Tramp from Bampton - Photo Gallery

As I turned off the motorway at Shap it seemed as though the thick mist would prevent me from seeing this far eastern edge of the Lake District where it meets the Pennines. By the time I got to the village of Bampton the mist had cleared although I wasn't convinced by the apparent change in the weather.

I met Lorraine, Carolyn and Anne and her two dogs for a walk along a route that I wouldn't have thought of by myself which was reason enough to do it. At the old red public phone box is a tarmac lane heading west, follow the lane for a mile or so until you can see a path going uphill on the other side of Cawdale Beck. The right of way footpath leads to ford across the beck but in order to guarantee getting across local knowledge prevailed. We cut a corner to find a small footbridge made of old stone slabs, the amount of water in the beck suggested that the ford would probably have been passable today.

Across the beck and then probably the steepest climb all day onto Hause End we found the quad bike tracks that lead almost all the way to Wether Hill. As you gain height the view eastwards is hazy but extensive, the main feature being the plume of smoke coming from the cement works at Shap. The view westwards is grass, the hills don't even roll, the grass just gradually gets a bit higher. The only variation is the colour of the grass, red usually means wetter and white usually means dryer underfoot.

At the top of The Hause is a rotten old stick in the ground that is marked on the map as a “Post” . The deceptive gradient looks very slight and makes you feel as though you should be walking faster than normal. The climb still has to be done and you can feel your calf muscles working hard, the sun started shining so it was warm enough to walk in my tee shirt for a while.

The lack of landmarks and contours makes it difficult to pinpoint your exact position, we came across a "pile of stones" that is marked on the map and followed a groove that seems to serve as a path. We came across another stick in the ground that was not marked on the map, this may have been Low Kop.

From here you can see the ridge of the old High Street, the lack of drama on the ridge from Loadpot Hill over Wether Hill and onwards to High Raise is probably what encouraged the Romans to build their road along it. The cairns are very visible on each of the summits on the horizon.

Still following the tracks of the quad bike the view ahead shows the distinct shapes of High Kop, Wether Hill and Red Crag leading to High Raise. We made a beeline for High Kop, a more exciting name than the hummock really deserves and carried on until we met the path following the route of the old Roman road. The path climbs a bit more steeply until you reach the wall above Keasgill Head, the wall and the newer fence accompany you almost all of the way to the summit of High Raise.

It became too cold for walking in a tee shirt at this point, there seemed to be a wall of cold air running along the ridge, the view was clear to the east but to the west it was misty. The fence seemed to act as the boundary line, an unusually distinct wall of mist followed the wall of stone along the ridge.

The stony summit of High Raise can easily be missed in mist and even on a clear day, not a problem if you are following the High Street southwards. We were going to Low Raise today so it was important that I knew where to find the summit. It is easy to find Low Raise when the big cairn is visible but when the mist rolls in the compass is required, but having got the direction right it is an easy walk.

The cairn on Low Raise is an extraordinary size considering the small number of visitors that are likely to see it. The walking is easy from here, heading north east towards the dam of the Haweswater reservoir. The gradient gradually increases until the final steep but easy descent of Measand End, on the way down you can see the footbridge you need to take you across Measand Beck.

The obvious path we followed almost fooled us into walking down to the shore of Haweswater so we had to make a slight course correction. We headed uphill again to the two standing stones near Four Stones Hill, past a tarn and another significantly sized cairn. The obvious track then meanders around a couple of hummocks until you come across Drybarrows farm.

We had seen wild fell ponies in the distance earlier in the day but there were several of them in this sheltered place. The path on the ground became unclear at this point and we had to climb under the barbed wire top of a ruined fence protecting a hole in a stone wall, through another wall and rejoined the track leading away from the farm to join a small road at Winder Hill.

We followed the road for a while before turning left on a footpath across fields back to Bampton. It is this time of year whenever you pass sheep in a field they suddenly congregate in the hope of getting something to eat. So it was today, you would have thought sheep could tell the difference between farmers and walkers wouldn't you?

I had earlier taken a photograph of the Patricks Well Inn in Bampton, the pub's name was covered as we walked past it this time, apparently it was to be renamed that night.

Andy Wallace 14th February 2004