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The Fellwalker by Peter John Farnworth
WALK 45 SATURDAY MARCH 23rd 1991This walk took us to three very quiet summits. We saw only one fell walker all day, and that was first thing in the morning. This in itself says enough. The three summits in question are Grey Crag, Tarn Crag, and Branstree, which are at the head of the valley of Longsleddale, which comes off the busy main road between Kendal and Penrith (A66.) A lane runs down the valley for about three miles, very narrow in places. We stayed the night at the YHA Hostel so we could get an early start in the morning.
We left the main road (A66) to drive up the valley to a place called Sadgill, where the lane stops near a farm (park up the lane, go past the farm you will be on safe ground in more ways than one.) After leaving the car we headed up the fell side (no path) towards Great How. From this vantage point there were good views of Longsleddale. As we walked father up the fell side, we came across a concrete column, which I later found out was an old survey post used in the construction of an Aqueduct which runs under the valley. There is another survey post at Tarn Crag. These two line up with Haweswater, which supplies water to Manchester and all areas South. Still climbing up this steep fell side, we came across a wire fence as the ground levelled off, which made walking that much better as we reached the summit of Grey Crag. The view from here was limited to the East, as on the West side part of the Kentmere Horseshoe was obstructing our view. Looking Southwest, we could see Morecambe Bay and the open sea. From here, we followed the wire fence again for about three-quarters of a mile, then we left the fence and walked some thirty or more yards away, where the summit of Tarn Crag was found. I mention the wire fence as this is well to know if the mist were to come down. You can always tell a quiet place when you see no footpaths at all, which we did not see from the time we started the walk. From this summit, we had good views over to Kentmere Pike and High Street. When leaving this summit we returned to the fence. As we dropped down in altitude, we then followed a stone wall, one of the best dry stone walls I have seen in the Lake District. In my opinion, a credit to the person who built it. From this point it got very steep to the summit of Branstree. It was a pity about the summit cairn, it consisted of only four stones and one fence post. If you ever come to this summit walk in a North by Northeast direction and you will find one of the best cairns you could wish to see, called Artle Crag Pike. If this cairn had been built as a summit cairn, it would have been in my top three in the Lake District. Why it was constructed here, I do not know (maybe someone will tell me one day.) We returned back to the summit of Branstree and from here walked over towards the edge of the fell. Standing here, we saw some wonderful views over to the High Street, with the ridge of Long Stile leaving the summit and linking up with Haweswater. In the distance we could see the Scafells, with Mickledore linking them together. This was a fine sight to see, as the sun was sending a shaft of light onto them. From here, we again picked up a wire fence which leads down to the Quarry road, from where it was easy walking down a stone covered path. On our way, we passed high crags which are called Buckbarrow Crag, a very good place for rock climbers to strut their stuff. Mountains walked that day: Grey Crag 118 Tarn Crag 104 Branstree 81 [[]] Diagram & Stats
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