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The Hungry Horses of Heughscar Hill
Wednesday 12th November
After numerous communications and the late
withdrawal of our
illustrious leader [Don’t recognise either word!
Just common or garden
convener- Ed] due to a gob prob, Messrs Keith, Mick, Stan and I, along with
Luna the Golden Retriever, sallied forth to conquer the north east face of
Heughscar Hill.
We parked at the copious car park in Askham, next to the
beautifully maintained outdoor, heated swimming pool. We went past Keith’s
son’s home and acquired another dog, a Welsh Collie called Roxy. Once the metal
road ended we let the dogs off their leads. They obviously had rocket propelled
boosters with springs attached to their limbs, because they galloped at an
inordinate speed ahead of us, then behind, then to the left and right. Heaven
knows how many miles a young dog covers on a walk and their average speed?! [Suggest
putting a gpx tracker on them – Ed] Except when required to be on the lead,
they kept up this performance throughout.
The climb is steady and we reached the summit where Ullswater
reached north ahead of us. Blencathra was clearly visible along with the closer
hills of Little Mell, Great Mell and Gowbarrow.
We were then joined by a group
of Fell Ponies who probably thought people on said summit were a source of
sugary treats. [More likely checking to see if Stan had an apple for them this
time, see BB0807
! Ed]
We descended to The Cockpit, a stone circle which has a
surprisingly wide diameter. There were lots of walkers on the fells and I
wondered where they had all walked from.
When we approached the lane from Helton, where many cars were parked, I
realised. Helton was the next goal and after traversing some old field systems
and a lane, we encountered a field of Long Horn Cattle. We thought such large
beasts, four walkers and two dogs wouldn’t mix, so short a detour to the road
was taken.
In Helton we walked to the sloping village green and utilised
the picnic table and bench to consume our lunch, which provided views across
the River Lowther to the Lowther Estate. We then descended along another old
lane, to the foot bridge over the very full river, which warned us of more Long
Horn Cattle and the chance of a Water Buffalo! Neither were encountered, nor
were Beavers who have been released into the water system south of us.
The route then took us to Whale Farm where Long Horn Cattle were
present but thankfully corralled into a yard.
We then followed the river, on its
wooded east bank, north, back to Askham, whence we climbed the hill to The
Punch Bowl where refreshments, some of an alcoholic nature, were imbibed. The
publican also provided bowls of water for the pooches, as well as dog biscuits.
T’was then only a short stroll to the car.
TV
Mike, Wednesday 13th November 2025
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