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Whittle Wander|
Dufton, Green Fell, Great Rundale tarn, High Cup Nick, Cumbria. Thu 18 May 2006 |
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The weather forecast was not good, intermittent rain and high winds. So a low-level walk seemed sensible. I drove to Dufton and left my car in the excellent village car park. It seems amazing that it’s not pay&display and it even has a very well constructed and maintained toilet block adjacent. Just across the road is a relatively new bus shelter as well. As I headed out along the road I passed the Youth Hostel on the left. This is where I attended a reunion many years ago with a group of trekkers I met in Peru. At the western end of the village I left the road and set off along an unmade track which is also the Pennine Way. |
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I could see boot prints in the mud, which looked fresh, and at the next stile they were there again and still wet, so whoever made them weren’t too far ahead. It wasn’t long before I could see a couple of walkers in the distance, I soon caught them up. I passed them at Halsteads and continued along the unmade track and walled lane that leads up on to the fell tops. In the distance were two more walkers but as I climbed they stayed the same distance away. I was here to enjoy myself so didn’t push the pace. The overcast clouds continued but the high winds I was expecting hadn’t materialised. The path continued up Green Fell and onto the summit plateau. At this point I reached a large cairn and by it were the two walkers I’d seen earlier. |
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I passed them and turned to the south while they continued north. There was now no path and after crossing a stony expanse and a few small tarns I started to descent to an area of peat hags and soggy ground. I could see Great Rundale Tarn in the distance and the hut by it was my current objective. Before I got there I came across a piece of old and corroded aircraft fuselage. It was only a small piece about 1m long lying on its own. It could easily have been blown there so I gave it little consideration. But before long I came to an area with many pieces and some very large and heavy bits meaning this is where whatever it was crashed. It was hard to estimate how long they’d been there but I would guess over 20 years. |
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The ground conditions began to improve and I was soon at the hut by Great Rundale tarn. It is a very substantial stone building with a steel door (swinging open when I arrived) and new looking roof. The benches and table inside made me think that it was connected with grouse shooting. |
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A large number of grouse butts around the area underlined this theory. There was a cold wind so I decided to shelter inside and have an early lunch. |
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I followed the tarn outlet and found an intermittent path. Although I had to do a bit of hopping over the river a few times it was worth it as the going was much easier than if I had to negotiate the peat hags higher up. The area must be popular with hunters as there were butts and empty cartridge cases everywhere. |
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The first part of the river is called Tarn Sike but it soon became a series of waterfalls and increased in strength. It then became Maize Beck and I followed it to the footbridge by High Cup Plain. |
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The wind was starting to increase a little as I approached High Cup Nick, another of those magical places with an equally magical name. To add to the attraction of the place I stood at the edge of the cliff at the same spot occupied by W.S.Turner on the 4 Aug 1816 as he trudged over the moors to Appleby. Turner is one of my hero painters as he went out in the countryside and captured the images and spirit of what he saw. The wind was being funnelled up the valley and diverted vertically upwards. |
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The nearby waterfall wasn’t
falling down but being jetted upwards with an accompanying sound like
and express train whooshing by. |
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