Height: 495 metres / 1625 feet Grid reference: NY 54393 04746 Category: The Outlying Fells
A windy High House Bank
High House Bank
Crookdale Horseshoe
Start point: Crookdale Bridge (NY 552 055)
Crookdale Bridge – High House Bank (408) (OF) – Robin Hood (409) (OF) – Lord’s Seat (410) (OF) – Lawyer’s Brow – Wasdale Pike (411) (OF) – Great Yarlside (412) (OF) – Little Yarlside (413) (OF) – What Shaw Common (414) (OF) – Crookdale Bridge
Distance: 9.1 miles Total Ascent: 877 metres Time Taken: 3 hours 25 minutes
Weather: Mixed – overcast with fleeting sunny intervals and quite breezy. 15°C.
Another set of Wainwright Outlying Fells today, this time the walk was on the very eastern edge of the Lake District in the Shap Fells and it takes in ‘The Wasdale Horseshoe’ and ‘The Crookdale Horseshoe’ chapters from the Outlying Fells book. It was breezy on the tops and the clouds were fleeting across the sky giving the occasional sun spot.
The Crookdale Horseshoe route map.
On the 31st August, Connie and I went to watch the cycling Tour of Britain over the Shap fells. Here Roger Hammond leads a breakaway, in the background is High House Bank (incidentally, Hammond, who rides for Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team, went on to win the stage in Blackpool). Whilst we were waiting for the cyclists to come, I thought it would be good to walk over some of the fells in the area, so three short weeks later, I have!
Crookdale Bridge.
Looking into Borrowdale (not the famous one!) from a windy High House Bank...
...very windy.
A fleeting glimpse of sunshine on Robin Hood and Little Yarlside.
The head of the deserted and uninhabited Borrowdale.
High House Bank from Robin Hood, a single shaft of light points onto Borrowdale.
The beacon (now collapsed) on Robin Hood looking to High House Bank.
Great Yarlside.
Angus eyes up the small cairn on Lord's Seat as the mist descends top the north over Harrop Pike and Sleddale Fell.
Wasdale Pike (not the famous Wasdale).
An unusual trigonometrical survey station on Great Yarlside - a circular metal plate sunk into concrete at ground level - a bit different to the normal column type.
Following the wall from Great Yarlside.
Great Yarlside from the summit of Little Yarlside.
They don't build cairns like this anymore. This one looks like it has been there forever on Whatshaw Common, Robin Hood behind.
Looking back towards Great Yarlside and Little Yarlside. A forlorn Angus can't jump the fence.