Loadpot Hill via Cawdale
Walk date – 13th October 2025
Distance – 5.5 miles
Weather – sunny at first, total cloud cover later, mild, no wind
Please note the following information which we recently received regarding road closures in January 2026 –
The M6 will be closed between Junction 39 (Shap) and Junction 40 (Penrith) in both directions from:
Evening of Friday 2nd January 2026 to morning of Monday 5th January 2026
Evening of Friday 9th January 2026 to morning of Monday 12th January 2026
This is to safely demolish the old Clifton railway bridge and replace it and diversion signs will be in place. These closures will also affect the A6 at Clifton since that road goes over the bridge and local diversions will also be in place. The information leaflet also mentions providing residents with permits to access local roads although no information is given regarding how residents can obtain such a permit.
Back to today’s walk report.
We decided to take a walk up to Loadpot Hill to see if any inversions were taking place in the valleys below it, especially as presently we seem to have the right weather conditions for them to occur. Sunday was supposed to be a ‘glorious’ day for being out on the fells but the fog/cloud didn’t lift all day and when we drove into Penrith around lunchtime on Sunday afternoon we could see no sign of the North Pennines or any of the fells to the west of the A6 or A66 which, on any other day, are usually visible, so the cloud base was very low. Walkers would have had to be on a very high fell to be able to see any sight of an inversion on Sunday. We had a sunny start to our walk today but the skies eventually clouded over and as a result I didn’t take many photos.
Route
Moorahill Farm (Bampton) – Carhullan – Cawdale – off path climb from Cawdale – Loadpot Hill – Cawdale Edge – Carhullan – Moorahill Farm (Bampton)
Approaching the holiday rental cottages at Carhullan where we can see a parked car in front of the white house on the left. Its a bright sunny morning with no sign of fog anywhere ahead of us. The hillside behind the cottages is part of The Pen, one of the many routes up to Loadpot Hill.
When we reached the cottage where the car was parked we could see that the people who had rented it over the weekend were just packing their bags into the boot so we stopped to have a chat with them. They were three ladies from Walsall in the West Midlands who had rented the cottage for three nights over the weekend so we asked them if they had enjoyed their stay to which they replied that they had. They asked us if we lived locally and with our reply being in the affirmative they said how lucky we were to live in such a beautiful, peaceful place. We eventually wished them a safe and trouble free journey home and carried on with our walk. The above shot shows Cawdale beck meandering along the valley bottom and in the distance the fog hanging over the Eden Valley.
On the other side of Cawdale beck is The Hause, and its familiar plantation of conifers, it eventually rises up to Low Kop which is part of Bampton Common overlooking Haweswater.
Looking towards the head of the valley where a stand of conifers is situated. That will be the point where we will leave the Cawdale valley and begin the steep climb out of it through the dead bracken.
Another shot looking along the valley when we stopped to remove our jackets, it became very warm through here and with a steep climb coming up we decided to remove them now rather than later.
Cawdale beck making its way down the valley and …..
….. further along, on the opposite bank, was this large and derelict sheepfold/washfold which has probably never been used for a good number of years now.
Plenty of water was falling over the various obstacles in its path as the beck made its way downstream. This was a mini waterfall and …..
….. this was a series of mini cascades. By this time the banks of the beck were becoming steeper and it was time for us to leave the beck and begin our climb out of the valley. There is no path to follow so we just made our way through the bracken die-back as best we could. Naturally enough, progress slowed considerably during the climb out.
A glimpse of the spoil heaps beside Sealhole Grain below Low Kop from the climb out of the valley. On the upper spoil heap is a glimpse of one of the former buildings and there seemed to be several pathways so perhaps this is an area worth a visit in future.
Looking back along Cawdale from the climb out. Above the fog in the Eden Valley at the far end of the shot are the low hills between Hackthorpe and Clifton. Behind them we should be able to see the Northern Pennines but there’s too much cloud around them today.
We reach the grassy area beyond the tree plantation and the dead bracken where there’s a partial view of the former slate mine, its spoil heaps and what remains of the old mine buildings. We can see a few paths around it and it looks to be worth a future exploration.
We used a variety of sheep trods and quad bike tracks for the remainder of the walk up to the top of Loadpot and it was on one such trail that I spotted this, one half of a pair of antlers which probably once belonged to a young red deer. It was an interesting find and one that I had not come across before. The other half of the set was nowhere to be seen.
