Maiden Moor and High Spy
Walk date – 24th June 2026
Distance – 7.5 miles
Weather – dry and sunny, very hot and humid, plenty of fair weather cloud, light breeze, very hazy
Today’s walk took us over to Little Town where we hoped that we weren’t too late to get a parking spot. We weren’t and managed to bag the last space in the parking area. A car came along a couple of minutes later the driver of which had to park on the grass verge alongside the road. Had we been held up by a delivery van or a tractor the reverse situation would have applied. We had good weather for today’s walk but it was very humid and sweat soon appeared so there were several stops for face mopping and drinks. It wasn’t the best day for walking for us as we much prefer less humid weather and all the other walkers we saw seemed to be feeling the heat just as much as we were.
Route
Chapel Bridge – Little Town – Yewthwaite Comb – Hause Gate – Trap Knotts – Maiden Moor – Narrow Moor – High Spy – Newlands Valley – Chapel Bridge
The view back along the Newlands Valley towards Hindscarth and Robinson as we reached the track going through the valley. We had parked at the small area by Chapel Bridge just below Little Town and were already feeling the heat as we gathered up our gear. Having checked that we had all that would be needed we walked up the road to the little path which led us through the bracken up to this point.
There was a fine view of Causey Pike and Scar Crags as we walked along the track towards Little Town. There was a lot of fair weather cloud and a kind of heat haze which made many of the shots taken today look rather flat and lacking definition.
We had some flat walking as we followed the track towards Yewthwaite Comb. At the junction we followed the right hand path into Yewthwaite Comb and began to climb towards the old lead mine workings. We weren’t looking forward to this section of the climb as the path becomes very rough and unstable underfoot. When we reached the top of the rough track we paused for a face mopping session, a drink and to get our breath, and our equilibrium, back!
We carried on along the now grassy track pausing briefly to take a shot of some of the old workings and then continued on up to Hause Gate.
From the flatter area at the hause a shot showing the fells across the valley. From L to R they are Wandope, Crag Hill, Sail, Scar Crags, Causey Pike and Grisedale Pike. A tiny section of Grasmoor is just about visible between Wandope and Crag Hill. Below all of them is the Ard Crags/Knott Rigg ridge
We had a short break at the hause and then followed the path going over Trap Knotts up to Maiden Moor. The above shot of Catbells was taken from somewhere along the path from one of the several ‘face mop’ stops along the way.
A misty view of Bass Lake, Barf over on the left with Binsey just about visible in the distance. Catbells is now over on the right of the shot.
Higher up the path we had a distant and hazy view of Pike O’Stickle.
A few walkers were around when we reached Bull Crag but they all looked as if they were making their way back down again. Of course they could have taken a different route over to it but we didn’t see any of them again.
From Bull Crag we followed the path across to High Spy and on the way we had some hazy views to the east of us. The shot above shows Clough Head and The Dodds and below them is Bleaberry Fell and the ridge between it and High Seat.
The view down into Borrowdale …..
….. and a very hazy view of the Helvellyn range although the top of Catstye Cam was clear to see.
Looking ahead, towards Blea Crag I think, from Narrow Moor …..
….. and a glance over to the west to show Causey Pike and Scar Crags with Grisedale Pike behind them.
Scar Crags, Sail and Crag Hill above the Ard Crags ridge. A big zoom in will show some white stripey marks going from the Scar Crags direction up the right hand side of Sail. This is the zig-zag path going up to the summit following the descent from Scar Crags. There are similar white stripes over on the left side of Sail but I don’t know what those are as we haven’t ascended Sail from that side.
Whiteless Pike, Wandope, Grasmoor, Addacomb Hole and Crag Hill.
The crags of Hindscarth come into view with Robinson behind.
Looking ahead at the path and wondering where the light breeze went.
A slightly better view of the Helvellyn range now that the cloud has lifted.
The view down towards Derwentwater with Blencathra over on the left and Clough Head and Great Dodd over on the right.
