fell over on the right. We started out with clear blue skies but after a while the fair weather cloud began to appear.
Loadpot Hill on the skyline as we passed one of the boundary stones along the route …..
….. there was some marking on the other side of the boundary stone but it was very difficult to decipher due to the weathering of the stone. There were markings on this side of the stone which was less weathered and looked very much like the Ordnance Survey symbol apart from the fact the it had a horizontal line above the ‘arrow’ markings. We wondered if it was the symbol that the Lowther estate once used, especially as the land to the east of the stone was/is part of the Earl of Lonsdale’s estate.
Still following the Roman road route and gradually gaining height as we now have a view of the Skiddaw group in addition to Blencathra and its neighbours …..
….. and little by little we began to get other views of the surrounding fells even though they were somewhat limited by the vast expanse of Loadpot. In this shot we could see the tops of Clough Head and the Dodds …..
….. Fairfield and Saint Sunday Crag (L) followed by the Helvellyn range.
The Roman road path eventually joined the path coming over from Arthur’s Pike and continued on up to the summit as a single track. A solo walker we could see coming over from Arthur’s Pike joined it before we did so we expected to be able to see him ahead of us but we never saw him again.
Another boundary stone, this one is isn’t marked on our route map but is marked on the OS maps and carries the name Lambert Lad. I read somewhere that in the past this boundary stone was used to indicate the summit of Loadpot Hill but its situated below the actual summit so I don’t know if that’s true or not. The above shot, taken from the ditch the stone is actually in, is looking northwards and the two fells in it are Bonscale Pike (L) and Arthur’s Pike (R) …..
….. now back on the path for this shot showing the boundary stone in situ but this time looking east from the path towards the North Pennines.
The ground began to rise quite sharply now but during the climb I spotted this view of a lone yacht on a section of Ullswater with a skyline view of Great Dodd, Clough Head and part of the Skiddaw group over on the left. At least we had something to look at while we got our breath back.
Even at the top of the climb we still had a bit more walking to do to reach the trig column on the summit. AW described the summit as ‘All is grass and all is flat, and more like a 30 acre field than a mountain top’.
From the summit area I managed a few shots of the surrounding fells which AW’s description of explains the truncated ‘chopped off’ views which were available. Here we have Fairfield and Cofa Pike, Hart Crag followed by Dove Crag, the two tops of Little Hart Crag with Coniston Old Man behind it.
Fairfield again on the left, followed by Saint Sunday Crag then comes the Helvellyn range with Catstye Cam over on the right …..
….. followed by Raise (L) and The Dodds. Thankfully these shots had already been taken and by that time walkers began arriving and a large crowd soon began to gather around the trig column and the grassy area close to it. We moved away from the trig column and took a short break during which J counted 21 walkers, some in pairs but the majority of them were part of a walking group and all of them chattering to, and yelling above, each other.
After our short break we packed everything away and beat a hasty retreat using the same path we had arrived on, so I was able to take a couple of shots before we heard voices again. The walking group had also decided to leave although they were some distance behind us at this point. As we reached the point at which the path splits into two separate routes again we were relieved to see them take the Roman road route as we had already planned to use the Arthur’s Pike route for our descent.
Another view of Blencathra and the northern fells as we walked along …..
….. and passed below Arthur’s Pike. We had already decided that we would leave this and Bonscale Pike and do them as a separate walk during September/October. As we walked past it I kept hoping that the sun would re-appear but it didn’t and we were well on our way down the path before it did.
We were under an extensive patch of cloud for a while as we descended but at least the Mell Fells and the northern fells managed to have sunshine land on them.
The Pooley Bridge and of Ullswater and silhouetted against the water is a male walker with his female companion/wife just in front of him who were descending via the White Knott path. A zoom in might be needed though. On reaching the end of that path they turned down the Lock Bank path, which we used on our last walk, and were probably making their way back down to Howtown.
The landscape spread out below us seemed to change with every step although I did have to wait for Heughscar Hill to get its time in the sun. I was rewarded in the end though with this lovely shot of light and shade on the fellside below us.
A summer scene around Ullswater and Pooley Bridge, the bracken is high, the water is still, the sun is shining, the clouds drift by, birds are darting hither and thither and all’s well with the world. Well, it would be but for bought and paid for politicians and their financial overlords.
Back at the stone circle another lovely view awaited us, the circle was deserted and our decision to wait had paid off. The clouds slowly drifted by and all was silent, I even managed to get the whole of the circle in the shot for the first time ever. We also had a short break here, took some liquid on board and just enjoyed the sound of silence for a minute or two. Our return route was more or less the same as our outward one with J opting to divert from the path while I kept on going to the one we’d used earlier, but both paths eventually joined together so it didn’t really matter which one was followed.
Back to where the car was parked where a group of fell ponies were grazing contentedly …..
….. and J can’t pass a group of fell ponies without stopping to say hello …..
….. so here he is with his ‘new best mate’.
Our walk comes to an end and the ponies continue grazing as they slowly walk away towards the rest of the herd. They are over by the copstone, just above the back of the second pony from the left, although they can’t be seen as they are below the copstone. We’ve enjoyed some lovely walking weather in the sunshine, with just the right amount of very light breeze to prevent overheating, J’s got a new best mate, and I’m looking forward to the short drive home and a cuppa. Best get going then and get the kettle on!