Reston Scar and Hugill Fell
Walk date – 25th September 2025
Distance – 2.5 miles
Weather – dry, sunny, warm, hardly any breeze
We had a very short walk on a very sunny morning today when we went over to Staveley to walk up to Reston Scar and Hugill Fell, two of the fells mentioned in AW’s book ‘The Outlying Fells of Lakeland’. Neither of the two fells are very high, being just 836’/255m and 908’/277m respectively, but what they lack in height they more than make up for in the extent and quality of the views to be seen from them. The fells around Kentmere and Longsleddale, the Coniston fells, Crinkle Crags and Bowfell, the Scafells and their neighbours, a few of the fells around Mardale Head plus the Howgills were all on view today and the air quality and visibility were much better today than they have been lately. A lovely walk in very pleasant weather and, even when walking at quite a slow pace, one which shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours at most. It would make an ideal family walk or perhaps one that could be tagged onto the end of a walk over the fells around the Kentmere or Staveley areas.
Route
Barley Bridge, Staveley – Reston Scar – Hugill Fell – Black Crag – Barley Bridge, Staveley
We parked in the lay-by and strolled down to the weir which the Kent river was thundering over and creating plenty of white water as it did so. Above the weir and beyond the green foliage you might be able to spot a white van also parked in the same lay-by. After viewing the weir we walked from the bridge and followed the footpath, indicated by a signpost directly opposite, which after a short distance …..
….. brought us out onto this narrow walled lane which a little further along …..
….. led to this step stile at the wall junction. The path on the other side of the stile is higher than this side which we hadn’t been expecting. Its a bit like the stile on Sergeant’s Crag, long on one side and very short on the other.
A zoom in will reveal the stile crossing at the far end, and at this end of the tree shaded and narrow path was this white gate. The white gates on the left of the shot were the entrance to the driveway of a private house.
The view we had from the white gate as we met the track coming up from Brow Lane in Staveley. The tarmac section continues into the driveway just mentioned while the track going up the hill to the right becomes stony and eventually grassy.
Up the hill we go then, no complicated navigation needed as its just a case of simply following the track.
One of the few steepish sections of the path as it rises and passes below one of the many nameless humps and bumps we came across.
This sight stopped us in our tracks quite abruptly. It doesn’t look too bad on the photo but this section was extremely wet and muddy. To make the going even trickier cattle had also been using it and churned up the track, and the ground on either side and its subsequent holes had filled with water. Well, I hope it was water! No matter where you put your feet the surrounding area immediately began to fill with liquid and, consequently, we began to sink into it. There was little option but to choose a line, take a run at it and hope for the best. Claggy boots, again!
On a less claggy section of the path further up J mentioned that we had company. I turned around expecting to see fellow walkers so you can imagine my surprise at the sight of a cow following us up the trail. As we were blocking the path it moved onto the grass beside the track and proceeded to make more deep holes in the wet ground. It was obviously making its way up to …..
….. the rest of the herd which comprised a bull, a large number of cows and several calves. They were wandering freely anywhere that took their fancy which was mostly where we wanted to be as well. Neither of us are worried by cattle as they generally just amble away when anyone approaches them. Keep dogs on a lead, don’t do anything which might alarm them and everything should be fine. The bull gazed at us in a relaxed kind of way so he seemed fairly contented and why shouldn’t he be with all those females around? If one doesn’t find his attentions to her liking there’s plenty more for him to choose from!
These two young ‘uns have just had a go at each other so J had a word and told them to pack it in, whereupon they looked at him balefully, just as kids do when one of their parents or a teacher have told them off, before ambling back to their respective mothers. We continued on up the hill …..
….. passing yet another nameless mound of grass covered rock.
Further up the hill I turned round for this shot of Kemp Tarn which looked in danger of being overgrown by the reedy grasses growing around its periphery.
A longer shot of Kemp Tarn to include a skyline view of Potter Fell and Ulgraves at the south eastern end of Brunt Knott. See our walk of 12th September 2018 for more details of that area.
Still following the trail across the grass as we pass between two more nameless humps and bumps and finally arrive at …..
….. the jumble of stones on a rocky outcrop marking the summit of Reston Scar. In the distance are the Coniston Fells …..
….. across from them are Cold Pike, Crinkle Crags, Scafell Pike, Bowfell, Esk Pike, Great End, Allen Crags and the Langdale Pikes …..
….. moving around to my right we can see Wansfell, Sour Howes and the top of Red Screes …..
