Swindale on a sunny afternoon
Walk date – 17th April 2025
Distance – 6.1 miles
Weather – dry and sunny with fair weather cloud, cool southwesterly breeze,
This morning we did all the grocery shopping to get it over and done with before the Easter weekend is upon us which starts tomorrow with Good Friday, and continues through Bank Holiday Monday. Neither of us enjoys grocery shopping and we especially don’t enjoy trundling our way around crowded supermarkets and shops so we wanted to get it over and done with before the rush started. By the time we were back home, unpacked everything and filled the cupboards, ‘fridge and freezer and had a cup of coffee to regain some of our equilibrium the morning was almost over. The weather had slowly improved during the morning breaking up from grey and overcast into white clouds and ever larger patches of blue sky. We decided to take a local walk and while away the afternoon by taking a saunter over the lower fells on Swindale Common. Its a walk we’ve done many times in the past, recorded and unrecorded, and is one we have often used when the cloud base is low. This can be quite a wet walk underfoot but as we have just had a couple of dry weather weeks we thought the ground would be firm enough despite the heavy rain which fell during the night. By and large the ground was firm underfoot although some puddles remained here and there after last night’s rain. The only time we really noticed the cool breeze was on the top of Hare Shaw where it was chilly enough to raise goose bumps on bare arms. During the majority of the walk we were in the lee of the many undulations covering the Common and on the return leg we had our backs to it anyway.
Route
Rosgill Moor – Scalebarrow Knott – Harper Hills – Hare Shaw – Powley’s Hill – Harper Hills – Rosgill Moor
We parked without difficulty on the hard standing at the top of the road leading down into Swindale Foot. A couple of cars were already parked there but one of them had left by the time we looked back after just starting out on the path in the above photo. We could see the owner putting things into the car boot and after that we didn’t see another soul during the rest of our walk. The above shot shows the path snaking across Rosgill Moor towards Scalebarrow Knott on the left side of the wall. There was quite a chilly breeze blowing along here so our jacket hoods went on. The lead photo, above the title of today’s walk, was taken from the parking area.
From the path the view down to Swindale Foot where three vehicles were parked, the sunlight glinting off their windows every now and again as the clouds rolled by.
Looking back at the path we’ve just walked from the parking area, from the cairn just below the summit of Scalebarrow Knott. A few puddles here and there along the way but it was dry underfoot for most of the way along.
From the top of Scalebarrow Knott a view along the route we will take across the path over on the left of the shot. The high fells around Haweswater are beginning to appear while closest to us, over to the right is the brown scrubby area known as Naddle Forest. The high point of Naddle Forest is Hugh’s Laithes Pike.
Below us is a brown reedy area that used to be Scalebarrow Tarn. It did once contain water but over the years we have watched it gradually turn from a water filled tarn into a marshy hollow overgrown with reeds.
From Scalebarrow Knott down we go and head for the hills, Harper Hills to be precise about it which is the area immediately ahead on this side of the wall.
Looking back down the quad bike trail as we made our way up Harper Hills with the North Pennines in the distance. They were covered in cloud this morning when we drove over to Penrith to do the shopping so the weather has changed considerably since then.
From the top of one undulation a look ahead at the next, the summit of Harper Hills. The quad bike track leads over to the left but we kept to the old stony path which keeps company with the wall.
Moving the camera a little to my right brings Kidsty Pike, with Rampsgill Head just behind it, and Whelter Crags into view. Halfway up the old stony path we stopped and had to remove both our jackets and jumpers as we were both becoming very hot in the warm sunshine. Not only was the sunshine very warm but the hillside was sheltered from the breeze.
Looking across Naddle Forest towards Hugh’s Laithes Pike as we continue up to the top of Harper Hills …..
….. and another look over to Hugh’s Laithes Pike when we reached the top.
Also from the top is this view of the Mardale skyline – from L to R are Mardale Ill Bell, High Street and its Rough Crag/Long Crag ridge, Kidsty Pike with Rampsgill Head just peeping up behind it, and High Raise above Whelter Crags.
The summit cairn on Harper Hills looking towards the fells on the eastern side of Swindale.
From the top we dropped back down to the wall/fence line for a view of the small reservoir which is part of the Swindale aqueduct. The water level in the reservoir is quite low at present as can be seen if it is compared with the shot I took on our walk of 15th April 2020. There is also a little more information about the reservoir on that walk. Its just five years, almost to the day, since we took that walk during the non-existent and entirely man made ‘crisis’.
Moving on from Harper Hills we had a skyline view of Powley’s Hill and Hare Shaw.
J taking to the grass to avoid the wet bits as we pick up the old path again.
Lovely skies above us and the North Pennines as I looked back along our route so far.
The path went around this area of rock slabs and it was so waterlogged I think we would have been better off just clambering over the slabs, at least they were dry and not full of puddles.
