Skew Gill to Lingmell - Photo Gallery
It was warm and dry when I got to Wasdale, warm enough to leave my jacket in the car but the clouds were just thick enough to stop the sun from making it really hot. I parked at Brackenclose and walked through the camp site to pick up the path beside the river of dry stones known as Lingmell Beck. I kept on the right hand side of the beck until I reached a footbridge; after crossing the bridge I kept going in the same direction over grass and soon came to a gate giving access to the road. I turned right along the road for a short distance and then right on a track by the side of a wall to Lingmell House where the track becomes enclosed by wall and fence all the way to Burnthwaite Farm.
Once you get past the farm the track becomes greener and rougher until you reach the bridge across Gable Beck; after that there is a path that stays close to Lingmell Beck if you don't turn off to Gavel Neese or Styhead a little further on. Almost a mile after the bridge you reach the junction of Spouthead Gill and Piers Gill; when the weather is as dry as it is at the moment you can ford the beck and walk up a small green ridge between the two gills. When there is more water in the beck you have to walk upstream until you can find a place where it is narrower and less ferocious; the trickle of water and calm pools are not the true nature of this mountain stream.
The path here is the valley route to Styhead, by far the better alternative if you are heading that way. Piers Gill goes off to the right, if you follow its obvious course you will find a clear path to take you to the Corridor Route. I carried on along the path for a short while until directly above me was the rock face of Stand Crag; I had no intention of climbing the crag but I thought I could find a way around it. I started walking up the plain grassy slope aiming for the right hand side of the crag and found a faint path trodden into the grass. There is a point where the ground becomes steeper and rougher but the path becomes more obvious; this is the best place to admire Piers Gill.
The going became very rocky and eroded; I could see the Corridor Route path winding upwards towards Lingmell Col but I decided that I would get to the top of Stand Crag first having got this far. There was a fine rocky scramble up to a cairn but as I was congratulating myself for finding this rarely visited spot I was surprised to see another walker come past me. I had actually reached the Corridor Route but I hadn't recognised the rocky scramble although I have been there several times. I walked along the busy path in the direction of Styhead until I reached Skew Gill, another waterless stream.
Every time I start to climb Skew Gill I feel a mixture of anticipation and apprehension, I have been here several times but it is still as fascinating and exhilarating as the first time. The initial climb isn't too steep, stepping from boulder to boulder making sure you don't stand on one that moves. It isn't too long though before the walls close in and the gill flows over the rocks, it isn't always just a trickle of water. The going gets rougher and tougher, there is rock to clamber over as well as more boulders and then you reach the first real obstacle. Skew Gill is a large gully that becomes a very narrow channel in places where the rock hasn't eroded; the stream flows over steep bare rock and there is only one way up.
The first waterfall obstacle is actually the only one where you have the alternative of bypassing the wet rock on a precarious grassy path on the left above the mini gorge. The middle section of Skew Gill is noticeably narrower and the walls are steep, high and eroded; the climbing is relatively straightforward. The second waterfall obstacle does not have any bypass; you have to climb up the rock by the side of the stream. There is no obvious way up and even when you find a hold on the rock wall it sometimes comes away in your hand. Each time I have to work out where the foot and hand holds are, these days I usually manage without having to resort to using knees and elbows; how did I manage last time when there was much more water flowing over me?
From that point on there is a continuous series of smaller cascades to climb up, it is too interesting to think about how strenuous it might be. I have never seen anyone else in Skew Gill but today I found a couple of supermarket bags and a deflated party balloon, I hope they were blown up from down below, I can't believe anybody brought them and left them here. Suddenly the gully opens up, it isn't quite as steep and there are even sheep grazing. The rocky ground though isn't easy, the surface is rough enough for boots to grip but there is water flowing over it so there is always the danger of slipping and there isn't much to hold on to.
Then I realised why I had the feelings of apprehension, the top waterfall obstacle looks quite impossible and the first step up is a problem. It always takes a while to find handholds and footholds and work out the first move; eventually I was ready with a good hold for my right hand with my left hand holding the opposite wall as I stepped up. As I supported myself on my left leg and lifted my right one the foothold broke away; I held on with my right hand, I twisted round and ended up sitting on the ledge I was trying to get my right foot onto. I was safe enough as I looked at the damage, a few cuts and bruises but I was alright. I was only about three feet off level ground but it would have hurt if I had fallen.
