A-Walking: Ravenstonedale Revisited

Our three expeditions this week (Sunday, 29th August) each took place in the Mallerstang/Eden Valley area of Cumbria. The A-Walk set off from Pendragon Castle, the B-Walk started at Aisgill Moor Cottages and the C-Walk commenced at Winton. All three walks finished at Ravenstonedale.

After leaving Pendragon Castle {NY 782 026}, the intent of the A-Walk was to visit Wild Boar Fell, Fox Hole, Rawthey Bridge and Green Bell before arriving at our final destination in Ravenstonedale {NY 723 040}.

We left our drop-off point at about 11.00 am. There were seven people in the group: PB, KF, CH, CL, AM, MS and JT. PB led the walk.


From our departure point near the road junction at Pendragon Castle {NY 782 026}, we circled around over Castle Bridge to the footpath at {NY 780 028}. With the River Eden on our left, we headed south along the Mallerstang valley to Shoregill {NY 780 014}. We continued our southerly trek until we reached the railway bridge near Turner Hay Hill {SD 778 995}.

From the railway track, we climbed on a westerly bearing to reach the gated wall at High Dolphinsty {NY 765 000}. At this point we turned onto a south-south-westerly bearing and continued climbing, via White Walls, up onto The Nab at the north-eastern edge of Wild Boar Fell {SD 763 991}.


Continuing along the high-ground of the fell, we headed on a south-westerly bearing to reach the trig point at {SD 758 987} and the cairns on the western edge {SD 752 982}. We had some tremendous views of Ravenstonedale Common from our vantage point at {SD 751 980}.

From the cairns on Wild Boar Fell, we descended in a southerly direction towards the stone wall at {SD 752 973}. Staying on the north side of the wall, we followed Uldale Gill in a westerly direction to Fox Hole {SD 740 972} [see Note 1] where we crossed the stream and climbed up out of the valley. We now followed a 'gated' route downhill to Needle House {SD 728 969}.

After passing the house we navigated our way across the fields in a north-westerly direction to reach the A683 road at Rawthey Bridge {SD 713 978}. From the road, we followed a footpath that took us in a westerly direction to a farm access track at {SD 705 977}. Turning right along this track, we climbed up to Narthwaite {SD 701 974} and continued uphill along a footpath that took us along the west side of Wandale Hill towards Mountain View {SD 699 987}

We stopped for a short tea break near a gated wall at {SD 701 983}. From here we had some good views of Yarlside and Kensgriff.

Continuing along our ascent path, we made our way on a northerly bearing to Spen Gill {SD 700 998}. We now had a steep climb in a north-north-westerly direction to reach a track at {NY 695 007} near Spengill Head. Turning right along this track, we completed the final ascent up to Green Bell {NY 698 010}.


From the trig point on the high ground at Green Bell we now made our way on a east-north-easterly bearing over Knoutberry {NY 704 013} and onwards to Ravenstonedale [see Note 2]. As we trekked through the village, we passed by The Black Swan Hotel [see Note 3] as we navigated our way towards the location where our coach was waiting.


Despite the strong 'head-on' winds that we encountered and,in many places, the water-laden ground under-foot, we had an interesting and exciting expedition today.

Use the buttons below to see where we went, how we did and some of the photos.

    

Notes

¹ At Fox Hole we had to implement an error recovery strategy as a result of 'losing' AM and JT. The error situation arose as a consequence of the fact that they did not see us make a sharp descent from the high-ground at Fox Hole down to Uldale Gill. They therefore continued in a westerly direction down the north side of Needlehouse Gill while we were waiting for them on the south side.

² At Green Bell, because we were running behind schedule, we decided not to do the route to Will Hill (as originally intended), but instead implemented my S2-Contingency route. This took us directly from Green Bell to Ravenstonedale. As this was a slightly shorter route, we were able to 'claw back' some of the time we lost at Needlehouse Gill. Despite this, we still arrived back in Ravenstonedale about 20 minutes late.

³ I spent two extremely pleasant days in Ravenstonedale earlier in the year during a photoshoot expedition. During my visit, I stayed at The Black Swan Hotel - which I can thoroghly recommend for its warmth and hospitality. They even had WiFi! It was great to revisit this wonderfully picturesque village during today's expedition.

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