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BB1327
: Beyond The Calf
Wednesday
14th August 2013
Four
Kirks and a Pulpit. That
was to be the title of today’s outing. Expecting
heavy cloud cover on the fells, I had planned a low
level route around the Lune, taking in four of the area's
small churches plus Fox’s Pulpit. However, the
day proved better than expected and the cloud on the
top of the Howgills was slowly lifting. A more
adventurous plan was needed.
Approaching
the Howgills
Even
so, we
still parked at the first kirk, Holy Trinity,
founded 1685, in the
strung-out hamlet of Howgill. A feature of this
lovely little church are the ancient exhortation
boards. I don’t what they are really called but
that seems a fair name for them.
Thou shall do no manner of work
Sounds
good to me!
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Holy
Trinity, Howgill
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Interior
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Close by, is one
of the old red telephone boxes, founded much later and, surprise,
has not been unfounded. It has not been converted to a library or a greenhouse;
it remains a working phone box as John was able to prove.
The
revised plan kicked off with a fairly steep climb up
Arant How, following which was a seemingly more gentle
approach to Calders and The Calf.
The
distant Calf from Arant How
Normally, like
most Howgillers, on
reaching The Calf (the highest point of the Howgills)
we have either returned to Sedburgh or headed east to
Cautley. Today we decided to do something never
before attempted on a BOOTboys
outing:- to continue north over White Fell Head and Busk
Howe, a pleasant grassy sort of ridge with surrounded
by the many folds and drops of these fells.
Looking
back to The Calf
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I
was slightly taken aback by the size of the descent
to the col before climbing up to Breaks Head.
From
there, it was an easy stroll to Fell Head where we found
a solitary individual having his lunch. He was
a Sedburghian and this was his favourite part of the
Howgills.
You can understand why. Much less
frequented than the southern part but with views
over the strangely arranged valleys and hills to the
north and east plus a great vantage point for the western
vista.
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The
folds above Longrigg Beck
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Unfortunately the air quality was not terribly
good so distance views were not as sharp as they might
have been but, excepting a couple of intensely pesky
wasps, you could appreciate his reasoning. Had
it not been for those wasps we might have joined him there
for lunch but instead we pressed on to the lower cairn
and a wasp-free venue.
The
M6 from Fell Head
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Thereafter,
it should have been an easy descent to the bridle path and road that
led back to the car.
However, progress was made
substantially more difficult by John plying me with logic puzzles.
I suspect
that once upon a time I could have solved at least
some of them without
too much difficulty.
Today, my half-addled brain was
struggling so it was a relief to arrive back at the car where the examination
ended.
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Comitibus
: Howgill
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Looking
back to Brown Moor and Fell Head
On
the return to John’s house, we passed the no
longer active, tiny church of St Gregory, the second of
the four kirks planned for a bad weather day. As he (John,
not Gregory) had
never previously found it open, we popped in to see
the fine stained glass windows.
The
Howgills, with their a deep valleys,
gentle noses and mostly shortish tufty grass, coupled
with the absence of walls and fences, make an
excellent walking area.
And venturing beyond The Calf proved that the
north-western side is just as pleasant as the southern
and all the better for being less frequented. There
remains a lot more beyond The Calf that we have never
visited. One day we must put that right.
Don,
Wednesday
14th August 2013
| STATISTICS:
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BB1327
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| Date:
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Wednesday
14th August 2013
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| Distance
in miles:
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9.2
(Anquet / Harvey's)
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| Height
climbed in feet:
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2,670
(Anquet / Harvey's)
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| Wainwrights:
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-
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| Other
Features:
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Arant
How, Calders, The Calf, White Fell Head,
Busk Howe, Breaks Head, Fell Head
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| Comitibus:
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Don, John Hn
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