Eventually the trig column on Loadpot Hill came into view. Notice how clear it is around the trig point yet in the distance barely anything could be seen. We had also noticed that Wether Hill, which is just a little lower than Loadpot, was covered in cloud. Why Loadpot Hill generally seems to escape cloud, fog and inversions is puzzling. Anyway, it was very pleasant up here so we decided to have a coffee break and something to eat before deciding on our return route. A couple of walkers had reached the trig column before us but didn’t stay long before they turned around and went back using the same path they had arrived on. While we were having our break we were joined by another couple who exchanged greetings with us and who also decided to take a short break up here. They didn’t stay very long either and soon headed off towards Wether Hill.
After our coffee break I decided to go over and take a look down at the valleys below us. This shot looking towards the Bannerdale side of The Nab revealed only its steep nose, its summit, and those of the rest of the surrounding fells were hidden by the low cloud.
As I walked over to the rocky outcrop on the right a huge cloud came rising up from the valley below so it looked like an inversion had occurred but was now in the process of breaking up.
From the rock outcrop I took this shot looking down into Boredale where the cloud was lifting and the nearby summits becoming clearer. Even The Nab’s summit only had a few wispy bits hanging around it.
Looking in the direction of Rampsgill Head where some lighter sky is just appearing. On the left of the shot is Wether Hill and the drop down between it and Gowk Hill.
Immediately below us is the view down to Steel Knotts, behind that is Beda Fell with Place Fell behind it.
There was still quite a lot of mist drifting around but we did manage a glimpse of Ullswater between Sleet Fell (L) and Hallin Fell (R).
We even managed a partial view of Gowbarrow beyond Hallin Fell as the inversion remnants persisted in hanging around.
Behind us another big lump of cloud inversion was rising up from Ullswater. The sheep were more interested in what I was doing though.
We returned to the trig column and decided that we would return via the Cawdale Edge path rather than risk being caught in the cloud on Wether Hill. We had put jumpers and jackets back on while we had our coffee break and kept them on as we made our way back down the quad bike track. As can be seen in the above photo. what had been quite clear on our outward leg had somehow become quite foggy and a little cooler. However the tree plantation on the Cawdale side of The Hause always signals that you are on the right track for Carhullan.
Very little by way of long distance views now as we descend via Cawdale Edge.
The lack of views didn’t perturb this group of fell ponies as they made their way across the moorland. They were only interested in finding some delicious grass to eat as they plodded along.
There’s the stand of conifers near to which we began our steep climb out of Cawdale. Over on the right of it is the beck called Atkinson’s Grain and to the left of it is Sealhole Grain where the former slate mine is. Grain is another word for a beck/stream.
Things turn slightly brighter as we get lower but the sky is still overcast. The descent across the Cawdale Edge path has a few junctions and if you keep bearing right at each junction …..
….. the rooftops of the holiday rentals at Carhullan will eventually appear, as do the rooftops of Moorahill Farm just beyond Carhullan.
Back at Carhullan where we saw the three ladies preparing to leave when we started our walk …..
….. and as we went through the gate after saying our goodbyes to the three ladies, we also noticed a couple of workmen busy repairing the wall just off to the right as we passed them . A brief glance at the wall as we approached the gate told us that they had repaired it and they were now sitting in the red van, over on the left, and chatting to a man. He wasn’t a walker so he was probably discussing the wall repair with them. He passed us in his car as we were stowing packs and walking poles away in our car.
Back at Moorahill Farm now where our car is parked just out of shot on the grass across the road from the new greenhouse which has appeared since our last visit up here on 9th August 2023. On that occasion I read that the owners had submitted a planning application and on this occasion I noted that planning permission had been granted on 30th July 2025. The original planning application had been slightly changed hence the delay while the slight changes were considered. Anyway the new owners have managed to get the greenhouse installed and there are the beginnings of scaffolding going up around various buildings so work should be under way before much longer. Moorahill Farm is a listed building so we’ll have to wait and see how it all turns out. I should mention that the outward route we took today is not suitable for a family walk as there is a steep and bracken clad climb out of the valley and no established paths. Although the route across The Pen follows a good track it may not be suitable for young children unless they are particularly fond of long uphill walks across featureless grass and moorland.