Beyond the rock slabs and out of the wet now so I took a look back towards Harper Hills and Scalebarrow Knott. The wall is still with us but a little further on it began to change direction and veer across to Naddle Forest. That was our signal that it was time to …..
….. turn upwards and begin the climb over Woodhowe Moss and on to Hare Shaw. Rough ground is hard going so ankles and backs began complaining about the rough treatment they were being subjected to.
These fenced off squares are supposed to be protecting rare plants but the area on the inside didn’t look any different to what was growing outside them. The same applied to all the others which were dotted around.
On a chilly and quite breezy Hare Shaw now with a view of Selside Pike and Branstree to begin with …..
….. followed by Harter Fell, the col at the head of the Nan Bield Pass, and Mardale Ill Bell …..
….. Mardale Ill Bell again, High Street and Kidsty Pike …..
….. Kidsty Pike, with Rampsgill Head just behind, High Raise and Low Raise.
.We dropped down just a few paces to get out of the breeze and have a coffee break from where we could see the cliffs of Measand End behind which is the Low Kop to High Kop ridge and beyond that are Loadpot Hill and Wether Hill.
Looking eastward we had a view of Gouther Crags and Outlaw Crags on the opposite side of Swindale. Beyond them is the High Point of Seat Robert on the fells around Wet Sleddale. To the left of Seat Robert is Wild Boar Fell and to its right are The Howgills the most prominent of which is Yarlside.
After our coffee break I went back up to the top for this shot of the summit cairn which I had forgotten to take earlier.
After that we made our way across Hare Shaw to begin our descent. The shot shows some of the rock pinnacles on Hare Shaw. A large cloud drifted over the sun and plunged us into a prolonged and rather chilly spell.
The cloud eventually drifted away and as we were back in the sun I took a look back towards Hare Shaw. A zoom in will be needed but over on the left is what looks like a line of fence posts. They are not fence posts but what remains of a long forgotten bout of optimistic tree planting. You know the kind of thing, a sapling is planted, then attached to a wooden pole with the sapling and pole being protected by a cylindrical mesh of metal. The few poles which remained upright held no sign of a sapling attached to them and only the metal rusted cylinder remained. The rest of the poles had fallen over together with their protective rusted cylinders with not a sapling to be seen anywhere. Only one plant had managed to survive, a small holly sapling with bright green shiny leaves about two feet tall, and even that had only survived having been lucky enough to have been planted in a hollow and out of the prevailing wind. As we descended we kept seeing similar plantings showing much the same result. Most trees will not grow in windswept situations and acidic soil. Nothing gained but a waste of time, money and effort.
With me still fuming about ineffective tree planting we continued our descent and eventually the area of rock slabs below which we had passed earlier came back into view.
J making his way over to Powley’s Hill where we saw more failed tree planting.
A view of Gouther Crags and Outlaw Crags across Swindale with Seat Robert on the skyline behind them. No cairn or even a single stone marks the top of Powley’s Hill.
We began the descent of Powley’s Hill towards an area known as Mere Syke. This is another marshy section so once we reach it we will move across to the rock slabs down there on the right where there is a path leading around the edge of the marsh.
The marshy area having been successfully negotiated we continue down Powley’s Hill to the fence line where there is a gate leading to the path. We simply climbed over the lowish fence without bothering to go down to the gate and the very wet area around it.
We took to the quad bike track again and made our way back over to Harper Hills.
There are quad bike tracks all over Swindale Common, usually made by farmers as they scour the hills checking their sheep. We didn’t see any sheep today though, they will have been brought down to the lower fields now that we are in peak lambing season. We have had ewes and their new lambs in our local fields for about two weeks now.
As we followed the track around a low hill I took a look back towards Harper Hills and the trail up to it that we had followed at the beginning of our walk.
A lovely view of blue skies, white clouds and grass steadily growing greener as we walk towards Scalebarrow Knott. We didn’t climb it again but followed the track around it which eventually led us back to …..
….. the track over Rosgill Moor and back to the car which is over on the left of the shot. The sun occasionally glints on the windscreens of the traffic on the distant M6 (over on the right behind the white painted house) but there is no traffic noise, the yellow flowers on the gorse bushes are glowing brightly in the sunlight and the grass is greening up very nicely. There is no-one around and the only sound we hear is the crunch of our boots on the gravelly path as we walk along. As we drove home we passed fields full of lambs, some having a nap in the warm sunshine, some chasing each other around the fields and others simply jumping up and down for the sheer fun of it. It was a very nice way to end our walk today and even nicer will be the cup of Rosie Lee that we’ll have when we get home. Well folks, that’s it until next week as we won’t be going out on the fells again until the Easter Bank Holiday weekend is over. Neither of us enjoy busy places and crowded fells so we plan to spend the holiday weekend quietly at home. If the weather co-operates we might even get some gardening done.