What was I going to do now, I was sitting facing away from the rock and I didn't feel safe enough to try and turn round; I could have jumped down but that would have meant making the first step again. I did have a good hold for both feet and still holding on with my right hand so I stood up and lifted myself on to the small ledge I had been sitting on. The climb from there was relatively straightforward until I reached the place that I was really apprehensive about; the final climb out of the gully is the most awkward part of Skew Gill. By this stage you are past the point of no return, I would be very reluctant to try and climb down the top waterfall.
The top wall of the gully is steep rough rock, there are holds but not very big ones and most of the rock is wet where you have to make the first step. My way of doing it is to make the first couple of steps on the left hand side and then move across to drier, better rock; exposure is a real problem here, it is straight down below you. You have a couple of not too difficult steps before getting to a small ledge where a smooth boulder is wedged between you and the exit; I have no intention of finding out how firmly it is fixed in position. You can hold on and step over the boulder and you are almost out, the final part of the gully looks too loose and steep but you can get up steep grass on the left without too many worries. Phew!
Previously I have walked up the boulder field from here but on this occasion I climbed straight upwards over grass and rock until I found a cairn near the top of the ridge of The Band. Time now to administer first aid; sticking plasters on the two worst cuts and examine the damage, I will have several bruises on my leg. All I have to do now is climb Great End; the start of the improbable path is identifiable as a patch of light coloured stones. Almost immediately you have the option of a twenty foot high scramble, bouncing off the rock earlier hadn't put me off.
Having climbed up the initial rocky section the path disappears in grass but if you keep climbing upwards in the same direction, keeping off the scree, you will soon come across the path, now obvious and eroded. The path takes you close to the top of Branch Gully and then takes a line over a jumble of rocks and boulders heading directly for the summit. If you walk across the top of Branch Gully and keep close to the edge you will come to the top of Cust's Gully; if you look down you can see the large boulder wedged between the tops of the gully walls. From here it is a straight line up over the rocks to the summit of Great End.
Now walk in the direction of Ill Crag, if you can't see it head in southerly direction; Great End is a big flat top with steep sides so it's best not to wander round in bad visibility. There are a couple of cairns but no obvious path; you will get towards a saddle between two rocky elevations where walking through the middle of them will get you on the path to Calf Cove. In good visibility you will see the highway coming up from Esk Hause and hear the voices of the many people on their way to or from Scafell Pike. Once you reach the path there is a short climb upwards to a boulder field where the best technique is to step from rock to rock, keep your eyes open for cairns.
Once you get past the boulders the path will take you to Scafell Pike without bothering to visit the two three-thousand feet summits on the way. You have to leave the path, bearing left in the direction of the small rocky outcrop ahead which turns out to be the summit - a fine rocky viewpoint. Clamber down the rock and boulders to walk across the plateau where all of the rocks wear a distinctive yellow lichen; you should be heading northwards aiming for a small rock outcrop to rejoin the main path. Turn left to go down to a col and then upwards; following the cairns will take you to Scafell Pike so you have to bear right walking across boulders to reach the summit of Broad Crag.
From Broad Crag's distinctive bouldery summit you can retrace your steps to the path or scramble down one or more rock stairways to rejoin the main path down to the col. The day had been warm but not hot, the clouds were high and thin and it was fairly calm but from somewhere it started trying to rain. There is a final rugged walk up to the summit of Scafell Pike where the National Trust were conducting a survey of which groups were visiting the summit. I think the number of Three Peaks walkers is increasing, continuing to overwhelm what can be comfortably accommodated by the roads and facilities of Wasdale.
I walked down the path to Lingmell Col, one of the cairns must qualify as the biggest in the Lake District; cairn size is usually dictated by the quantity of building material and Scafell Pike certainly has plenty of that. From the col I walked towards Lingmell which is one of the easier summits to reach at the end of the day. It is easy to reach and well worth the visit for its views downwards and also to look back to Scafell Pike. There is no real path from the summit towards Wasdale, there are a few cairns that don't really help too much so I made the best way I could towards the subsidiary summit of Goat Crags. From there you can cross over the wall and follow it downhill for a short distance before the path ahead comes into view.
Apart from an eroded section it is a walk on grass, sometimes steep enough to hurt your knees, all the way back down to the bridge across Lingmell Gill.
Andy Wallace 17th June 2006