Looking back along Narrow Moor as we sweat our way up to the summit of High Spy. I took this shot while I was waiting for J to get some grit out of either his sock or his boot. His bare right foot appreciated the cool grass!
A view of the fells to the west, from Whiteless Pike over to Causey Pike, and everything in between.
Looking back along the route so far when we had another ‘face mop’. Its very warm now which even the light breeze, which came and went from time to time, couldn’t dispel.
Finally on the summit where we had a planned stop for a break and something to eat. Immediately behind the cairn were a couple of young lads, one of whom looked a bit ‘out of sorts’ with himself, and opposite them was another group, about three or four walkers, who were also taking a break.
The view from just below the cairn looking towards Greenup Edge, High Raise, Thunacar Knott and Pike O’Stickle, over on the right. A few walkers arrived, from both directions, as we took a break but none of them stayed very long.
After our break we began the descent which provided a view of some of the fells on view. L to R are Combe Door, with a tiny bit of Wetherlam behind it, Combe Head, Glaramara, the next one is rather cloudy but is probably Esk Pike which is followed by Great End.
Great End (L) and Great Gable (R). The bit in between the two will be the Scafell grouping and its too cloudy to differentiate.
Dale Head and its crags from the descent path …..
….. and another shot as we reached the path going down through the Newlands Valley.
The sky is almost clear of fair weather cloud now and the sun is directly on our backs. J has break from treading the rough path while I take a shot of Miners Crag. Its the first set of crags below the descent path and is one of a series of crags which appear below High Spy and Maiden Moor all the way along the valley.
The descent path was very trying, especially because it was so hot, as it was very rough and bouldery and we had to proceed slowly and carefully, when all we wanted to do was get back down to the valley path as quickly as we could.
Miners Crag from the track below it, and …..
….. just along from it were part of the family of crags lining our route.
We’ve reached the waterfalls in Newlands Beck at this point and a couple of folk were cooling themselves down in the pool below the waterfall. The path around the series of falls is very rough and slithery and a slip might have serious consequences so it pays to take extra care when using it.
A smaller fall lower down beside which two lady walkers were sitting, one of whom was just drying herself off with a towel. The other one was simply enjoying the sunshine.
Well down into the valley at this point and time for a look back at Dale Head, its crags and the route going across the fellside the miners used to get to the mining area. The large crag overlooking the mining area is called Great Gable although its not as well known as the other Great Gable. We used the miners route across to Dale Head on our walk of 21 June 2019 so have a look at that walk if you want to know what its like. No scrambling required and its an easy route to follow, that’s assuming you can get across Newlands Beck in the first place. We had to have a look around for a crossing point and the beck wasn’t even full at the time.
Somewhere between the last photo and this one, which shows a sheepfold beside the Newlands Beck, we couldn’t put up with the heat any longer and waited for a tributary to appear. When one appeared boots and socks came off and hot feet were plunged into the cooling water. T-shirts came next and were also thrown into it, quickly followed by our face mopping towels and then each of us throwing handfuls of water on our faces and necks. We were drenched but a lot cooler. After we had cooled down sufficiently, and with no towel to dry off with, wet feet went back into socks and boots, wet t-shirts were put back on, wet face mopping towels went around our necks and we filled up an empty plastic bottle with the beck water just in case we needed to splash ourselves with cool water again.
The wet clothing kept us relatively cool for the rest of the walk back down the valley and when the Rowling End, Causey Pike and Scar Crags skyline appeared we knew were nearing the end of our walk.
As we reached the shortcut path through the bracken leading down to the Chapel Bridge road I took a look back at the guardians of the Newlands Valley, Dale Head, Hindscarth and Robinson, all looking splendid in the afternoon sunshine. A farmer was busy with his tractor and baler (in the pale yellowish field in the shot) gathering the cut grass into the old style rectangular bales of hay, which looked much better than those rolled up ones, wrapped in black plastic sheeting, which are usually seen around this time of year. We had been hearing the sound of the tractor/baler as we walked along and, given the current attack on farming, couldn’t help but wonder how farming would look in the future.