….. and a little further to my right, beyond Hugill Fell across the middle of the shot, is Sallows, the sunlit craggy area rising up from Kentmere, Yoke and Rainsborrow Crag, High Street, Mardale Ill Bell and Lingmell End, Nan Bield Pass, Harter Fell and The Knowe …..
….. following on from The Knowe is Kentmere Pike and Shipman Knotts …..
….. beyond Black Crag (middle foreground) are Shipman Knotts again, then just a sliver of Branstree with Tarn Crag and Grey Crag occupying the bulk of the skyline …..
….. Sleddale Forest and Brunt Knott …..
….. and finally Potter Fell and Ulgraves on the southern end of Brunt Knott. Over to the right of them we could clearly see the tops of Fell Head, The Calf, Bram Rigg and Calders over in the Howgills. All in all and on a fine, clear day such as today, the views are well worth the minimum amount of effort required to get up to this point and take a look at them.
From Reston Scar we followed the path through a couple of copses of birch trees, this was the first of them, and then followed the path to a gate which brought us out …..
….. to this view of Hugill Fell where we followed the path to the right, soggy and often wet in places, over towards the clear path through the brown bracken on the right of the fell. If you zoom in and concentrate on the ridge line you will see that we passed more cows on the way from that path across to the summit area. More holes full of liquid awaits us then, sigh!
Up on the top of Hugill Fell with a look towards the north where we can see the houses of Kentmere below the rocky area of Crag Quarter above the village. On the skyline from L to R are Yoke and Rainsborrow Crag, High Street, Mardale Ill Bell, Nan Bield Pass, just a sliver of Harter Fell, The Knowe, Kentmere Pike and part of Shipman Knotts.
Another view of Tarn Crag and Grey Crag. I didn’t take any more photos from Hugill Fell summit as the views were more or less the same as those from Reston Scar but I thought that the above two shots were worth including as the fells shown were mostly in sunlight. Many of them weren’t always thanks to the amount of fair weather cloud which has come along. Its interesting to see the dappling effect that such cloud has but it often means that many fells are in shadow as a result.
I took a look back at the summit area as we were leaving and noticed that in the distance, just slightly to its left, was Black Combe which is almost 22 miles away.
We had noticed a couple of walkers taking a break on a hill top jut across from us when we were on Hugill Fell and met them at this point. One of them asked about Williamson’s Monument so I pointed it out. Its there on the grassy mound, currently in shadow, between us and the far end of Hugill Fell, known as High Knott. It’ll need a zoom in to establish it exactly though. She asked if it was possible to get to it so we mentioned that it was on privately owned land, so, in theory, no it isn’t possible. But, given all the gates which have been inserted in the various walls between here and there, it should be possible to get to it. After all, the place isn’t exactly buzzing with law enforcement or farmers looking out for trespassers, is it? They also asked where we had been so we mentioned that we had just come down from Hugill Fell and prior to that had been on Reston Scar. We were surprised to learn that they had just been to Reston Scar as we had seen them clearly sitting on a piece of high ground opposite Hugill Fell summit. Reston Scar is some distance below Hugill Fell and on the south side so if they had been sitting there we wouldn’t have seen them. We think that they had actually been on Black Crag without realising it, especially as we met them between Black Crag and Hugill Fell and that Black Crag is immediately opposite Hugill Fell.
We arrive at the afore-mentioned Black Crag which is a cluster of craggy cliffs covered in dying back bracken, shrubs of differing types, various types of prickly plants and grass. We went around the crag so no photos but they would have been just the same as those I have already included.
Looking back up to Black Crag together with a couple more views …..
….. a tangle of vegetation below one of the outcrops …..
….. the path from Black Crag winding its way down to Staveley …..
Below Black Crag now and soon after we followed …..
….. this residential access track up to a very ‘desres’ type of house at the top of the left hand side banking. We followed the curve of the access track and …..
….. there below us was the road between Staveley and Kentmere. When we reached it we turned right and walked the hundred yards or so back to the parking area by the weir at Barley Bridge. Well folks, that’s our walk for today and we hope that you’ve enjoyed it just as much as we have. Its a very short walk but a most enjoyable one, and probably best done on a clear and sunny day to get the most out of the views it has to offer. Everyone, from grandparents to young children will get some enjoyment from it, so choose a warm and sunny day, take a picnic, and have a leisurely stroll around these lower fells. To round it all off Staveley has the well known Wilf’s Cafe in The Mill Yard and an equally well known pub, The Eagle and Child, on Kendal Road. As for us, its back home to where those gardening jobs are still outstanding.