Start point: Beckside (SD 153 847)
Beckside – White Hall Knott – White Combe (OF) – Whitecombe Moss – Stoupdale Head (OF) – Black Combe (OF) –South Top of Black Combe – Whicham Mill – Beckside
Distance: 6.25 miles Total Ascent: 657 metres Time Taken: 2hours 20 minutes
Weather: Sunny and bright.
Black Combe lies in the extreme south-west of the Lake District and its remoteness from other fells means that it is rarely visited and its detachment from the main fells means that it is easily identifiable from a distance.
The sun shone more than could have been expected this morning with the thick covering of cloud over the top of Black Combe lifting by the time I reached the summit. Black Combe is described in Wainwright’s Black Combe chapter in his book ‘The Outlying Fells of Lakeland’, page 176.
Elevation profile of the route. Key: WHK=White Hall Knott, WC=White Combe, SH=Stoupdale Head, BC=Black Combe
3D image of the walk route.
White Hall Knott with the White Combe ridge running to the left.
The Whicham Valley from the ascent of White Hall Knott.
The cloud hangs on the very top of Black Combe, from White Hall Knott. The route used in descent is the shoulder running from the top left down through the centre.
The Coniston Fells from White Combe. See below for an annotated version of this photo.
Sunrays over the Duddon Estuary.
Black Combe from White Combe, the clouds clearing now.
Looking north to the Scafell range in heavy cloud from Stoupdale Head.
Looking back to Stoupdale Head from the ascent of Black Combe.
View from a sunny South Top of Black Combe, annotation below.
Looking over White Combe to the Coniston Fells.
Whitecombe Beck.
Whicham Mill.