You can find an index to my other walks here
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| Langdale Knott |
Up early in order to be
at Andrew's by eight-thirty and set off for the north Howgills to climb
Langdale Knott which neither of us had visited before. I parked outside the Old
School in Longdale, where it appeared that the owners of the house were not in
residence.
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| Cowbound Lane |
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| Wet and sqelchy |
Cowbound
Lane proved as wet and squelchy as I feared. It was (squelch) hard work making
our way (squelch) up the steadily rising slope (squelch - our feet now wet and
cold) till we reached Langdale Beck, which flows in a small valley towards
Cotegill down to our left. There are interestingly shaped depressions in the
ground here, which we thought might be sink holes, but later when viewing them
from higher ground we changed that to old quarries for the farm buildings and
walls. The low sun, very bright at mid morning, made the place very attractive,
which on a warm day would have been ideal for a rest and a snack.
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| Dry and firm here |
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| The track continues top left of the picture |
We dropped down into the valley, turned right and walked
along a stony track until we came to where the stream 'disputes the right of
way' as AW puts it. Andrew tried his 'walking on the water' trick; it didn't work.
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| Add caption |
Shortly after this we struck up the hill and located almost by accident the old track which, leaving the squelchy ground behind, leads directly to the summit of Langdale Knott (see top photo).
The summit is marked by a few stones, placed there by
someone who must have carried them for a long way because there are no signs of
a source nearby. We tried to find a spot out of the cold west wind that had
sprung up under the darkened sky, in order to enjoy our snack, but we succeeded only in becoming really quite cold.
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| The deep and lonely valley of Langdale |
There is a wonderful view of the tremendous fells to the
south, and Andrew, better at naming them than I, pointed out the summits of Yarlside and
Kensgriff where we walked some weeks ago. (He was able to identify them easily
largely because Wainwright labels them on his page in the guide book).
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| Kensgriff and Yarlside can just be glimpsed |
I have
had to wait until this post on the blog
to discover that the fells in front of us were West Fell and Hazelgill Knott -
I think. They lead up to The Calf, the highest of the Howgills at 2220 feet.
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| Yep. I was there too. With wet feet. |
Cold and stiff after an over-long stay we set off on the
quadcycle track down towards Cotegill, with extensive panoramic views
crystal clear in the brilliant sunshine which had returned. We were
thankful that we had left the squelchy ground behind, and soon our wet feet began to feel warmer.
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| Cotegill is on the extreme right |
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| Centre: our route up by the workings mentioned earlier |
As we approached Archer Hill farm we passed
a ruin on the left which is named Diskey's House on the O.S. map.
At
Cotegill Farm we saw a slim, black foal and tried to stroke her but she was
very timid. A lady came up and succeeded where we had failed, and we had a
pleasant conversation about the area, the farming and the breeds of sheep. It
seemed likely she was born in Westmorland judging by her accent, so I ventured
to ask if Wainwright had been correct when he wrote that Bowderdale and
Ravenstonedale are pronounced locally Boother-dl and Rassendl respectively.
She thought a moment, and replied in the affirmative, proof positive
from a native resident !
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| Have a snack! |
We dropped down to the tarmac lane in the knowledge that
almost a mile of road had to be trodden before reaching the car, too late for autumn
berries that AW had been lucky to see and no doubt pick. It was a great relief
to change into dry footwear, and to sit in comfort - but a pity to leave the
soft green quietness of the fells in exchange for the hard grey noise of
the motorway.
