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The Fellwalker by Peter John Farnworth
WALK 6 SAT - SUN APRIL 20th - 21st 1975One day at my place of employment, I was discussing my fell-walking activity with an old friend of mine, Mr Robert Chetham, who, like me, enjoyed the great outdoors. We arranged to take a trip to the lake District on this date, and here is the full account of that same trip. I could write a full book about this trip to the fells. The weather on the first day was rather dull and overcast as we headed towards EasedaleTarn. From here we could see our next objective, Belles Knott (when you see it, you will know why its called this). As we passed this point we followed the path, which led us to this quiet place surrounded by high ground all round, called Codale Tarn (I suspect not too many fell-walkers come here). When standing here, you wonder how to get to the next summit, which is called Sergeant Man. If you walk back some twenty or thirty yards away from the Tarn, and look up the fell-side as you face it, you will see a grass shelf which runs from right to left at an angle of 45° across the fell-side. If followed, it will lead to the summit of Sergeant Man. This we did. From this summit we followed the rim of this high plateau to High Raise and from here we crossed over open ground, with no landmarks as such for about one and half miles at a direction of N-N-W, which brought us to Sergeant Crag. This could be a dangerous place if the mist came down. From here, we followed the stone-wall which runs across the fell and ends near to the summit of Eagle Crag (care should be taken on the decent down to the valley floor; its abound with crags and boulders), which then leads to Stonethwaite-in-Borrowdale.
After the long walk to get here, it was an early night to see what tomorrow would bring for the return journey. Maybe, if I had known what to expect, I would have followed another route. But with hindsight that’s another thing. SUNDAY 9.00pm We woke early and had a hearty breakfast, ready for our long walk back by another route. This was to be our longest day on the fells. We headed back towards Grasmere, where I had parked the car the day before. We left at 9.00am and it was 6.00pm when we arrived back in the evening. The weather was good until we arrived at Dock Tarn. That’s when things started to go very wrong for us. The mist came down, the wind started to blow and the rain was being driven into us. I haven’t seen anything like it in my life. The wind was so fierce, the rain was coming at us horizontally (hand on heart) when going over Coldbarrow Fell to Ullscarf. By this time we were well and truly wet, and feeling a little bit low. It was so bad, we nearly got out our waterproof bags which we always carry in our rucksacks in case of emergency. My sleeping bag is nothing special, being about six-foot long by two foot wide - just the thing to jump into if conditions are bad, as they were then. To weather the storm out which was raging around us, and to leave getting down until the following morning, I thought at the time that as we had come this far we must carry on. I knew we were quite close to the summit of Ullscarf, from the length of time we had been walking from Dock Tarn to the present time, but with the mist well down and visibility as it was, there would be no way of seeing the summit. I also remembered (from a book I had read about this area) that there was an old County Boundary fence (which many years ago divided Cumberland and Westmoreland - today its all called Cumbria), which runs across this fell. So we carried on walking in these very bad conditions and, to our great relief, we came across this line of fence posts. Seeing them, it put a spring in our step. As we stood there, I reflected about one very important principle, which was that I had done my homework at home before we started this walk and had read all about what to look out for. As in this case, this also applies in the other walks that we have undertaken. If you have ever been in a situation similar to what we went through, you will understand how we were really feeling throughout this walk. By following these posts in turn they would lead us down to Greenburn Bottom, and down to Grasmere. As we started our decent, the little trickle of water which was running down the fell-side, had meet up with the other trickles of water, so as to make a fast flowing stream to our right as we descended. When we were a quarter of the way down, we had to cross over to the other side of the stream to put us on the right path and also dry land, as at this point it was getting a little wet underfoot. But there was no way for us to cross over as the stream was very fast flowing here and was about eight to nine foot wide by now. So we had to stay on this side and make our way down the best way we could. So for the next three-quarters of a mile we had to walk through a swamp, for want of a better word. The water came up and over our boots and half way up our legs. By this time I was past caring. I don’t know at the time what Bob was thinking, but he was very quiet. And like me, all he wanted was to get down and have a nice hot shower, a change of clothes, and a big pint mug of tea. Hence, that was my longest day. I can still remember today, all those years back, what we went through. And when I see Bob we still talk about the walk as though it was only yesterday. That’s how well we remember. As in life, you have good days and bad days. This was definitely one of those bad days, as you can see from my table-chart at the time from the previous day, but none for this day. This speaks for itself. NOTE: I learnt so many things that day. And maybe, if you are not an experienced fell walker, you too could learn something from my write-up. I also found when walking in these conditions, you have got to have the right type of waterproofs. And most of all, keep a level head when things are not going right for you. I also think a big part of luck helped us off the fells that day. Let’s turn the clock back to that dreadful day in 1975… If you can, try to imagine the scene up there on the high ground, in those awful conditions, with the mist and rain falling and the wind howling around our ears. We were both trying to find our way by studying the Ordnance Survey map, and trying to select the right route to follow with the compass, and still doubting that we where going in the right direction even though the compass was saying "follow me, I don’t lie". But with nature letting loose at you, doubts set in your mind and you start to disbelieve the way you should be going. And that’s what I mean when I say keep a level head. By this time we had lost the path, and were on open fell with no landmarks to give us a direction. But the main thing was, we had a compass and map. Even with my basic knowledge of map reading, by setting the map up to North, we at least knew where we were and which way to head toward Grasmere. That was the important thing. Mistakes can happen so easily in these conditions, so as they say, if you stop and take one step back, you will see where you are going wrong and, hopefully, by making the right decision, this will lead you off the high ground and down safely. Then it will not happen to you, like it nearly did to us. Mountains walked that day: Saturday Sergeant Man 69 High Raise 57 Sergeant Crag 139 Eagle Crag 174 [ ] Sunday With conditions as bad as they were, the summit of Ullscarf was not visited that day, only passed over. Mark and I revisited this summit at a later date to add to the count. Diagram & Stats
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